HOW many people are actually affected by COVID-19 needs the EPF (Employees Provident Fund)? Over four million people or just two million?

That is the question raised by Pontian Member of Parliament, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan in his tweet on Twitter this morning.

Therefore, Ahmad who is also UMNO Secretary General, demanded an explanation from the Minister of Finance Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and the EPF on such matters.

He added that statistics from the EPF showed that active members were 7,626,272 people and the contributors who left i-Lestari from Account 2 were 4.8 million people while i-Sinar (Account 1), the EPF estimated to only benefit two million members.

For the record, the EPF in a statement yesterday introduced the Account 1 savings access facility, i-Sinar which will benefit its two million members who lost their jobs, given unpaid leave or lack of income based on several categories and conditions as for members with savings Account 1 below RM90,000 and above that amount.

Meanwhile, in March, the government announced the EPF Account i 2 contribution withdrawal facility, i-Lestari of RM500 per month for 12 months involving contributors under the age of 55, effective April 1 to help ease the burden borne by the people.

Previously, UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) have consistently urged the Federal government to pay at once to EPF contributors rather than in stages and extend the moratorium automatically until June next year to help the people facing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nov 2020