Insurance cover for the needy By IAN MCINTYRE
[EMAIL PROTECTED] KOTA BARU: Kelantan is introducing a social welfare protection scheme that will offer insurance coverage to the poor, senior citizens and single mothers. The state government yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Takaful Malaysia Bhd to offer the scheme. The state-linked Tok Kenali Foundation headed by former Lunas assemblyman Saifuddin Nasution Ismail will manage the Takaful trust fund called Armalah. Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, who witnessed the MoU signing, said Kelantan was the first state to offer such a scheme. Nik Aziz said the initial funding of RM2mil would come from the state while the poor, senior citizens and single mothers would be encouraged to become nominee policyholders of the scheme. He said that nominee policyholders needed only to pay a fraction of the policy costs, and they or their families would benefit from the payouts in times of need. Nik Abdul Aziz said the scheme was open to all races residing in Kelantan and the government would foot the bulk of the costs. He added that the PAS-led state would uphold Islamic teachings in its administrative policies, one of which was to help the destitute. Later, state financial planning committee chairman Datuk Husam Musa told reporters that the RM2mil was for the first phase covering poor and single mothers. The scheme would later be extended to provide coverage for senior citizens.//Thestar
