State Govt committed to eradicating poverty
KOTA KINABALU: The State Government is committed to eradicating poverty, especially in the rural areas of Sabah.
Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin when delivering his address for the opening of the 16th State Assembly sitting here on Thursday, said in addition to implementing existing poverty alleviation programmes, the State Government with the cooperation of all District Offices, local authorities as well government-linked companies (GLCs) and industry players will be carrying out a programme to eradicate extreme poverty in Sabah.
He said this programme will be implemented in phases, namely short-term, medium-term and long-term, covering five main cores for the purpose of matching aid or appropriate interventions for the extreme poor, namely employment, entrepreneurship, housing, education and welfare.
Through a short-term strategy that focuses on providing employment opportunities, he said initiatives such as MySMJ: Profiling, MySMJ Work: PBT, MySMJ Work: DO, MySMJ Work: GLC and MySMJ Work: Industry aimed to help the hardcore poor to earn fixed income or enjoy increased income through employment opportunities.
He said various initiatives and assistance for household heads and members in the hardcore poor category have also been identified through the implementation of profiling for matching aid according to suitability.
“In September 2023, as many as 22,510 heads of household (KIR) were registered in the hardcore poor category of the e-Kasih system. As of March this year, the number has decreased by 42 percent to 13,179 KIRs.
“This is the result of refining hardcore poor KIR data, matching aid or intervention involving state statutory bodies, local authorities and GLCs in collaboration with industry players,” he said.
In terms of improving the welfare of the people especially in rural areas, he said the implementation of the Rumah Mesra SMJ programme continues to be intensified to ensure that rural folks can have a safe and comfortable place to stay, directly helping to improve the standard of living of this group with as many as 20 housing units to be built in each State Legislative Assembly area this year.
At the same time, he said the State Government will implement new skills training programmes such as courses on basket weaving based on PVC plastic rope, basic agriculture, care and marketing of oyster mushrooms, as well as basic Labuk weaving in order to allow the target group to generate income and then become independent entrepreneurs.
“Indeed, the State Government is very concerned with issues regarding the current high costs of living.
“Accordingly, it has approved funding to provide a talent pool for the development of the state of Sabah through the sponsorship of Sabah children’s scholarships. A total of 6,488 students taking various courses at the public and private institutes of higher learning, locally and abroad, have benefited from this fund,” he said.