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KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has over 70,000 families grappling with poverty, including close to 4,000 in the hardcore poor category, said Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan (pic).
Nizam said these figures were from the e-Kasih database as of September.
He explained that the state was basing its efforts on eradicating hardcore poverty through data from e-Kasih.
“The total number of heads of household categorised as poor and hardcore poor is 72,067, involving 265,335 household members," he told the state assembly during question time on Tuesday (Nov 19).
“As of September, Sabah recorded 68,089 heads of household as poor, while 3,978 are categorised as hardcore poor,” he added.
He said the state government, through the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) Secretariat, was tracing those not registered in the e-Kasih database but who are eligible for assistance.
According to the secretariat, 268 heads of household were eligible but not in e-Kasih, he added.
“This is due to several factors, such as financial difficulties in going to relevant district offices, transportation constraints, lack of access to online registration in e-Kasih, and a reluctance to register owing to feelings of embarrassment, among others.
“The state will intensify efforts to trace those eligible for assistance to ensure that no citizen is left behind,” he said.
Among the assistance provided to target groups is free housing under the Rumah Mesra SMJ programme by the state Rural Development Ministry, with a total of 1,500 units of housing allocated each year across all 73 state constituencies.
From next year, Nizam said the allocation will be increased to 40 units per constituency, involving the building of 3,000 homes at a cost of RM250mil.
As of this month, he said 2,908 houses have been completed, with 1,578 more scheduled for completion before year-end.
He said the state also focused on reducing household expenses through aid such as one-off higher education institution registration cash assistance (Budi), Special Examination Cash Assistance (Bakti) and the State Education Assistance Fund (Bistari).
He also told the assembly that 58,463 heads of household have received Rahmah Cash Aid (STR) ranging from RM200 to RM1,200 each; while 50,556 have received basic Rahmah assistance (Sara) ranging from RM450 to RM1,200 each.
To date, RM40.13mil has been disbursed under STR and RM58.79mil under Sara, he added.
“The state has also provided Special Cash Assistance ranging from RM300 to RM600 for a six-month period, with a total allocation of RM2.8mil,” he said.
