As promised, DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock today visited the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to obtain the full list of recipients of the JE Humanitarian Fund, but to no avail as MCA has refused to entertain his demand.

Kerk was unable to meet MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik for clarification on recent allegations by pig farmers in Bukit Pelanduk that monies in the fund were discreetly disbursed to those who were not entitled to it. It is alleged that 25 persons received RM21,000 each from the fund last month.

Instead, Lings political secretary Loh Seng Kok asked Kerk to disclose information about the DAPs Bukit Cina Fund when Kerk asked for the name list.

Kerk pointed out that if Loh wanted to divert the issue, then he (Loh) should deal directly with the farmers who were present.

A group of 35 people, mostly pig farmers and widows from Bukit Pelanduk were at Wisma MCA today to seek clarification from the second largest component in the ruling front and demand for the name list.

Several policemen were present at the scene. Though there was no untoward incident, a slight commotion ensued when several farmers scolded Loh.

At a press conference later, Kerk revealed that he had received a letter from MCA saying that those responsible for the fund, Leong Tang Chong and Lim Si Cheng, would contact him at a suitable date to discuss outstanding issues regarding the fund.

Kerk said he was willing to wait for the discussion to be held but insisted on collecting the name list today.

Theres no need to delay releasing the list, Kerk said. Im very disappointed that they have not given us the list today.

Dubious recipients

The DAP leader also revealed that MCA has never offered any explanation on the discrepancies in its list of recipients two years ago.

DAP discovered dubious recipients from a total of 4,426 names in the list which was released by MCA in October 2000.

Among the recipients were 706 Malay Malaysians and more than 150 names without identification card numbers.

Meanwhile, the widows who were present today urged MCA to disburse the money fairly.

This is public money. MCA should not retain the money. It should be disbursed to the right people, said a 40-year-old woman who only wanted to be known as Yeo.

The mother of four who is also taking of her parents-in-law said the money would lighten the burden for widows who need to provide for their childrens education.

Another woman by the name of Teh, also a mother of four, concurred with Yeo. Even though Teh has an 11-year-old child who is a Nipah carrier, she did not receive the recent disbursement.

Confusion over eligibility

Since November last year, 28 widows in Bukit Pelanduk have requested that the claimed balance of RM1.06 million in the RM15.8 million fund be disbursed to them. However, according to the trustees, the balance was only RM584,935.

It was believed that MCA had disbursed the fund to Nipah carriers. However, the affected farmers had thought that only Nipah patients  those who fell sick and were hospitalised two years ago  as well as families of deceased farmers were entitled to the fund.

The criteria were announced in May last year by Lim, who is the funds former supervisor.

Kerk said it is fair if the fund is disbursed to the widows as they are the ones facing long-term problems after losing their husbands to the dreaded Nipah virus.

Unlike the government JE Trust Fund which compensates the farmers based on the number of pigs culled, the MCA JE Humanitarian Fund was set up to assist those who are affected by the Nipah outbreak in 1999 on humanitarian grounds.