News - Deadline for tsunami donations in Malaysia

Malaysia. All funds for local tsunami victims, including those set up by the media, must be closed by Feb 1. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who issued the directive yesterday, said that the last date for the collection of such tsunami-related funds was Jan 31. �After that, all these funds must be closed because the collection to date is more than adequate. We cannot have funds that are open-ended because that will give rise to the possibility of abuse,� he said after chairing a National Disaster Committee meeting here yesterday. He, however, said that organisers of funds for tsunami victims in other countries would be allowed to continue collecting donations. Najib said the collection for local tsunami victims currently stood at almost RM80mil, with nearly half of it already disbursed to the victims through the National Disaster Fund. He said that the committee, at the meeting, also approved aid for local tsunami victims whose household goods were lost or damaged in the disaster. Those who suffered losses of RM2,000 or more would receive RM2,000 while those whose losses were valued at less than RM2,000 would receive RM1,000.



Source: STAR North.