PUTRAJAYA: It is time for all parties to put aside their differences and help the rakyat cope with the challenges of Covid-19, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

       He said the government’s commitment towards ensuring every affected person received aid was shown in its fair distribution of allocations to all elected representatives for the food basket initiative.

       “RM300,000 has been allocated to each MP from the government and Opposition to expand the food basket initiative. This will benefit those in their constituencies who are truly affected.

       “RM10mil has also been allocated to implement the food basket programme specifically for the Orang Asli community.

       “This shows that the government is serious and fair in giving aid to the rakyat regardless of political allegiance.

       “This is also the right time for all parties to unite and put aside their differences for the sake of the rakyat and country, ” said Dr Wee in a Facebook post.

       The expansion of the food basket programme is one of the initiatives under the RM150bil Pemulih aid package announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday.

       Dr Wee also said the RM30 subsidy for taxi and e-hailing fares so that the disabled and elderly could go for their vaccination appointments would boost the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.“This ensures that the vulnerable are not excluded from receiving their vaccine shots and will accelerate the immunisation programme at the community level, ” said Dr Wee, who is also MCA president.

       The government, he added, was committed to providing job opportunities with initiatives such as Human Resource Development Corp’s “Place and Train”, Malaysia Digital Economy Corp’s (MDEC) eRezeki and Glow, as well as PenjanaKerjaya.

       “The Place and Train initiative under the Janapreneur programme will benefit 30,000 school-leavers and graduates, with an allocation worth RM125mil.

       “Through this initiative, youth will have the opportunity to attend skills training programmes that come with an employment guarantee at the end, ” he added.

       He said MDEC would enhance the eRezeki and Glow programmes to assist more than 20,000 job seekers in the gig economy.

       “The government also agreed to extend the PenjanaKerjaya programme, which was supposed to end this month.

       “The improved PenjanaKerjaya 3.0 reduces the eligible income from RM1,500 to RM1,200 for the Malaysianisation programme, which will spur employers to replace foreign workers with local ones, ” he said.Dr Wee also thanked the Prime Minister for listening to views from all sides.

       “Hopefully, the Pemulih packages will be able to assist the rakyat and the country in facing the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, ” he said.

       In Johor Baru, Tanjung Piai MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng said the food basket assistance given to each constituency was a timely effort by the government.

       Since last year, he said he had given out aid to some 6,500 families in his constituency.

       “This includes items such as rice, cooking oil, flour and instant noodles, ” he said.

       Jeck Seng, who is Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, believed that such welfare programmes would help ease the burden of the rakyat.

       He said this was especially so for those from his constituency who had become jobless as a sizeable number of them used to work in Singapore and commuted daily until the border closure last year.