KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government is looking into increasing the quota of housing programmes for the hardcore poor (PPRT) in the state, the Sabah state assembly was told today.
Sabah Rural Development Minister Datuk Jahid Jahim (pix) said that the average annual demand for housing units catering to the hardcore poor in Sabah was around 4,500 units.
“This year, the ministry was allotted a total of 400 PPRT units for distribution. Honestly, the total we have been allocated all this while is far less than the actual demand,” he told the assembly, adding that his ministry had informed the federal government of the need to increase the PPRT quota.
“My ministry has taken efforts to increase the PPRT quota in Sabah, including sending a letter to the Rural Development Ministry at the federal level,” he said in a reply to a question by Datuk Anwar Ayuub (STAR-Liawan) who wanted to know what the government had done to assist and increase the PPRT quota in Sabah.
The ministry, he added, has also cooperated with district offices to compile projections for the demand of PPRT housing construction for a period of five years, which have also been sent to the federal level.
On the number of poor citizens in Sabah, Jahid said 41,490 hardcore poor were recorded in Sabah as of Dec 1, while 24,864 were categorised in the poverty group, and 20,412 in the relative poverty group.
“Therefore, the entire poverty statistics in Sabah shows 86,766 individuals in the hardcore poverty, poverty and relative poverty categories,” he said in reply to a question by Datuk Ewon Benedick (UPKO-Kadamaian) who asked about the latest poverty statistics in Sabah.
On the government’s efforts to overcome poverty, especially for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jahid said that they were drafting several measures that will be implemented to tackle this issue.
“The ministry maintains an open door policy to engage with any party to figure out and solve this problem together,” he added. — Bernama
