Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh – Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (Sept 9): Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) has called for procedures to qualify for financial aid to be streamlined to enable more people to benefit from it.
According to PSB president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, although it was nice to hear that the aid amounted to billions of ringgit, the government has made it difficult for the deserving to receive it.
The Bawang Assan assemblyman said he did not know how many Sarawakians actually benefitted from the aid, adding some had approached him for help with applications.
“The federal and/or the state government should streamline the bureaucratic procedures to enable people to apply for the financial aid easily.
“There are so many steps to take. After I have helped them they still could not get the approval. I suggest they simplify those steps,” he said when met after a Covid-19 management briefing at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex yesterday.
On the briefing, he said it was for lawmakers from both sides of the political divide.
“There is nothing new but this sort of briefing should have been organised long time ago. The briefing was on the structure of SDMC (State Disaster Management Committee), its aims and procedures, but they are of course still useful in a way,” he said.
“Time was not enough for the question and answer session but the subject matter that should transcend political divide, meaning there should not be any political difference as it was about the livelihood of the people.”
Wong said instead of organising a briefing, there should have been a proper DUN sitting.
“There should be proper DUN sitting for at least three days to allow debates by members of the august House so that more solutions can be arrived at,” he said.