BACHOK: With immediate effect, the 12 million Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors will be able to withdraw their savings to rebuild their houses which have been burnt, Deputy Finance Minister senator Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein said.They would get the money within 10 days of application by fulfilling several conditions.
They must first get confirmation from the Fire and Rescue Department and the police, he told reporters after opening the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kandis parent-teacher association (PTA) meeting here yesterday.
They must also submit photographs of their burnt houses to the two agencies for assessment of the amount to be disbursed.
However, the amount they could withdraw would depend on their savings in the second account while the money in the first account could not be withdrawn because it was specially for savings for their old age, he said.
On the New Economic Model (NEM), he said the roles of several government agencies set up to promote the economy of the Malays and the bumiputeras would not be abolished but would be re-assessed under the 10th Malaysia Plan to beef them up.
The agencies included Mara and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).
He said the NEM would also not neglect the poor and the less fortunate who make up 40 per cent of the population.
Dr Awang said it was being fine-tuned and the views of various parties would be obtained before the government tabled it in the Dewan Rakyat. — Bernama