Monday June 23, 2008
ALOR STAR: Information on poor Malaysians will be listed in the e-kasih database by year-end.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum said the database could be used to ensure fair distribution of assistance and check overlapping of aid programmes.
The Implementation and Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department is carrying out a study on the poor in urban and rural areas.
“We also want to make sure no needy people are left out from aid programmes.
“Quite a number of poor people are left out because they have not fulfilled certain conditions,??? said Mohd Johari, who is also Kubang Pasu MP, after visiting four poor households in Mukim Sungai Laka in the Bukit Kayu Hitam constituency on Saturday.
He said it was time to review the criteria for aid eligibility and relax the rules to help the needy.
Johari said the needy folks he visited on Saturday were not receiving any form of welfare aid although they were living in pathetic conditions with no water and electricity.
“Even in Kubang Pasu, the constituency of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, we find that aid did not reach deserving individuals because those given the responsibility to carry out the survey did not do their job well.
“I came across a house that had no walls. There are houses where occupants run out when it rains because they fear the house will collapse,??? he said.
He said an elderly man who he visited in Kampung Masjid on Saturday lived alone in a run-down house that had no electricity and water supply.
“The man is more than 60, but he did not qualify for aid because he does not have any dependents.
“He is too frail to work, and is not getting any aid,??? he said.
ALOR STAR: Information on poor Malaysians will be listed in the e-kasih database by year-end.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum said the database could be used to ensure fair distribution of assistance and check overlapping of aid programmes.
The Implementation and Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department is carrying out a study on the poor in urban and rural areas.
“We also want to make sure no needy people are left out from aid programmes.
“Quite a number of poor people are left out because they have not fulfilled certain conditions,??? said Mohd Johari, who is also Kubang Pasu MP, after visiting four poor households in Mukim Sungai Laka in the Bukit Kayu Hitam constituency on Saturday.
He said it was time to review the criteria for aid eligibility and relax the rules to help the needy.
Johari said the needy folks he visited on Saturday were not receiving any form of welfare aid although they were living in pathetic conditions with no water and electricity.
“Even in Kubang Pasu, the constituency of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, we find that aid did not reach deserving individuals because those given the responsibility to carry out the survey did not do their job well.
“I came across a house that had no walls. There are houses where occupants run out when it rains because they fear the house will collapse,??? he said.
He said an elderly man who he visited in Kampung Masjid on Saturday lived alone in a run-down house that had no electricity and water supply.
“The man is more than 60, but he did not qualify for aid because he does not have any dependents.
“He is too frail to work, and is not getting any aid,??? he said.
