PARLIAMENT | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has urged the government to expedite approving an additional RM1,000 cash aid for Sabahans battling with the Covid-19 outbreak, particularly current recipients of the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN).
He said while the state is expected to receive RM1.25 billion in sales tax payment from Petronas next year, many Sabahans are currently in need of urgent cash.
"The people of Sabah needs help now, not next year," said the Pekan MP in his debate of the Supply Bill (Budget) 2021.
Najib had first raised the RM1,000 additional cash aid last month, ahead of the Budget 2021 tabled in Parliament on Nov 6.
There are currently 737,797 reported BPN recipients from the B40 and M40 categories in Sabah.
Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian), who stood up to interject, said the additional RM1,000 cash aid can also be allocated for Sarawak, Kelantan and Terengganu, the other oil-producing states that received sales tax payment from Petronas.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had in August - ahead of the Sabah elections - proposed that welfare payments be raised from RM200 to RM1,000. At the time, the third-wave of Covid-19 transmissions had yet to take place.
Sabah is now the worst hit by the pandemic with 18,302 people currently being treated according to the Sabah health department as of yesterday noon while 156 deaths have been reported, mostly taking place recently.
So far, Muhyiddin has not made any follow up announcements on the increased welfare payments.
'BN's support conditional'
Meanwhile, Najib said BN's support for Budget 2021 is conditional upon several amendments made, including a blanket loan moratorium and approval for a one-off withdrawal of RM10,000 from an individual's Employees Providence Fund (EPF) Account 1.
He said the government should reconsider extending the initial blanket loan moratorium, in contrast to the enhanced targeted scheme announced under Budget 2021.
"If the movement control order can be extended several times, why can't the blanket moratorium be extended?
"Banks are still making a profit...," he said, adding that the facility should also be extended to those in the M40 category whose incomes are similarly affected by the pandemic.
"Are we going to wait for the M40 to be B40 before given a moratorium?
"I propose that the blanket loan moratorium is extended for six months until June 30 next year to all borrowers, including from Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia and Tekun," said Najib in reference to the government funds for bumiputera SMEs.
As for the EPF withdrawal, the government had responded to the public's call by instead announcing there would be withdrawals of RM500 for up to 12 months or RM6,000 in total, from selected members' EPF Account 1.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the withdrawals were only for those who were in dire straits financially, for example, a situation where both husband and wife were left jobless and had depleted their savings. - Mkini
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