Zahid: Mara offers flood victims payment relief, but no requests received yet

BANGI, Jan 5 — The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW), through its agency, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) will extend support to flood-affected borrowers and tenants of MARA premises, including by rescheduling their loan payments.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that, however, so far, MARA had not received any applications from flood victims to reschedule their loan payments.

“There has been no record so far indicating that any MARA borrowers affected by the flood have requested a deferral of payment.

“However, if there is an application, the MARA management will review it and discuss with the applicant to make adjustments to the payment,” Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Rural and Regional Development Minister, told reporters after officiating the Kuali Cafe@UKM at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Pusanika Building here today.

He added that, for the tenants of MARA premises, the agency would assess the cases individually to ensure they did not suffer losses due to the disaster.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid, who is also the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council Committee chairman, said that the government would offer a second chance to those who had not taken the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination to further their studies at TVET institutions.

He said that the council would collaborate with the Education Ministry to identify individuals interested in pursuing their preferred TVET courses.

Ahmad Zahid said that in 2023, more than 10,160 individuals did not sit for the SPM examination, and a similar number was projected for 2024.

He said that applications for admission to the 1,398 TVET institutions nationwide could be made through the UP_TVET platform, allowing individuals to select courses and institutions they were interested in.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek was recently reported as saying that the attendance rate for those sitting for the SPM 2024 had reached 97 percent as of Jan 2, with her ministry still updating the data, as about 10,000 candidates had yet to confirm their attendance for the annual examinations. — Bernama