KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will provide a one-off payment of RM10,000 (US$2,460) to each of the families of 54 Malaysians who remain missing after devastating floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border region in August.
The assistance was approved by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during a Cabinet meeting on Friday (Nov 6) and will be distributed through the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), local media reported.
Human Resources Minister R Ramanan said the decision followed extensive discussions within the government.
The payments will be distributed according to NADMA’s order of priority for next of kin, with spouses given first priority, followed by parents and children, he said.
Ramanan announced the assistance after visiting a Deepavali carnival at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
He said he had instructed the director-general of the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit, K Raveendran Nair, to obtain further details from the Finance Ministry and contact the affected families.
The floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border region on Aug 26 after a collapse of glacial ice and rock triggered torrents of mud, water and debris through Himalayan valleys.
