THE Penang northeast district office has issued a guideline for the distribution of aid to the needy in its district.
District officer Rosli Halim said both the state and the Federal Governments have agreed to involve the district offices, state assemblymen, Members of Parliament (MPs) and Village Community Management Councils (MPKKs) in distributing assistance to the people.
“During this movement control order (MCO) period, the northeast district officer together with four other district officers in Penang are given the responsibility to head the district-level Disaster Management Committee in their respective districts.
“The state-level Disaster Management Committee is chaired by the Chief Minister while the Working Committee is chaired by the State Secretary.
“I have prepared a guideline for the distribution of aid to the needy. We want the distribution process to be more oriented and in order.
“Firstly, I have issued appointment letters to several MPKK members who will be involved in the distribution works. Only those having the appointment letter are given the authority by the Government to distribute the aid.
“Bring along your letter whenever you are on duty. The letter is to be shown to the police if you are being stopped by the police. We have obtained the approval from the northeast district police chief to allow those having the letter to execute their duty.
“At the moment, I have issued only five appointment letters per MPKK. We want to minimise movement during the MCO period,” he said during a briefing at Masjid Acheh Kebun Lama in Datok Keramat today.
Rosli said the appointed officer could collect the aid that are to be distributed, from the offices of the elected representatives or from the designated locations.
“The officer will then distribute the goods among his team members. Each team can only have a maximum of two people. The team can then deliver the goods or aid to the needy, whose names are stated in the list.
“The appointed MPKK officers must go door to door to deliver the aid. We do not allow the people to gather and collect their aid. This is the order by the Federal and the state.
“Upon receiving the aid, the recipient must provide the necessary details to the appointed MPKK officer by filling up the ‘Borang 3’.
“Should the officer encounters any new application for the aid, whose name is not in the list, the officer must take down the details and pass them to the area leader (penghulu kawasan) to prepare a new list so that the aid can be distributed to more people.
“All ‘Borang 3’ must be collected by the MPKK chairmen and be handed over to the area leaders,” he added.
Datok Keramat assemblyman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the Penang government prioritised public safety and health.
“We thank the northeast district office for its guidelines.
“I urge those on duty to wear the face mask when distributing the aid. Practise social distancing of at least one metre, and prevent handshakes or touching the recipients.
“You may place your right palm over your heart as a sign of greeting,” he said.
Also present were Jelutong MP R.S.N. Rayer and several MPKK members.
They distributed some aid to the villagers after the briefing.
Story and pix by Christopher Tan
