Flood victims can apply to have money banked in

GEORGE TOWN: Applicants to the flood relief fund managed by Penang can have their one-off payout of RM700 banked into their respective bank accounts, said the fund's coordinator Yap Soo Huey.
Yap, who is also the Pulau Tikus assemblyperson, said successful applicants can apply for the payment to be banked in directly, once they provide their banking details to the state authorities.
As of Friday at noon, the relief fund has raised up to RM160,000 with the latest contributions coming from direct selling firm Seiketsu Enterprise Sdn Bhd, who parted with RM100,000 and from the Penang International Dental College, who donated RM50,000 to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday.
Yap also announced that around 23,000 people have applied for the one-off payout to seek relief from a range of natural disasters; from the flooding to the rain storm, mud flows and landslides during earlier this month.
Out of the 23,000, some 375 applicants have been rejected, Yap told a press conference today.
Lim had earlier said that the one-off payment will compensate those who were direct or indirectly affected by the floods, which had displaced some 5,000 people.
In another development, the Penang Water Authority (PBA) Holdings chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa said the water authority is still waiting for the federal government's consent to raise the proposed water conservation surcharge from 48 sen to RM1 per 1,000 litres for domestic consumption exceeding 35,000 litres per month here.
He said that the power to determine the proposed hike lies with the federal authorities, and not the PBA.