KUALA LUMPUR: More than RM2bil will be spent to help victims of the massive year-end floods that affected several parts of the country, said Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

       “A total of RM1.4bil worth of aid was announced by the Prime Minister on Dec 29 for flood disaster relief which is a comprehensive and unprecedented aid package to address the flooding brought about by the monsoon.

       “Based on expenditure for various aid, the need to repair damaged homes and public amenities – this amount will exceed RM2bil,” the Finance Minister said when taking part in the one-day special sitting in Dewan Rakyat yesterday to debate the year-end flooding that affected the nation.

       In comparison, he said that a total of RM142mil was channelled to help flood victims in 2014 while between RM5.4mil and RM26mil was channelled between 2016 and 2020.

       So far, he said that RM300mil has been channelled out for the purpose.

       Since Dec 27 last year, he said that RM75mil was given out to 75,000 victims who had received RM1,000, an increase of RM500 previously.

       “The families of the 46 victims who died in the floods have each received RM10,000.

       “To date, RM125mil has been channelled to states affected by the floods to coordinate providing aid to victims, and bereavement aid to those affected,” he added.

       For flood damaged homes, he said that between RM5,000 and RM56,000 in aid was provided for repairs and rebuilding of new homes.

       Apart from this, he added that almost 5,000 vehicle owners were given RM1,000 to repair their flood damaged vehicles or to use the money to replace their vehicles.

       Tengku Zafrul also said that it was also the first time that flood victims were provided with RM500 discount vouchers to purchase household appliances to replace those lost in the floods.

       He said 5,100 victims were provided with vouchers worth RM2.5mil.

       He added that Bank Negara Malaysia has also set aside a RM500mil fund for commercial banks to assist small and medium enterprises and micro-entrepreneurs between RM75,000 and RM500,000.

       He said the RM30.4mil worth of loans have also been disbursed to these groups.

       He added that Bank Simpanan Nasional had, for the first time, offered interest-free loans with a six-month moratorium to flood victims for loans up to RM10,000.