The Penang state government has yet to officially receive any financial aid that was returned by any individual, said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng."Up to today, the state government has not received a single sen from anybody," he said. "But if anyone wishes to return the aid, it is up to them. We cannot force them to accept it."
Lim said that it is all right for those who were "deceived" by the state Umno to return the money as the money will be placed in the fund for those who need the annual RM100 from the Senior Citizens Appreciation Programme or the one-time RM1,000 for the deceased's next-of-kin in the state.
"We do not lose out on anything. Only those who were deceived by Umno are at the losing end," he told reporters after launching the Tropicana Medical Centre here.
"But I regret that they mislead the people into thinking that the financial aid for the senior citizens and hardcore poor are from betting revenues."
Last week, several groups of senior citizens had announced that they will return the RM100 given to them, claiming that they did not want to receive the state government aid which allegedly came from gaming revenue. Lim said individuals who do not want to be part of the appreciation programme will have their name struck of the list.
"But those who want to receive the aid (again) would have to make an open, a special announcement to say that they want to receive the aid, just like how they announced they wanted to return the money," he added.-Bernard Cheah
source:theSun
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