Be transparent in food aid, elected representatives urged
Published on: Friday, April 03, 2020
By: Iskandar Dzulkifli
Kota Kinabalu: Elected representatives and leaders at the grassroots level were urged to be transparent in delivering food assistance from the State Government to the people.There were dissatisfaction among the people as can be seen through comments including shared pictures of food items on social media sites, where the delivered goods were not the same as the RM100 allocated per household affected by the Movement Control Order.
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The State Government has provided the assistance under the Sabah Covid-19 Stimulus Package for all the needy people through the Community Development Leaders Unit (UPPM).
Suffian Ahmad, a 49-year-old single father in Papar, claimed he also received the said assistance which clearly showed they did not reach RM100 as instructed by the State Government.
“I personally received 5kg of rice, 10 eggs, one pack of sugar weighing 1kg, one packet of flour (1kg), a small pack of coffee and a small pack of seasoning powder worth about RM1.
“The price for these items are about RM45 only. Of course, I know the goods are supposed to be worth RM100,” he said.
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He said the elected representatives should always be on the ground to monitor the distribution of the aid to ensure there will be no abuses. Because if let it be, it will be the leaders and government blamed by the people.
Angeline Sham, 32, also claimed the assistance she received were only worth around RM37.
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“Not that I am being ungrateful, but this assistance should be worth RM100. I understand that it is a Government directive to leaders in their respective areas.
“I only received a pack of 5kg rice, one tray of eggs, one pack of cooking oil (1kg) and sugar (1kg), one pack of salt and 10 Maggie instant noodles,” she said.
Iskandar Khidri, 44, in Beaufort, was not happy with the indifference of some grassroots leaders and individuals toward those who were dissatisfied with the relief they received.
“These leaders can be seen on Facebook saying that people are not grateful even when they were given food because they complain about the value of the food assistance.
“It must be understood that the people are angry because they are desperate because of the hardship of the Movement Control Order (MCO). If the leaders do not like it, please resign and let others who are more qualified to replace them,” he said.
Before this there was a directive by the UPPM Sabah Director that it would be RM100 worth of assistance for each eligible family posted on social media and this was then replaced by the second letter saying that amount was just a guide.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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