KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 17): The recent major floods that ravaged the nation resulted in an estimated RM5.3 billion to RM6.5 billion in losses, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economic Affairs) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

Mustapa, who officiated the launch of the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) Household Income, Expenditure and Basic Amenities Survey (HIES/BA) 2022 on Monday (Jan 17), said that this was based on a comprehensive study on the impact of the floods conducted by the department.

He elaborated that of the RM5.3 billion to RM6.5 billion in losses, RM500 million to RM600 million were in the form of damage to business premises; residential property damage accounted for RM1.2 billion to RM1.4 billion; and vehicular damage was estimated at RM1 billion to RM1.3 billion.

Meanwhile, damage to the agriculture sector ranged from RM40.9 million to RM49.9 million; manufacturing losses were estimated at between RM800 million to RM1 billion; and damage to public assets and infrastructure were estimated at around RM2 billion.

"In terms of public infrastructure, the government has already begun repair work. For houses that were damaged or ‘totally lost’, the process of rebuilding those have also already started. As for business, we have provided interest-free loans for them to resume their business,” he added.

Meanwhile, DOSM Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that following health and economic crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and recent floods, the HIES/BA 2022 survey is vital for the assessment of the national socio-economic development plan.

“The findings of the HIES/BA 2022 survey will become a new guide for the government to outline relevant policies to target the development of the rakyat in addition to being able to provide comprehensive input towards the implementation of existing policies such as the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and the 12th Malaysia Plan,” he said.

DOSM said the survey — which will be conducted from Jan 2 to December of this year — will allow the government to analyse the distribution of household income and expenditure in a more detailed fashion.

“This survey is conducted through face-to-face interviews and will involve a total of 92,000 selected households consisting of more than 500,000 individuals across the country. In addition to the face-to-face interview method, the selected respondents may fill in the questionnaire online.

“The confidentiality of the information provided by the respondents in the survey is guaranteed in accordance with the provisions under the Statistics Act 1965 (Revised 1989),” DOSM said.

As for the Population and Housing Census Malaysia 2020, Mustapa said the preliminary report is slated to be released in stages from February 2022 until 2024.

Initially, the Census 2020 was to be completed by Oct 24, 2020, but was accordingly postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.