Food aid programme to be implemented to help urban poor: Zahid

PETALING JAYA: In an effort to address the issues involving the urban poor in the country, the High Level Committee on Urban Poverty has decided to implement a food aid programme act through the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS), said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid said the decision which is among eight proposals highlighted during the meeting, is the government's commitment to assist the people in dealing with the high cost of living especially among those in the urban areas.
"The direct implication from the current high cost of living has been critical to the urban poor in comparison to the rural poor.
"It will be through the involvement of hypermarket operators in providing frozen food supply to the hardcore poor in the cities.
"Should this programme succeed, a similar approach may be extended to the public and private higher education institutes especially in big cities," he said in a statement after chairing the High Level Committee meeting in Putrajaya, today.
Also present were Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.
During the meeting, Ahmad Zahid said another strategy is to optimise production to ensure enough supply meets demand and not result in a sudden price increase.
"A joint committee would be formed to study the production cost as well as the distribution chain to avoid any price manipulation by a third party.
He said the government will also carry out a study on supply requirements through data collection on home ownership and rental of homes to identify the household needs and house pricing trends based on a specific location.
"There are also plans by the government to give incentives to developers who build affordable housing, in addition to encourage them to use the latest technology to reduce the cost of construction such as the use of the Industrialised Building System (IBS) which is more economical," the statement said.
It added that the government would work with government-linked companies (GLCs) to channel assistance to the Federal Special Relief Fund that would be used to assist the people's aid programmes.