By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Sept 4: A total of 1,635 unlicensed, 985 licensed hawkers and petty traders under Kuching South City Council (MBKS) jurisdiction have already received their first release of RM750 Sarawakku Sayang Special Aid (BKSS).
MBKS mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng, in revealing this, said only 257 unlicensed and 568 licensed operators are yet to be paid as of Aug 30, but payments are being distributed as quickly as possible.
There are altogether 2,443 unlicensed, 1,820 licensed hawkers and petty traders who are eligible for the financial assistance, but 551 unlicensed and 267 licensed ones are not registered with SarawakPay merchant accounts.
These two groups of people will not be receiving any payments as the money is only transferred through SarawakPay, unlike previously through Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN).
Thus, Wee reminded MBKS hawkers and petty traders whose applications have been rejected to contact the council or two of its officers in charge to appeal.
These individuals are encouraged to send their details to either Lim Kaa Kuan (013-8567287) or Andrew Tiong (019-8282095) for further assistance.
“Since the Sarawak government has allocated the fund for the people, we will try our best to help each and every eligible hawker and petty trader to get their share,” he said in a Facebook live streaming session today.
Assuring the public that payments for eligible applicants are being processed every working day, Wee urged certain quarters not to politicise BKSS for their own publicity stunt.
“Priority always goes to helping the people first, so please don’t make this into an issue or politicise it for your own benefits.”
Yesterday (Sept 3), Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong called on Minister for Local Government and Housing Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian to look into the undue delay in BKSS payments for hawkers and petty traders.
With several local markets closed down recently, she said the operators are in dire need of this money to tide over the periods without active income.
She also provided feedback that many are left helpless as there is no proper channel or avenue to make inquiries regarding the statuses of the BKSS money.
The second and last RM750 release of BKSS 6.0 for eligible hawkers and petty traders will begin in December this year. — DayakDaily
