Tenom: It was supposed to be a happy occasion when residents here gathered early at the local banks to withdraw the government BR1M cash aid, Wednesday. But the mood quickly turned sour when the auto-teller machine (ATM) was out of service at 9am when banking operations began. A customer said the bank should have made preparations early, being the day of the BR1M payout.
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"When I arrived what I saw was two security guards busy depositing money into the ATM machines. They should have done this earlier," he said.
A government officer who wished to be identified as Yuslin said it was ridiculous that Tenom only had two banks to deal with the transactions of thousands. "It is more practical if the banks here had more ATMs. They would be able to designate these machines for the disabled, senior citizens, workers and retirees," he said.
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Schools nationwide also distributed RM100 aid under the BKAP1M scheme.
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In TAWAU alone, some 805 school- children in Kalabakan received their schooling aid in groups, Tuesday. They comprised 412 from SK Kalabakan, 46 from SK Ulu Kalabakan and 347 from SMK Kalabakan. Kalabakan Umno Chief Datuk Ghapur Salleh said the aid would reduce the burden of parents in buying their children's stationery. "Despite the poor economic situation the government continues to provide the RM100 student early school aid," he said. The aid is only entitled to families with a household income of RM3,000 and below. The annual government aid of RM100 for school-going children should be used to pay school fees, say parent groups, following reports that students were "wasting" the money, including using it to modify their bicycles.Parent Action Group for Education chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said adults should personally collect the money at school."The money is meant for the new school year."The children must not collect the money on their own because they may misuse the money."Azimah said if the parents did not come forward to collect the money, it should be forfeited.Malacca Action Group for Parents in Education chairman Mak Chee Kin said schools should notify parents when the money had been collected."Some parents are not even aware their children have taken the money or have spent it."
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Mak also suggested that instead of handing over the RM100 at once, the school should first deduct school fees and the student's miscellaneous school expenses from the sum."If the government intends to ease the parents' financial burden in the new school year, it should implement this so students can benefit." - Mail Matthew
