KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) plans to streamline and consolidate more than 300 registered Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) veterans’ associations to facilitate the distribution of assistance to the group, said its Deputy Minister Adly Zahari.

He said under the initiative, to be implemented by the National Veterans Council and the Veterans Affairs Department (JHEV), the number of associations would be reduced to 100, with the associations operating under parent associations to enable government assistance schemes to be coordinated more effectively.

“At the same time, the ministry is also considering increasing the contributions or allocations that we have provided.

“We also hope the state governments will continue to support and encourage veterans’ associations, as JHEV’s focus is on ensuring the welfare of veterans,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.