‘Alternative needed to distribute aid to rural folk’
SIBU: The government needs to come up with an alternative mechanism to distribute financial aid to rural folk more effectively, particularly during the Movement Control Order (MCO), said the Sibu Kenyah Uma Baha Women’s Association.
Chairperson Umie Liau pointed out that aid recipients from rural settlements such as Lusong Lau, Long Urun, Long Peran, Data Kakus, and Bakun Resettlement Scheme (BRS) have had to travel to Belaga town to collect their Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) and Sarawakku Sayang Assistance Package over the last few days.
She explained that the journey was not only inconvenient and time consuming, but also costly.
Citing the example of travelling from Lusong Laku to Belaga town, she said it would take about eight hours due to the poor road condition.
Umie, who is from Uma Baha in BRS Sungai Asap, said the travelling time would be even longer if weather conditions were poor.
“If the first phase of financial aid is RM500, the cost of the return journey is about RM150, so the recipient would only have RM350 remaining.
“There is only one automated teller machine (ATM) available at Bank Simpan Nasional (BSN) in Belaga town and only two counters open during MCO (Movement Control Order), so those traveling to Belaga town might not be able to claim the financial aid on time.
“As a result, extra costs would be incurred again for accommodation, food, and drinks. In the end, how much money is left?” she questioned.
She estimated the cost for accommodation and meals would be around RM150, meaning the recipient might only have RM200 to bring home.
Umie also said essential items are not cheap in Belaga town.
While commending the good intentions of the government to give aid to the people during the MCO, she questioned whether the government really understood the problems faced by rural folk.
She suggested an alternative mechanism could be a mobile banking service to enable the aid to be distributed to every longhouse or at least selected longhouses.
At the same time, she said the government could collaborate with local supermarkets to offer essential items to the longhouse folks on the same day the financial aid is handed over.
“I believe such an alternative mechanism could bring relief to the longhouse folk as it would ease the load of the longhouse folks in claiming the financial assistance given by the government.
“With such an alternative mechanism, the rural folk not only could claim the financial aid from the mobile bank but at the same time they could buy essential items using the money they received.
“Please stop with the less caring method of distribution of financial aid.
“I really pity the longhouse folk, who mostly consist of senior citizens and small-time farmers,” she said.
She added the government could carry out such a method of aid distribution not just during the MCO but in the future until there is a proper banking system with ATM machine at BRS Sungai Asap.
“What is important is the effort and the willingness of the state government,” she said.- The Borneo Post
