Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhammad Farid Saad said he was recently told by a constituent in rural Balik Pulau that there was also a case of several recipients from the same household.

“A constituent asked me, ‘Who receives the RM700 aid?’ I confidently said those who are affected by the floods, of course.

“To my shock, they then asked me how come those who were not affected by the floods also received the RM700?

“They also revealed that there was one family with a few recipients when the aid was only meant for each household,” he said.

Last November’s Invest95W tropical disturbance caused massive flash floods in Penang, the worst since the 1990s.

The Penang government disbursed RM700 flood aid to 48,424 residents in the state at a cost of RM33.4 million.

Farid, who is also a member of the state Public Accounts Committee, said the Penang government should explain how those who were ineligible also received the aid as it involved public funds.

“It would be extremely unfortunate if those charged with approving flood aid have misused their powers on purpose.

“Using the flood aid to take care of cronies and to gain political support is against the Competent, Accountable and Transparent mantra of the state government.

“I hope the state will explain about the ineligible aid recipients, especially in Balik Pulau,” he said.

The RM700 flood aid was part of the Penang Bounces Back programme, where RM200 of the amount was sourced from public donations for the flood victims. A total of RM19.2 million was raised.

The aid has been touted as the largest disaster aid ever given in the history of any state or federal government in the country. The standard aid payout by the federal government is RM500.

The authorities also gave a 10% discount on council assessment rates while water bills were cut by 25% for two months.

Penang Bounces Back coordinator and Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim has yet to respond to a request for comments.