KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 818,130 people were affected by the northeast monsoon season that hit the country late last year, says Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming.
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He added in a Parliamentary written reply that this includes 57 deaths, and then said that figutes from the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) showed that 236,664 heads of households were impacted from across the country as of Jan this year.
“The total number of affected heads of households affected were 236,664 due to the Northeast Monsoon season and the overall number of victims including non-citizens is 818,130 individuals, with 57 recorded deaths,” he said.
Nga said this in a reply to a question from Howard Lee (PH-Ipoh Timur).
Lee had asked the ministry to state the number of local victims who lost their houses due to the impact of natural disasters between Jan 2020 and Dec 2022.
During the north-east monsoon season, the country faces continuous heavy rains in certain parts that can result in flooding in low-lying areas and near rivers.
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Nga said that all of the local victims received Bantuan Wang Ihsan (BWI) (compassionate aid) and Bantuan Barangan Keperluan Asas (basic necessity assistance).
“As for housing assistance to help with repairs or the construction of new houses, a total of 28,563 heads of households had received this assistance,” said Nga.
He added that initiatives under his ministry to implement new construction works and repairs for flood-affected houses involving areas at the local authority (PBT) level are being carried out through the National Housing Company (SPNB) and 1Malaysia People’s Housing Program (PR1MA).
“As of April 28 of this year, a total of 2,203 housing units have been successfully completed, including 68 units under the category of new construction and 2,135 units for house repairs,” added Nga.
– The Star