17,000 BR1M recipients say they no longer need it

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said they had personally sent a letter to his Ministry as they felt they were already financially stable.

He said the move showed a high level of maturity among Malaysians and their names will be removed from the BR1M recipients list.

“They sent us letters to say that their families do not need BR1M. While most of them were in the list of recipients, they felt no need for it.

“There are those who are now earning more than RM3,000. This shows a high level of maturity among our society. It’s not easy as a recipient to suddenly write a letter to say that their family are now financially stable. 17,000 is also not a small number,” he told reporters after presenting BR1M 2014 for the Tambun constituency on Sunday.

Ahmad Husni has also not denied isolated incidences where unqualified recipients had received the financial aid.

“We need to be honest while filling in the form because we have to understand the money is from taxpayers. We cannot simply take money from the people because there are principles in place. If we are not qualified for the aid, then we shouldn’t take it,” he said.

On another matter he said about 100,000 BR1M recipients who did not received the aid via their bank accounts yesterday should see it banked in by Monday.