MIRI: A total of 13,872 individuals in Sarawak have been declared bankrupt by Malaysia’s Department of Insolvency (MDI) after failing to settle their car, housing and personal loans.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri disclosed that Kuching recorded the most with 7,112 cases, followed by Miri (4,167) and Sibu (2,593).
“From the cases , most individuals were declared bankrupt after failing to manage their financial commitment including their car loans,” said Nancy at the launching of Youth Carnival Fiesta 2014 on Saturday night.
According to Nancy, most individuals lack knowledge and awareness on bankruptcy regulations under the Bankruptcy Act 1967.
“In this context , we have embarked on education and awareness programmes on services available under the department to help them,” she said.
Nancy, also the Batang Sadong MP, said the presence of various government agencies and bodies could help youths get the correct information.
“As an example, Advocacy Department and MDI are giving talks to target groups, especially youth, on legal services and causes leading them to be declared as a bankrupt.
Up to January this year, MDI statistics revealed a total of 255,385 bankruptcy cases throughout the country.
The statistics also revealed a big increase in the number of those declared bankrupt since 2007,” she added.
In 2012, there was a total of 19,575 cases registered and 130 individuals under age 25 declared bankrupt.
The fi gure increased to 208 in 2013, showing a rising trend of young people in fi nancial fl ight.
Nancy said MDI’s data from 2007 to 2014 shows 26 per cent (32,955 individuals) of those declared bankrupt was due to failure in paying car loans, followed by housing loan (17.8 per cent) and personal loan (15.7 per cent).