The assistance by the Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan state governments were in the form of moratoriums on loan repayments and rental, and direct financial assistance to hawkers and petty traders, among others.

Perak menteri besar Saarani Mohamad said a Perak Sejahtera economic stimulus package 2021 worth RM19.5 million had been approved.

Speaking at a virtual press conference after chairing the state executive council meeting in Ipoh today, Saarani said it was part of the state government’s moves to cushion the impact of Covid-19 and the full closure of the social and economic sectors for 14 days.

Saarani said the Perak Sejahtera package would take effect immediately.

The stimulus package includes:

• One-month rental exemption for housing programmes under the Perak Housing and Property Board.
• One-month moratorium on housing loans and hire purchase.
• One-month rental exemption for stalls under local authorities and one-off aid of RM300 each for 47,226 registered hawkers and petty traders.
• One month moratorium on Perak state government higher education loans for 228 students.
• Hotel licence renewal fee exemption for 565 hotels registered with local authorities, one-off aid of RM3,000 for the Perak chapter of the Malaysian Association of Hotels, and RM2,000 for the Persatuan Umrah, Haji dan Ziarah (PUHAZ).
• One-off aid of RM2,000 for homestay management, RM500 for tourist boat operators (in Pulau Pangkor, Temenggor, Teluk Intan, Kuala Sepetang and Kg Dew Kelip-Kelip), and Phase 4 #TravelPeraklah tourism voucher to the Perak Spa Operators Association and PUHAZ.
• Quit Rent: Exemption on late payment penalty, discount on quit rent and parcel rent arrears.
• Agriculture and fisheries: Purchase of seed aid, food inputs, harvesting activities, and food box aid.

In Seremban, Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Aminuddin Harun said the state government will provide an additional allocation of RM10 million to assist people who are adversely impacted by the pandemic and the total lockdown.

He said the allocation would cover food baskets and other forms of assistance to be announced in a week.

“At a meeting with the state exco just now, we agreed to provide a sum to help reduce the burden of the people affected by the on-going pandemic,” he said at a virtual media conference after chairing the meeting today.

He also said the state government had been deducting 10% of the allowances of the state executive councillors since January for a period of six months to be contributed to the state’s disaster trust account.

In Kota Bharu, the Kelantan government announced its Covid-19 Cakna Rakyat Aid Package with a RM2.7 million allocation as an incentive for groups affected by the pandemic during the total lockdown period.

Menteri besar Ahmad Yakob said of the amount, RM60,000 would be for the 45 state assembly service centres in the state.

“Quit rent payments due on June 30 will be extended to Aug 31. Fines for late payment will only be imposed from Sept 1,” he said in a statement.

As a sign of their support for efforts to combat the pandemic, Ahmad, state executive councillors and state assemblymen would each contribute RM15,000, RM10,000 and RM3,000 to be channelled into the Darul Naim Welfare Trust Fund.

Ahmad also urged the people of Kelantan to quickly register and get their Covid-19 vaccine jabs.