The long queue seen at the BSN branch in Sibu town.
SIBU: Inaccurate information about the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) payout caused the Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) branch at Kampung Nyabor Road here to be overwhelmed by people early yesterday.
According to district police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit, a post on a social media site claimed that the BPN recipients could only cash out their vouchers in the next couple of days.
Consequently, the news triggered panic-crowding at the bank branch, where the queue even extended to the adjacent commercial block, he said.
“People have arrived at the bank as early as 6am.
“We cannot blame them because they have received incorrect information. What we can do is to advise them that they can return home and can come (to cash out their vouchers) at any time,” he said when met by reporters at the bank.
Stanley said he had been informed by the officers at BSN Sibu that the BPN vouchers could be cashed out until Dec 31 this year.
However, he was also informed by the bank that its staff had expected circumstances such as this to occur.
“They (BSN Sibu) are prepared – they have sought assistance from police and Rela (People’s Volunteers Corps) to control the situation.
“Our presence there is to ensure that everything is in order and everyone complies with the Movement Control Order (MCO) requirements, especially in the aspect of social distancing,” said Stanley.
Meanwhile, a BSN Sibu spokesperson assured the BPN recipients that the branch was 100 per cent committed to facilitating them in cashing out their vouchers.
“We are opening all counters to expedite the disbursement of the BPN aid.
“However in the current MCO situation, we estimate that we only have the capacity to cash out the BPN vouchers for about 300 people.
“Nonetheless, we strive to address this matter so that nobody would lose out,” said the spokesperson.