Sabah Allocates RM50 Mln To Assist Villagers Pay Electricity Bill - Hajiji

KOTA KINABALU, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- The Sabah government has set aside RM50 million to assist villagers who face problem paying their electricity bill.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the allocation would be distributed from next year as a government initiative to help the people in the state.

"The initiative is taken to lighten the burden of eligible villagers who have problems settling their electricity bill,” he said when officiating the Sabah State Education Assistance Presentation Ceremony at Menara Kinabalu here today.

Hajiji said also starting this next year, the state government will be giving RM300 aid to hardcore poor families in Sabah for a period of one year.

He said that the state government through its departments and agencies has also taken the initiative of providing various educational assistance and contributions to students and graduates to ease the burden of the parents concerned.

He said this includes the Sabah Foundation Scholarship, Bursary and Study Loan Programme which allocates RM57 million for 4,500 students next year.

In addition, the Sabah State Government Scholarship (BKNS) with an allocation of RM127 million also targets the sponsorship of 3,850 new students studying at local and overseas universities and financing existing sponsored students next year.

"This amount has increased compared to RM113 million allocated by the government this year," he said while new and existing education assistance amounting to RM79.5 million, will also be provided in a lump sum, including religious, language and literature assistance for next year.

At the ceremony, Hajiji presented BKNS assistance to 100 students studying at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), and 100 students receiving assistance from the Sabah State Education Fund (TPNS).

Also provided was the Bantuan Ihsan Sekolah Sabah (BISBAH) for this year with an allocation of RM10 million involving all schools in Sabah, Bantuan Ihsan Komputer (BAIK) and Bantuan Khas Program Pendidikan (BANTU).

Meanwhile, he said the Sabah Islamic Religious Council, through zakat funds, has also mobilised various education initiatives by allocating RM47.3 million specifically for the education sector next year.

"As of November this year, there was an increase of RM4.9 million from the previous year with a total expenditure of RM37.4 million," he said.

-- BERNAMA