S’wak ATM fiasco: authorities urged to use district offices to dispense cash

MIRI – The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government has been told to liaise with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) to set up ATMs in all rural districts so that the cash aid promised by GPS during the recent state election can be dispensed soonest.

Parti Sarawak Bersatu’s (PSB) Miri chief Bruce Chai said that district offices can house ATM kiosks in a practical, secure and workable solution to dispense cash aid to over a million rural Sarawakians as promised by the ruling coalition.

Each district office is housed in a government building and can be readily assigned security guards and police units, he said to The Vibes today.

The lack of ATM kiosks in rural areas has hit the population hard.

“GPS has promised to give Bantuan Kebajikan Sarawak Sayangku 8.0 (BKSS8.0) to all B40 people and welfare recipients during the 12th state election,” he said, referring to the polls held earlier this month, which was won by GPS, maintaining its hold on the state.

“However, the Sarawak Dayak Think Tank Group has found that many rural folk cannot even check if the cash aid promised by GPS has been deposited into their accounts as most of rural Sarawak have no banks.

“We in PSB feel that this nagging problem can be overcome by turning district offices in every rural district into venues for BSN ATM kiosks to dispense the cash aid.

“This can be done fast if GPS discusses and liaises with BSN.”

Chai said that if GPS is sincere in wanting to fulfil its election pledge, it must “walk the talk”.

He noted that BSN outlets in Miri city are full due to overcrowding by people seeking to withdraw their cash every day.

“Desperate folk eager to secure the aid promised by GPS are coming to Miri city from even as far as the upper reaches of interior Baram just to check their bank balances.

“Their longhouses have no online facilities to check their bank accounts.

“They spend more than a hundred ringgit in transportation charges, and I have seen many queuing up at the Miri BSN premise from before dawn,” he said.

Chai added that he has seen people waiting in queues that extended onto the streets.

The Sarawak Dayak Think Tank Association yesterday urged the authorities to resolve nagging woes faced by the rural people relating to the withdrawal of cash aid promised by the state government.

Association founder and advisor Wellie Henry Majang said many rural folk are facing difficulties checking whether the cash aid promised to them by the GPS state government has been transacted as there are no banks in most of the rural districts in Sarawak.

He told The Vibes yesterday that even when the aid had been banked in, recipients living in rural locations have to travel to cities and towns just to withdraw the money.

“Withdrawing the money is another difficult task. They have to queue for long hours,” he said.

“Many travelled (from) the night before and slept on the streets and queued up in the early hours of the morning already.”

Majang said there are also complaints of frequent ATM breakdowns, even in the cities and towns.

This piles even more challenges on the overburdened recipients, he stressed. – The Vibes, December 31, 2021