Assemblyman denies five orphaned siblings neglected

BESUT: The five orphaned siblings from Kampung Beris Lampu in Besut whose mother died recently have never been ignored, in fact, they always received attention from various parties.
Kuala Besut assemblyman Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman said the claim circulating on the social media and electronic media was inaccurate as it was made without referring to the responsible party.
He said according to previous records, the Akma Ismail family received monthly aid from the Social Welfare Department (JKM) since 2013.
Akma, 41, died on June 30 due to breast cancer and left behind three sons and two daughters aged between three and 14 years old.
He said Akma's children, Mohd Azriq Irfan Mohd Zahari, 14, Mohd Azril Irman, 13, Azreen Ileya Balqis, 11, Mohd Aziq Isyraaf, 6 and Azlily Ilisya Qistina, 3 had never been neglected and always received aid from their families who are living near their house.
Tengku Zaihan said, his people had visited and handed out aid to Akma's family since she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had held breaking fast event with them last Ramadan.
"The claim that Akma's children were living alone was inaccurate as they have many families and they were living close to their grandfather's house and the grandfather was now responsible for taking care of them since Akma's death," he told reporters after visiting the siblings at their house, last night.
At the visit, JKM decided to transfer the RM400 monthly aid which previously was channelled to Akma's father Ismail Embong to the siblings.
Tengku Zaihan also announced that the Terengganu Islamic and Malay Customs Council (Maidam) has allocated a monthly aid of RM500 to the children. — Bernama