22,510 heads of households in Sabah out of hardcore poor status

KOTA KINABALU, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- A total of 22,510 heads of households (KIR) registered as hardcore poor on the locked figure list in Sabah as of Jan 31, 2023 have been removed from the list through the state’s Hardcore Poverty Eradication Programme.

The Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) Secretariat of the Chief Minister’s Department of Sabah said dynamic data in the eKasih database, however, showed that 4,634 heads of household were still classified as hardcore poor and were currently being monitored by the secretariat.

“These 4,634 heads of households include new applications registered in the eKasih system, those not registered, and changes in status from poor to hardcore poor. This group will be addressed under Phase Two of the Hardcore Poverty Eradication Programme for Sabah.

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“The state government will announce the new locked figure data at the end of this year,” it said in a statement today.

On September 13 last year, the Sabah government assigned the SMJ Secretariat the responsibility of implementing assistance interventions to address the locked figure of hardcore poor households.

The SMJ Secretariat has collaborated with the Sabah State Development Office and the Prime Minister's Department's Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU JPM) to conduct fieldwork aimed at profiling, cleansing, and matching assistance for the 22,510 KIR.

It said the fieldwork aims to implement assistance interventions tailored to the needs of the heads and members of hardcore poor households.

The assistance offered includes short-term, medium-term, and long-term support, such as housing assistance under Rumah Mesra SMJ, educational programmes, job matching with government-linked companies (GLCs) and industry players, income enhancement programmes, and monthly cash assistance for non-productive-households, particularly those who have surpassed retirement age.

“However, due to the large number of household members, averaging six or more, the income received is insufficient to meet the family's food needs,” it said.

It added that on July 23, 2024, the state government, through the decision of the Sabah State Development Action Council meeting approved an allocation of RM2.85 million as additional assistance for 1,147 KIR that still retained their status as hardcore poor as of July 20.

The Poverty Line Income (PGK) calculation for hardcore poor households in Sabah for 2022 stands at RM1,218 per household and RM288 per capita.

-- BERNAMA