Ratib (right) presenting Masidi with a memento.

KOTA KINABALU (Mar 22): Members of the State Legislative Assembly and Community Development Leaders Unit (CDLU) are reminded to practise financial discipline when spending aid allocations such as Bantuan Orang Susah (BOS).

Sabah Minister of Finance Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said that besides the responsibility of ensuring the aid allocation reaches the intended target communities, Legislative Assembly members and CDLs must also complete and submit their spending reports as required to help the State Government monitor its efficacy and reach.

“The reports are also important for the related departments to keep track of efficacy and reach of the aid as well as for the Ministry of Finance to maintain Sabah’s five-star financial rating, which is among the best in the country.

“The reports are not designed to trouble the YBs or CDLs, but it is one of the government’s measures to ensure the allocations reach their intended audience or recipients,” Masidi said during the closing of a briefing by the Sabah Welfare Services Department with CDLU here on Wednesday.

He said that distribution of BOS, which is an allocation of RM100,000 for each of the 73 members of State Legislative Assembly as well as the submission of the reports must be done consistently, and not to be kept and spent only at the end of the year.

“I hope that all CDLs will do their part in distributing the BOS fairly to people who truly need assistance,” he added.

Meanwhile, Masidi also reminded CDLs to ensure equipment loaned to the public through the Homeward programme under the Welfare Services Department are taken care of to maximise the number of people who can benefit from them in the long term.

“It is our hope that once the clients or patients recover, the equipment can then be loaned to others who are also eligible and are truly in need,” he added.

The Homeward loaner-cycle programme provides patients with essential health care equipment such as hi-lo beds, ripple mattresses, wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators, ward partitions, commode chair and other equipment required by patients who are warded at home.

Also present during the programme were Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk James Ratib and assistant minister Datuk Flovia Ng.