Govt offers aid to flood-hit students
All Malaysian students affected by the floods will receive financial aid before school reopens next week.
Primary school pupils will get US$28 (Bt1,005) each and secondary school students US$56 each. In Johor alone, 33,000 students will receive the cash.
Other affected states are Malacca, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also the National Disaster Relief Council chairman, said the money would be disbursed to the students through the district education offices before school reopens on January 3. He confirmed the school session would start as scheduled, saying there was no reason to delay school unless the situation had not improved. "In areas where the waters have receded, the school authorities should start cleaning up and refurbishing their schools [if the premises had been used as relief centres]," he said. On losses incurred due to the floods, Najib said the government would make an assessment once the crisis was over. "The flood situation is not over yet. Maybe the water will go up again. Let it recede completely before we make an assessment. The losses will be quite big. It affects government accounts as well as personal accounts," he added. Najib said the government had stepped up flood-relief efforts in the state in view of the forecast of continuous rain until tomorrow.
The Star Asia News Network
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