by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH / pic by TMR FILE

THE government is expanding the number of beneficiaries for Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) as disqualified applicants could begin to submit an appeal for the financial aid.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (picture) said the applicants would have until August 15, 2019 to submit their appeals, with supportive documents from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

“With this process, those who were unqualified before would still have the chance to present their appeal, along with IRB’s documents.

“The government will continue to make proactive measures in solving the issues arise during the distribution of BSH and make sure that the programme achieves its main objective of alleviating the living cost of the bottom 40% income group (B40),” he said in a statement today. 

Lim said the appeal can be made online through BSH’s official website or via IRB’s branches of Pusat Khidmat Hasil (PKH) as well at the Urban Transformation Centres (UTC).

He added that the second phase of the financial aid has been distributed starting May 28, 2019, which includes 3.6 million beneficiaries amounting to RM1.42 billion. 

“The distribution was made after the government conducted the verification processes on 3.6 million of the approved beneficiaries.

“The second phase includes payments of RM1.42 billion, including payments to 3.2 million children of the beneficiaries aged 18 and below while children with persons With disabilities (PWD) are exempted from age restriction,” he said. 

Presently, the government has paid out RM2.62 billion under the BSH programme for 2019 for both phases.