Hundreds of irate victims of the tsunami disaster which killed 66 people in Malaysia besieged Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Thursday and demanded quick aid to rebuild their shattered lives.

Local villagers swarmed around Abdullah as he visited Tanjung Tokong, one of the areas badly-hit by the killer tidal waves on the northern resort island of Penang, complaining that nothing had been done to alleviate their suffering.

A stunned Abdullah replied: "We'll do it quickly."

The government has said residents with damaged houses would get RM2,000 while those whose houses were destroyed would get RM5,000. Fishermen who lost their boats would get up to RM3,000.

Earlier Abdullah told victims at a fishing village in Teluk Kumbar, south of Penang, that the government would ensure those affected by the tsunami were able to return to their normal lives.

"Our priority is to continue to work hard and to do whatever that is good so that the situation returns to normal," he said.

Tanjung Tokong resident Normah Ibrahim, 58, said: "We have not received any financial aid, we don't know if we can ever get any."

Pointing to her house nearby she said "Look, everything has been destroyed and washed away. Even my shop was completely flattened. I have no source of income."

But Wahid Hamid, 39, a trader with four children, said: "We are happy that Abdullah came. It shows that he has some concern for us. We need any kind of help. Money is important, we can't do anything without money. Everything in my house was destroyed."

Anwar's lashing

Earlier former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim criticised the government for delays in handing out aid to victims.

"Give out compensation quickly. This is taking far too long, the government must be proactive," Anwar told AFP after visiting villages in Penang, which recorded the highest number of deaths.

The former finance minister who was heir-apparent to then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad before being jailed for six years for allegedly abusing his power, said priority must given to resettling people who lost their homes.

Anwar, who was freed in September and is prohibited from holding political office for five years, said the victims he visited complained that they had not received the financial aid promised by the government.

Anwar's wife, opposition lawmaker Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who heads the Parti Keadilan Rakyat, said some victims in a fishing village in Balik Pulau complained that they were given rice packets but had no utensils to cook food.

"My feeling is we are not acting fast enough. Our country escaped a direct hit. Our country is rich but there can be better coordination to relieve the pain and suffering," she said.

The Indonesian island of Sumatra, which bore the brunt of the Sunday's tidal waves sparked by a massive earthquake off its west coast, protected most of Malaysia's beaches from the full force of the tsunamis.