KUALA LUMPUR – Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusof today refuted allegations that welfare applications were delayed due to officers being on leave.
She said the backlog of 2,000 applications at the Kuala Lumpur Welfare Department (JKM) was because they were incomplete or incorrectly filled.
P. Prabakaran (Batu-PKR) had alleged that the backlog was due to officers being on leave.
“Up till October 16, JKM Kuala Lumpur received 3,265 applications, with 930 cases completed,” said Siti Zailah.
“The remaining 2,335 cases are still under investigation because some of the forms were incomplete and our officers had to follow up on them.
“Many of our officers are deployed as Covid-19 frontliners to deliver food baskets to the needy, with some stationed at quarantine centres. At JKM KL, we have one officer for every 500 to 600 cases.
“We have requested for additional officers from the Public Service Department for our headquarters, as well as our state and district offices.”
Siti Zailah said JKM is expecting some 1.5 million Malaysians requiring financial aid – triple its current recipient base, which she also said the government was prepared for.
“Currently, there are more than 500,000 individuals receiving JKM’s monthly assistance. We are also prepared for the threefold increase in people requiring welfare aid.
“We are cleaning up the E-Kasih database at the same time. The ministry has launched the Kembara Prihatin Negara (National Care Roadshow) to identify those impacted by Covid-19 and eligible for assistance.
“Our target is to reach one million recipients,” said Siti Zailah in her response to a supplementary question from Mohd Salim Sharif (Jempol-Umno). – The Vibes, November 5, 2020
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