Jahid
KOTA KINABALU: The redemption of Bantuan Prihatin Sabah 2.0 has been extended to July 13, said Rural Development Minister Datuk Jahid Jahim.
He said the redemption of the one-off RM300 can be done at all BSN outlets in the state.
“However we ask everyone to first check if they qualify to receive the financial assistance. They can do it at https://bkn-covid.sabah.gov.my/bsp-semak/,” he said, adding that the list of BSN branches open during the MCO is available at https://www.bsn.com.my/page/c19branchclosure.
According to Jahid, 51,120 recipients of the 153,699 listed to receive the BSP2.0 are to get the financial aid in cash while the remainder had the aid credited into their bank account.
He said that the dissemination of BSP3.0 is now in process and it is also a one-off RM300 to assist those affected by the Movement Control Order to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
The Rural Development Ministry, he said, was entrusted to disseminate the financial aid to those in the poor, hardcore poor and e-Kasih category in Sabah.
Based on the 2019 statistics, 1.9 per cent of the rakyat in Sabah belonged to this category.
Jahid said that the RM45,612,200 for BSP 3.0 is addition to the RM238,369,318 disbursed through BSP 1.0 and BSP 2.0 since last year.
“The BSP data is currently being updated at all districts so that the BSP3.0 assistance can be directly credited into the recipient’s bank account,” he said.
The Tamparuli assemblyman said he understands that not all of BSP recipients have bank accounts but the updating exercise has to be done because based on past experience where the assistance is given out in cash, many of those who were supposed to receive it did not redeem the aid.
This means the recipients missed out on the opportunity to receive aid from the government and therefore affected the achievement of the initiative’s objective, he said, adding giving cash is not the best method as it not only increases government expenditure, it also brings about issues such as abuse of identity among others.
Realizing the issues, the Rural Development Ministry is working closely with all District Offices, sub District Offices, Kota Kinabalu City Hall as well as the Sandakan and Tawau Municipal Councils in the updating process of the recipients data.
“Other than checking your status via https://bkn-covid.sabah.gov.my/bsp-semak/ all queries about BSP such as application status, new application and updating data can be directed to your respective District Office.
“This is because the data of BSP recipients is the responsibility of the respective District Office,” Jahid said, adding that the Rural Development Ministry can be contacted through its email [email protected].