KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernam) –The Ministry of Defence has always paid attention to the welfare of armed forces veterans, whether pensioners or non-pensioners and especially those living below the poverty by providing various facilities to help the group.
Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari said that among the aid provided is the cost of living assistance of RM300 per month, through the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) Veteran Affairs Department (JHEV ATM) and so far, a total of 18,786 people have enjoyed the benefit involving an expenditure of RM67.6 million.
“In addition, death benefits are also provided to members and their dependents namely, RM3,000 for the veterans and RM1,500 for their next-of-kin and so far RM455,000 have been paid out,” he said during the oral answer session at the Dewan Rakyat.
He said this in reply to a question from R. Yuneswaran (PH-Segamat) who wanted to know the scope of empowerment that is being implemented for the welfare and sustainability of armed forces veterans in line with the re-evaluation of this group through the Civil Service Retirement Scheme .
The ministry has also provided an allocation of RM103 million for medical treatment, medication and purchase of equipment for the group, he added.
He said in terms of housing assistance for veteran, three initiatives introduced include the construction of 40 houses, repairs and upgrade of 170 houses and the One Member One House (SASaR) scheme.
In the meantime, Adly said the ministry plans to set up a JHEV committee in each state to meet the needs of over 213,000 veterans.
“We are aware that we have insufficient staff to oversee the affairs of the armed forces veterans, so we plan to have a JHEV committee in each state instead of having a committee to oversee two states.
“For that purpose, the ministry is also working to increase the number staff through the MySTEP programme which will involve veterans and veteran associations,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Khlir Mohd Nor (PN-Ketereh) on the ministry’s plans to increase the number of JHEV staff at the state level.
