Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz should immediately announce for the extension of the appeal period for Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) for at least one month after MCO 3.0 is lifted. Tengku Zafrul should also grant a blanket approval to all Phase 1 2021 BPR recipients to make them automatically eligible for the payment of BPR in Phase 2 which has started on 7 May 2021.
The appeal period for BPR is fixed from 15 June 2021 until 30 June 2021. This was fixed early this year and prior to the setting in of MCO 3.0. Individuals who are eligible to appeal include those had their application for BPR 2021 rejected, and those who received BPR in Phase 1 (starting 24 Feb 2021) but got their payment rejected in Phase 2.
The current MCO 3.0 aka Total Lockdown took effect on 1 June 2021 for 2 weeks initially, and extended for another 2 weeks until 28 June 2021. This means those BPR applicants who are not computer savvy will have only 2 days to hand over the appeal to IRB should there is no extension of the Total Lockdown. It will be disastrous if people starting to cramp the IRB branches for the submission of the appeal documents just to catch the appeal deadline
Tengku Zafrul may not be aware that the appointment system at IRB during MCO 3.0 is not getting well on the ground and not able to fulfil the demands of the people.
A check on the e-Janji Temu system on the IRB Website show that all slots for appointment at the IRB Branches in major city had already been taken up for the whole 15 days appeal period, after less than 48 hours of the opening of the appeal system, full details are as follows:-
Johor – Johore Bahru Branch, Kluang Branch, Muar Branch slots fully booked
Kedah – Alor Setar Branch, Sungai Petani Branch slots fully booked
Kelantan – Kota Bahru Branch slots fully booked
Melaka – Melaka Branch slots fully booked
Negeri Sembilan – Seremban Branch slots fully booked
Pahang – Kuantan Branch, Temerloh branch slots fully booked
Perak – Ipoh Branch, Taiping Branch, Teluk Intan branch slots fully booked
Perlis – Kangar Branch slots fully booked
Penang – Bukit Mertajam Branch, Pulau Pinang Branch slots fully booked
Sabah – Kota Kinabalu Branch, Sandakan Branch, Tawau Branch, Keningau
Branch slots fully booked
Sarawak – Kuching Branch, Miri Branch, Sibu Branch slots fully booked
Selangor – Petaling Jaya Branch, Shah Alam Branch, Klang Branch, Bangi Branch,
Cyberjaya Branch slots fully booked
Terengganu – Kuala Terengganu Branch slots fully booked
Kuala Lumpur – Bandar Kuala Lumpur Branch, Cheras Branch, Wangsa Maju Branch,
Duta Branch slots fully booked
It is also not an option for the people to opt for the service of other IRB Branches as no cross district is allowed during the lockdown. This has added a lot more stress to the people who are already under severe financial pressure due to the lockdown. Tengku Zafrul should understand the plight of the people and immediately do the simple announcement of extension of the appeal period.
The people are in dire need of government’s aids now after the imposition of MCO 2.0 and MCO 3.0 in a short period of six months this year. Any review of the qualifications of the applicants / recipients shall not be the government’s priority now as surely the people cannot be richer in May 2021 (BPR Phase 2) compare to January 2021 (BPR Phase 1).
I call upon Tengku Zafrul to be more practical and flexible in addressing the people’s problem and cut down the unnecessary bureaucracy to ensure that the government aids reach the people at the soonest.
Wong Kah Woh
MP for Ipoh Timur
