BR1M is not ‘dedak’ but a gift, Othman insists

PARLIAMENT | Putrajaya today insisted that BR1M (the 1Malaysia People's Aid) is neither "dedak" (animal feed) nor a form of bribery, but instead a gift to the rakyat.

Deputy Finance Minister I Othman Aziz was responding to Abdul Latiff Ahmad (BN-Mersing), who had asked him to clarify the purpose of distributing BR1M.

"The people of Mersing say this is a gift from the government, while the other side (the opposition) say it is dedak, bribery," Abdul Latiff said in the Dewan Rakyat.

In his response, Othman termed BR1M gift from the government, as it can afford to disburse financial aid to those who need it.

"What I know about dedak is that it is only for chickens, I don't think we should liken BR1M recipients to chickens and cows.

"If it is bribery, then it must be based on 'if you help me, you will get this', that's bribery.

"But BR1M is not like that, it's from a government that can afford to give," he said.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, last month, had also refuted claims that BR1M is intended to buy votes.

Meanwhile, Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PAS-Rantau Panjang) said despite the distribution of BR1M, the government had counter-measured this through the collection of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"It's not that the government is giving a gift but the government is indebted to the people through the GST," she said.

Othman in his response admitted that while the government indeed collects money through GST, not all of it goes to disbursing BR1M.

"There's Skim Latihan 1Malaysia (SL1M), assistance for schools, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), loans for higher education.

"The government can now afford to give more to help the rakyat and the assistance given is more targeted," he said.

Othman had earlier confirmed that RM32.42 billion worth of BR1M had been disbursed since it was implemented in 2012.

On Abd Latiff who asked whether the government planned to have an exit policy for BR1M, Othman agreed on the importance of an exit policy.

"This is why the government gives assistance in other areas," he said, citing various government schemes such as the Tekun financing scheme.

BR1M was first implemented with aid of RM500 each for nearly 4.1 million recipients in 2012, before the amount was increased to RM1,000 in 2016 and RM1,200 in 2017.

Distribution of the 2018 BR1M, involving an allocation of RM6.3 billion for about seven million recipients nationwide, will be carried out in three phases.

The first payment was disbursed last month, while the second and third in June and August, respectively. -Mkini