KUALA LUMPUR – A pair of parliamentarians serving two of the country’s most populated constituencies have criticised the “inflexible” nature of guidelines on allocations for food baskets under the government’s Pemulih aid programme.
The two opposition lawmakers made the observation after receiving a circular purportedly listing down 13 essential items and their quantities, which amount to RM100 in value per food basket.
This means that with the RM300,000 allocation for each constituency, a maximum of 3,000 food baskets can be distributed to those in need. The list of items included 10kg of rice, cooking oil, sugar, chilli sauce, sardines, tea, and biscuits, among others.
Apart from all items required to have halal logos, the RM100 cost set for each basket included transportation, packaging, labour, and sticker printing costs.
Food packages provide unbalanced meals, non-essential items
Klang MP Charles Santiago said the people who came up with the list “clearly did not have any idea about nutrition”.
“They have no idea what a family consumes in order to be healthy. This is like throwing food on people’s faces, and saying ‘this is what we’ll give you’. It’s completely the wrong idea,” he told The Vibes when contacted.
“For example, if you look at a recent study by Unicef, our children are suffering from malnutrition.
Santiago said certain items on the list, such as hot sauce, is not necessary, and that there should instead be a fair balance between rice, vegetables and protein.
He said the aid should also be more flexible to allow the constituency offices to select the different items needed for different segments of the voters who are faced with varying challenges.
“It is too tight. They must spruce things up so different things can be given in different locations, such as more fish, vegetables and rice, as opposed to tea and coffee.”
Santiago said although he was appreciative of the allocation, the funds still fell short as he can only distribute food packages to 3,000 households while his constituency’s voter base is around 150,000 or more.
“That’s a lot of people, and it’s a place hit badly by lay-offs as lots of factories have closed. It’s a stressed area, so clearly providing support for 3,000 people won’t be enough.”
However, Santiago said his constituency is handing out between five and 10 fishes per family to ensure protein needs are met.
“This one comes from donations, as well as parliamentary office allocations,” he said, adding there is also a combination of federal government funds and those that came from the state government.
“This one (RM300,000) is really small actually, it can be finished in one week.”
M40 needs help too now; many have trickled into B40 group
Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil said the RM300,000 is “appropriate” if the country was entering the first movement control order (MCO).
He said currently, the amount is too little to assist his constituents given that the crisis has stretched for more than a year.
“The amount is highly insufficient. To me, it is too inflexible," he said.
“We are on the ground, and based on our interaction with constituents, there are people who definitely appreciate these food packages, but we also have to look at the M40 who have slipped into the B40 group because of loss of income, loss of work and business.”
Fahmi said this group requires help in other ways, not necessarily food packs.
He said some requests come from people who have to pay water and electricity bills, or monthly internet payments to let their children continue with online learning.
“This kind of flexibility is important. There can still be checks to this to make sure we are not misusing the funds if they are not going to the recipients.
“The problem is the amount is too little, and the problem is too large.”
Fahmi said his constituency has four areas placed under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO), with the total number of households affected falling between 4,500 and 5,000.
“All of my allocations would go to these four EMCO areas. The reason? JKM (the Welfare Department) does not have any more food baskets at this point and this is a very real problem.
“They need to increase the amount (for allocations) and widen the application so that we can use it to assist residents in more ways than one.”
He added that the best way to remedy the situation is to allow MPs to table the matter in Parliament.
“We can suggest changes that would be more beneficial to the rakyat immediately, and therefore, get much more rounded support packages for Malaysians who really need a lot of support right now.
“It’s not just in terms of food, but also to help them in many more ways than how the government is right now.” – The Vibes, July 2, 2021
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