Asyraf: Flood victims want another round of EPF withdrawals
Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today claimed that he had received a lot of requests from the public to lobby for another round of RM10,000 withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
Asyraf claimed that these requests were made by flood victims when he was making his rounds in Kampung Rancangan Tanah Belia (RTB) Bukit Changgang in Banting, Selangor.
"It saddens me to see...
Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today claimed that he had received a lot of requests from the public to lobby for another round of RM10,000 withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
Asyraf claimed that these requests were made by flood victims when he was making his rounds in Kampung Rancangan Tanah Belia (RTB) Bukit Changgang in Banting, Selangor.
"It saddens me to see the people of Kampung Bukit Changgang because nearly all their possessions were destroyed in the floods.
"Many spoke to me during the gotong royong (communal clean up) early: 'Please continue to demand on our behalf that the government should allow a one-off RM10,000 withdrawal from EPF'," wrote Asyraf on his Facebook page.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government has no intentions, for now, to allow flood victims to make EPF withdrawals.
He said it was unnecessary and instead urged flood victims to consider Bank Simpanan Nasional's interest-free loan of up to RM10,000 to purchase essential items. This loan comes with a six-month loan moratorium.
Ismail Sabri said Tekun Nasional was also offering businesses an interest-free loan of RM10,000 with a one-year repayment moratorium.
Previously, the Muhyiddin Yassin administration had allowed EPF account holders to withdraw funds under the i-Lestari, i-Sinar and i-Citra schemes over the past two years.
This had led to some RM101 billion in withdrawals. As of Sept 30, some 6.1 million members have less than RM10,000 in their EPF accounts while another 3.6 million have less than RM1,000.
There are five million account holders belonging to the B40 category. Each member in this category has an average of RM1,005 in their accounts.
Asyraf hoped that the government's decision on EPF withdrawals was not final because Putrajaya's RM1,000 cash handout for flood victims was insufficient.
"(The prime minister should) listen to the people, not Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz," he said.
