Fatimah (standing tenth left) and others at the Ramah Tamah Aidilfitri event.
KUCHING: Drought victims now get two boxes of bottled water per person per week instead of two boxes per household per week.
This service improvement is part of the restructuring plans of the Ministry of Welfare, Women and Family Development, says its minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah.
“After the recent Cabinet meeting, we have decided to improve the quantum of aid to the drought victims. That means each person is getting 24 bottles per week instead of 24 bottles per household a week. It is a fairer distribution.
“For drought victims who are not easily accessible by road and do not have clean water supply, the Public Works Department (JKR) will deliver water to them by tankers, with each family getting 70 gallons of water per week,” she told reporters at her ministry’s Ramah Tamah Aidilfitri event yesterday.
According to Fatimah, feedback from the drought victims about the service improvement before Hari Raya had been positive.
“They are satisfied with the quantity of water distributed to them. Thankfully, there have been days of alternate rain so there is no drought issue for now,” she said, adding that until now, a total of 257 drought victims had been recorded throughout the state.
In another move for service improvement, she said the ministry was submitting a proposal concerning Poverty Eradication Programme.
“This programme is meant for the hardcore poor in the state. We hope the proposal is approved so that we can provide aid to more people in this category. “We have also reviewed the monthly aid recipients and monitored them based on division. We want to ensure that those who need the aid will get the aid. Our officers are always on the look-out for cases highlighted in the news and social media and go down to the ground to identify them.
“Restructuring the ministry is necessary to increase the capacity in meeting the needs of our clients. We must be fast to respond so that those who need help will get help fast. We want that to be part of the ministry’s image, by walking the extra mile and providing service with a caring heart,” she said.
The ministry’s Ramah Tamah Aidilfitri event was attended by staff from the ministry, related departments and agencies.
Assistant Minister of Early Childhood Education Rosey Yunus, Welfare Assistant Minister of Welfare Robert Lawson Chuat and director of Women and Family Development Department Noriah Ahmad were among those present.