In a joint press conference with the rural development ministry (KPLB) today, Reezal said the rental voucher could be part of the aid under the Bantuan Wang Ihsan for victims affected by the floods.

He said based on the most recent data, 8,257 houses were affected, with 118 in need of complete reconstruction and 8,139 needing minor to major repairs.

“We are proposing a rental voucher to the federal government to assist flood victims in renting elsewhere until their homes are fully repaired.”

He did not disclose the amount the voucher would cover in subsidising rental charges.

Reezal echoed comments previously made by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob regarding budget allocations for flood victims and repairs.

He said a RM100 million allocation would be divided equally between his ministry and KPLB.

“An amount of RM5,000 to RM15,000 is allocated for house repairs and RM56,000 for constructing new homes.

“KPKT will be responsible for housing repairs in urban areas, under the supervision of the respective local governments, while KPLB will handle rural areas outside the local governments’ purview.”

Clean-up and repairs are still ongoing from the devastation the floods inflicted on parts of the country last month. Some homes have yet to recover from the floods, especially in Pahang.

The works ministry was previously reported as saying that repair work on damaged infrastructure was expected to cost some RM1 billion.