Saufi Ismail from Kampung Baung, Pengkalan Chepa, for example, said he was so relieved to hear the announcement as all of school necessities prepared for his three children, including school bags, stationery items and uniforms, were badly damaged by floods.
“Before the announcement, I just don’t know what to do or where would I get the money to buy new sets of school necessities for my children because all the money for the have been spent.
“I really would like to thank the government for their concern and I hope other quarters would donate some school necessities to flood victims like us,” he told Bernama here today.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made the announcement to expedite the payment of BR1M and schooling aid to alleviate the burden of flood victims on Jan 24.
Meanwhile, rubber tapper Zainal Abidin Awang, 51, from Kampung Chekok, Pulai Chondong, said he was grateful for the announcement, but admitted that the aid was far from sufficient to help him make ends meet.
“I had not been able to tap rubber trees over the past two weeks due to rain, and had to depend on the sales of catfish which I bred in small scale in my backyard to earn extra income during this monsoon season.
“However, the major flood that hit our village had caused all the fish to escape the pool and I could not do anything about it because I had to evacuate to relief centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan Pangkal Nering, Pulai Chondong after my house was inundated by flood waters,” he said.
The father of five, however, said he was grateful that all his family members were safe.
“I hope there will be some quarters that would lend a helping hand to us who have no fixed income…I’m also thankful to the government for taking care of our needs at the relief centres,” he added.
— BERNAMA
