YAPEIM Allocates RM13.5 Mln To Improve Housing For Asnaf Families

PASIR PUTEH, July 6 (Bernama) -- Nearly 300 underprivileged families across Malaysia have benefited from improved housing through a RM13.5 million allocation by the Malaysian Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YAPEIM) from 2020 to May this year.

The funds, channelled through the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), have supported the construction and repair of 293 homes for asnaf (those eligible to receive zakat), as part of a national initiative to uplift living conditions for vulnerable groups.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar said the projects include 167 home repairs and 126 new builds, with 199 projects completed and 94 currently in progress.

“This initiative is made possible through generous public contributions to the YAPEIM Trust Fund, which are channelled directly to those in need,” he said at the Sinar Lestari and Sinar Kasih Housing Programme handover ceremony in Kampung Merkang here today.

The housing programme is implemented in collaboration with the Kelantan Federal Development Office (PPPNK) and the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) under the Prime Minister’s Department. YAPEIM, established in 1976, is one of 14 agencies under the Religious Affairs portfolio.

At the event, four recipients under the eKasih Kelantan programme received newly built homes, each valued at RM80,000, totalling RM320,000.

Among them was Nor Liza Hassan, 51, who had waited 14 years for a home. She now provides full-time care for her husband, Mohd Ridzuan Nawi, 52, who has been bedridden since 2011 following a fall.

“This is truly a meaningful blessing. I’ve been applying for housing aid for over a decade,” she said.

Nor Liza also supports their two children, aged 17 and 18, one of whom is still in school while the other is studying at Kelantan Matriculation College in Kok Lanas.

The family depends on monthly aid from the Social Welfare Department and the Social Security Organisation (PERKESO), as her husband previously worked as a school security guard.

To supplement their income, she sells herbal products online and works as a seasonal food vendor during Ramadan, with plans to open a small food stall when circumstances allow.

Also receiving assistance at the event was single mother Nik Shazrina Nik Mohd Zulkiflee, who was presented with a RM9,600 Sinar Kasih grant following the death of her husband in a road accident last year. The aid is intended to ease her burden following the loss of her family's sole breadwinner.

-- BERNAMA