PENGKALAN HULU, June 28 — The Defence Ministry will ensure the welfare of Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) veterans, covering health and education, continues to be strengthened through the Peduli Veteran programme (PPV).
Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari said the government has always cared about the needs and importance of ex-servicemen to ensure no one is deprived of receiving the benefits that are in line with the development of the Malaysia MADANI concept.
The PPV will enter its second phase in the Peninsula, covering all states, and he will further strengthen the programme in October in Sabah and Sarawak to ensure the welfare of the veterans is taken care of.
“So far, through the introduction of the PPV, we have given 43 approvals for the construction of new houses for veterans, including 169 houses that were repaired, nationwide while 15,000 veterans received Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) aid,” he told a Perak PPV media conference, earlier today.
Also present were the Department of Veterans Affairs (JHEV) of the MAF director-general Major General Zambery Jefry Darus, and JHEV Perak branch division director Major Izhar Hayatul Israq Ahmad Zubir.
Adly said the ministry will always look for ways to improve cooperation with various agencies to enable MAF veterans to have a second career with a commensurate income after retirement.
As such, he called on ex-servicemen wishing to venture into the fields of entrepreneurship, agriculture and plantation to come forward and get advisory services, matching grants, financing and other suitable facilities from JHEV.
“The ministry and MAF will always make the veterans a priority, so they can choose the field of entrepreneurship or other jobs because, most importantly, they have income after pension and retirement,” Adly said.
Earlier, the deputy minister also visited and presented contributions to two army veterans around Gerik and Pengkalan Hulu suffering from several health complications as well as two MAF veterans cultivating eggplants and chillies and rearing cows.
— Bernama
