No more red tape in government aid

Saturday May 16, 2009

No more red tape in government aid

GONE are the days when less fortunate members of society seeking government aid are confronted with lots of red tape or simply do not know who to turn to.

Instead, under the new ‘Projek Cari’ (Lookout Project), the government will actively seek them out and provide them with financial aid.

The project is targeted at the elderly, disabled, sickly and hardcore poor families with school-going children, and is open to all Malaysians.

The programme was initiated by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and is also a joint effort with the MCA Bukit Gelugor division, Social Welfare Department and Special Affairs Department.

To qualify for assistance, one needs to be a Malaysian citizen and residing in the country, have a combined family income of less than RM700 per month, or is disabled and have special needs.

Several other factors are also taken into consideration including number of offspring, age of applicant, deformities or disease-related disabilities as well as dwelling conditions.

State Social Welfare Department community development assistant Wong Kok Wai said that needy people could obtain and fill in application forms from their respective Rukun Tetangga.

“The applications will then be forwarded to the department which will in turn send officers to the respective applicants for follow-up evaluation.

“In the past six months from November 2008 to May 2009, a total of RM135,420 has been disbursed to 78 applicants in the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency,” he said.

A special ceremony will be held this Sunday from 4pm to 6pm at the community hall in Block 9/11, Taman Terubong Jaya to raise public awareness on the programme.

Paya Terubong MCA service team chief and project advisor Koh Wan Leong hoped this would help inform the public about the existence of such a programme, as many were still unaware of it.

Good service: Koh (centre) helping disabled Farlim resident Dass Anthony (right) to fill out an application form. With them is Wong (left).

He also urged people to spread the word so that those really in need could come forward and apply while those approved would usually be notified within several weeks.

“In the past, the poor and needy need to look for the government.

“But now, the government will look out for them instead, as we are very concerned about their welfare. This is in line with the government’s efforts of promoting 1Malaysia,” Koh added.

He reminded applicants to bring along two passport-sized photos, photocopied MyKad (front and back), disability card (if any) as well as a referral letter from government doctors (for medical cases).