KANGAR: The Rural Development Ministry is targeting the hardcore poor in Perlis to be zero later this year, as there are currently only three heads of households recorded in the hardcore poor category compared to 72 heads of households last February.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun (pix), said she hoped to make Perlis the first state with zero poverty and help the people by increasing their income.
“I believe we can improve their lives for the better, by Dec 31, 2019 we expect the state of Perlis to be a poverty-free state,“ she told a press conference after chairing the Perlis State Action Council (MTNg) meeting, here today.
Also present at the meeting was Perlis State Secretary Azman Mohd Yusof.
Rina said among the efforts of the government to increase the income of the people was through the provision of training and entrepreneurial guidance as well as assistance from certain departments to create employment opportunities for them.
“There is also help and guidance from certain departments, maybe (those) who are not interested in becoming entrepreneurs, there are job opportunities for them,“ she said.
In the meantime, she said 74 projects involving physical development with an allocation of RM289.5 million had been approved by the government this year for the benefit of the Perlis people, out of which 24 projects were still in the construction phase while five projects were in the pipeline.
“Some steps have been taken to ensure that these projects are back on track and completed as planned. The five projects are the construction of the new Kangar Court as well as upgrading and renovation projects of the Perlis Youth and Sports Complex.
“The other three are the Chuping Health Clinic project, upgrading works of the UniMAP (Universiti Malaysia Perlis) School of Engineering and the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) upgrading project at Tuanku Fauziah Hospital, Kangar,“ she said. — Bernama
