PUTRAJAYA, April 7 — The one-off Aidilfitri 2023 special financial assistance of RM200 will be channelled to 240,000 paddy farmers and 38,500 fishermen starting this Monday (April 10), said the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS).

MAFS said that the payment will be made through the designated agencies which are the Farmers Organisation Authority (LPP), the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA), and the Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (KADA) for paddy farmers.

For coastal fishermen, aid payments will be made through the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM), while for inland fishermen, assistance will be channelled through the Department of Fisheries (DoF).

MAFS also said that the assistance will only be given to paddy farmers and fishermen who are Malaysians.

The ministry said eligible farmers are those who are involved in rice planting activities in 2022 and are registered with government-appointed agencies and are subject to specific conditions set by the MAFS Rice Industry Development Division.

Eligible fishermen are those who have been actively carrying out fishing activities and are registered with agencies appointed by the government and are subject to specific conditions set by LKIM and DoF.

For any questions, the groups can contact the MAFS Aidilfitri special financial assistance operation room at 03-8870 1759/ 1760/ 1761, DoF 03-8870 4422/ 4475, LPP 03-2610 9664, LKIM 03-8064 9303, MADA 04-772 8255 and KADA 09-745 5388.

On March 30, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when announcing the good news said that the assistance would benefit 850,000 rubber smallholders, paddy farmers and fishermen at a cost of RM170 million.

In the Budget 2023, the government announced assistance of RM300 per month for fishermen, RM200 per month for paddy farmers for a period of three months per season as well as increasing the monsoon contribution from RM600 to RM800 for a period of four months to rubber smallholders. — Bernama