KOTA BARU – The Kelantan Muslim Consumers Association has received 280 reports on borrowers who took loans from Ah Longs or loan sharks and who were having problems to make their repayment since a month ago.
Its president Datuk Seri Mohd Fared Abdul Ghani said it indicated the increase in the number of people going to illegal money lenders due to life pressures.
He said the easily-available contact numbers of the money lenders – which can be seen pasted at bus stops and on electricity poles – provided a short-cut for those desperate for cash to go to them for help.
“On average, we receive almost 10 reports every day from borrowers, who came to us saying they cannot pay the money lenders, and the borrowers included Form 5 students,” he said.
He said some of the borrowers had been threatened, as well as their house splashed with red paint, for their failure to pay the loans.
Asked to elaborate on the case of the students, he said one of them borrowed to pay for an online gambling debt.
The loan was only for RM1,000 but has spiralled to RM5,000, he said when met by reporters after handing over three tonnes of mineral water for frontliners in Kelantan to Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital (HPRZ II) director Datuk Dr Selasawati Ghazali here today.
Meanwhile, Dr Selasawati thanked the association for the contribution which will be distributed for frontline staff at HRPZ II and at the Covid-19 Low Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres in the state. – Bernama, July 4, 2021
