Johor Islamic Council allocates RM3 mln in flood aid

JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor Islamic Religious Council (MAINJ) has allocated RM3 million to help flood victims and repair damaged amenities in the state.

State Islamic Affairs Committee chairman Tosrin Jarvanthi said of this amount, RM802,000 would be distributed on Sunday at the district offices of Tangkak, Muar and Segamat, Masjid Kampung Liang Batu and Sekolah Agama Liang Batu in Muar, and suraus.

He said the aid would be in the form of cash and kind.

"The amount to be given will depend on the damage suffered and what was applied for in the forms distributed by MAINJ. For house repair assistance, the minimum amount is RM5,000," he told reporters after launching the Post-Flood Relief Mission here today.

Tosrin said between 500 and 800 flood victims in each district are expected to benefit from the aid.

According to him, six mosques - three in Segamat district, two is Tangkak and one in Muar - were damaged in the floods, and each would be given RM30,000.

He said 200 staff of MAINJ and Johor Islamic Religious Department would be doing cleaning-up work in flood-hit areas in Segamat district today, where 200 sets of cooking utensils would also be distributed.

Seven districts were affected after floods struck Johor on Jan 1, but as at 8 am today, only 705 evacuees from 206 families were still left at 17 relief centres in Segamat, Tangkak and Muar

Meanwhile, Tosrin said there is no change to the standard operating procedure (SOP) for prayers in mosques and suraus in Johor despite the recent detection of 47 positive cases of COVID-19 linked to a mosque in Taman Sri Pulai Perdana here.

He said the SOP which was enforced on Jan 7 this year would still apply.

"We are maintaining physical distancing at half a metre in mosques despite the detection of cases in Pulai Perdana.

"There has been no (new) instruction from the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar (on SOP)," he said.

-- BERNAMA