(From left) Shareen, Shariah, Mohd Yusla, Mohd Iskandar and Zaki during the launch of the Mekar programme in Batu Pahat.
A PROGRAMME to help increase income levels of marginalised communities and alleviate poverty was launched in Batu Pahat, Johor.
It enables eligible participants to take up entrepreneurship courses to help them start or expand their business.
The “Yayasan PETRONAS Memampankan Ekonomi Asas Rakyat” (Mekar) or Touch of Hope Sustaining Basic Economy for the People programme is a collaboration with non-governmental organisation Yayasan Sejahtera.
Yayasan PETRONAS chief executive officer Shariah Nelly Francis said Mekar aimed to assist the B40 community to be self-sustaining by learning new skills or updating them.
“The Mekar programme is part of our commitment to support the government’s effort to eradicate poverty.
“We hope that participants will benefit from this initiative and use this opportunity to improve themselves, their family’s livelihood as well as grow their business,” she said in a statement following the launch.
Shariah said that through the programme, participants would be able to attend a series of courses over a period of two years.
“This flagship programme has been carried out in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. We are now bringing it to Johor,” she added.
An estimated 400 people attended the launch of the programme.
Present were Yayasan Sejahtera general manager Shareen Abdul Ghani, Johor youth, sports, entrepreneur development, cooperatives and human resources committee chairman Mohd Hairi Mad Shah’s representative Mohd Yusla Ismail, Batu Pahat district officer’s representative Mohd Iskandar Rahim and PETRONAS southern region general manager Zaki Mahat.
Apart from signing up to be a participant, attendees also got a chance to visit booths set up by Mekar beneficiaries from other states as well as take advantage of free health screening.
A one-and-a-half-hour webinar during the event highlighted the success of Mekar beneficiaries from other states. — By VENESA DEVI
