KUCHING, Oct 28: Compensation claimed by flood victims in Peninsular Malaysia should be applicable in Sarawak, says Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Uggah, who is also Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said there should be a standard format on what can be claimed for compensation by flood victims in the whole country.
“We need to know what our victims can claim for compensation. For example, can they claim for their vehicles, electrical goods, livestock, and crops destroyed by the flood like those in the Peninsular?” he asked.
Uggah posed this question when addressing a two-day State-level workshop on managing disaster operation control centres in Sibu today.
The matter was brought up in a parliamentary sitting asking why Sarawak was excluded from the compensation payment system, and a deputy minister replied that there had been no such application from the State.
Meanwhile, during the workshop, Uggah also raised another issue involving the payment of ‘Wang Ihsan Banjir’ (compassionate flood aid).
Given the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Patinggi Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who said during the floods in Selangor in December last year that the ‘Wang Ihsan Banjir’ must be paid to the victims at the evacuation centres within three days, he questioned if those who declined to stay at evacuation centres were eligible to receive such aid.
According to him, the victims were advised to move but declined to do so.
“So we have this issue of keeping up this promise to pay. Even with the recent flood in Bekenu in Miri, paying within three days was impossible.
“As such, we are suggesting to NADMA (National Disaster Management Agency) that SDMC will pay first and reimburse it later,” he added. — DayakDaily
