Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim has urged the federal government to give victims of the recent Penang floods financial aid.

In a statement today, Sim said, "On behalf of the people of Bukit Mertajam and Penang, I appeal to the prime minister to provide financial aid to flood victims, just like the Penang state government has done, and also to follow the federal government’s own precedent when it gave RM500 to victims of the December 2014 floods in Kelantan."

The Penang state government has announced that it would be giving RM700 in cash aid to each family affected by the floods, an increase from RM500 originally announced by the state.

Sim (photo) also called on the government to suspend the imposition of GST in Penang until the year-end to alleviate the burden suffered by the victims.

He also repeated Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's call for Putrajaya to release RM1 billion in flood mitigation funds that it had already approved for the state. 

In a parliamentary written reply dated Oct 30, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar revealed that Putrajaya has spent less than half of RM2.57 billion it had allocated for flood mitigation works in Penang.

Thus far the federal government has only spent RM1.04 billion of the approved amount.