I REFER to report on 23 Sept 2011 regarding the plight of one Puan Francisca Chong from Papar and her Old Age Assistance Scheme or popularly known in Bahasa Malaysia as Bantuan Orang Tua (BOT) payment. Your report should open the eyes of everyone concerned from the relevant Minister right down to the Welfare Department staff at the ground level.
Although this matter of BOT (not just Francisca) has been highlighted in your esteemed newspaper lately, it is clear that the instructions of the higher level officials to their junior officers were just like "going in through the left ear and going out from the right ear”.
The case of Francisca as highlighted by the Daily Express could well turn out to be the "tip of the iceberg”. I am sure there are many more similar cases through out Sabah and I am just wondering if it had not been the expose by your paper, would the Department’s officials bother?
There must be hundreds, if not thousands more, old aged people who are disappointed, still waiting (for years), been sent on a wildgoose chase despite their physical conditions. Some of them have been kicked to and fro like a football from one government office to another.
The Minister and her Ministry officials should stop issuing directives and taking reports for granted from the comfort of their offices and go down to the ground to check and see for themselves.
How about a surprise visit to the district welfare office once in a while? And for heaven's sake" please make sure that the officers at the ground level are not tipped off beforehand!
The Government, both State and Federal, has all sorts of welfare assistance schemes, BOT included, The rest include E-Kasih, Single Parents'Assistance and so on. But how many of those eligible through out Sabah have been helped? Only God knows.
It is about time that the Prime Minister's 1Malaysia slogan of 'People First, Performance Now" be reviewed.
Daily Express
Sunday, October 16,2011
Page 19
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