Malacca expands 'Rimbunan kasih' project to overcome poverty

ALOR GAJAH: The Malacca state government is endeavouring to expand the 'Projek Rimbunan Kasih', an agricultural project, to curb poverty in the state.

The State Exco for Women, Family Development and Social Welfare, Datuk Latipah Omar said the success of the Taman Rimbunan Kasih pioneer project in the Serkam state constituency provided an important model in implementing such a project in the other state constituencies here.

She said the project was expected to help about 2,800 residents categorised as poor in the state if it was successfully implemented in all the 28 state constituencies in Malacca.

"It (the project) is extended to the other state constituencies using different categories such as cattle breeding, chicken farming, vegetable growing, fruit orchards or perhaps other fields besides agriculture. We are studying the effectiveness of each project for every state constituency," she told Bernama here.

The Taman Rimbunan Kasih pioneer project in Serkam involved the construction of residential units and the planting of 'rock' melons besides catfish breeding involving 100 Malacca residents categorised as poor.

The project costing RM27 million was first developed in November 2012 and every family selected would receive a house with a floor area of 950 sq ft on a monthly rental of RM100.

Latipah said as a start, the state government was endeavouring to expand the project to the Tabuh Naning state constituency to help the poor families in the area to improve their income. – Bernama