Selangor to cut state leaders' salaries for Covid-19 fund
The Selangor state government has reactivated a Covid-19 aid fund which will partly be funded by cutting salaries of politicians.
Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said a mechanism is being worked out to cut the salaries of state cabinet members, assemblypersons and top officers in state GLCs.
Amirudin also announced that he is contributing a month of his salary to the fund to kick things off.
He said this while announcing the "Kita Selangor" ('We are Selangor') aid package which coincides with the second full movement control order (MCO 2.0).
Under the package, the state has allocated RM6 million for free targeted Covid-19 screening, as well as initiatives to help frontliners plus RM6.8 million in allocations for all assemblypersons and MPs in Selangor for Mesra Rakyat programmes.
Amirudin said the targeted screening will cover 50,000 Selangorians such as high-risk senior citizens especially those at retirement homes or needing haemodialysis treatment; the B40 groups and tertiary students.
Under the Health Ministry's latest policy, even if a close contact is traced by health authorities, they will not be tested if they do not show symptoms.
Meanwhile, the Selangor government will also send home care packages to Covid-19 patients who have been placed under home isolation and monitor their health through the Selangkah app.
Those whose conditions deteriorate will be brought to a hospital by the state's Covid-19 command centre.
The state government will also mobilise Selangor Smart Buses to ferry low-risk Covid-19 patients from their homes in Selangor to the quarantine centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (Maeps) to reduce the Health Ministry's burden.
As for frontliners, the state will be providing lunch and dinner to all medical officers as well as to all police and armed forces personnel manning roadblocks throughout the state.
Frontliners can also send their young children to state-run nurseries and daycares for free for two months beginning Jan 25.
A total of RM1.3 million has also been allocated to distribute food baskets to cabbies, school bus drivers, low-cost apartment dwellers, solid waste lorry drivers and the Orang Asal.
The state government is also waiving this month's rent for People's Housing Project (PPR) tenants and will defer rent collection for February and March.
Amirudin also announced a swathe of stimulus aid including RM10 million for an e-kitchen programme to help smalltime food and drink sellers do business online, a micro-credit scheme for small grocers and a RM10 million freelancing platform to help those working in the gig economy.
The state will also spend RM3 million on a programme where 1,000 people will be deployed to help guide Selangorians, especially traders, senior citizens and students on how to to use digital applications in their daily lives.
The menteri besar also announced RM2 million in flood aid for residents of Pahang (RM1 million) Kelantan and Terengganu (RM500,000 each).
