KOTA KINABALU: The federal government, together with the state government, has made great efforts to eradicate poverty by offering skill-based programmes, improving basic infrastructures and providing access to knowledge.
Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang said the government had offered the 1AZAM programme, set up 1Malaysia Development Berhad that funded the 1M4U programme and provided WiFi access in major districts and villages as part of its efforts to eradicate poverty.
He said the government was also trying to boost the economy by providing soft loans and setting up several funds for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), new entrepreneurs and also programs to help the cottage industry.
“In ensuring the plans are carried out smoothly, the eKasih system was established.
“This is the centralised Malaysian National Poverty data bank set up for the purpose of planning, coordination and monitoring by all related agencies and received the first prize in the prestigious United Nations Service Award in 2012.”
With these efforts, Sabah has seen a drop in poverty rate from 19.7 per cent to 8.1 per cent from 2009 to 2012.
In the same period, Teo said poverty rate in rural areas recorded a sharp decline from 32.8 per cent in 2009 to 12.9 per cent in 2012.
Poverty rate in the urban areas had also dropped from 9.8 per cent to 5.3 per cent in the same period, he added.
Teo said this at the signing and exchange of documents of Sabah Institute of Art (SIA) – Commission on Sabah’s Affair (COSA) Caring Fund programme here yesterday.
The SIA-COSA Caring Fund programme gives an opportunity for students from needy families, especially Sabahan natives to pursue higher education.
Students under the programme will undertake a three-year diploma course on scholarships offered by SIA while COSA will assist the students in their transportation, accommodation and living allowances throughout their study.
Speaking of education, Teo said education was a universal dream, one that granted transformative seeds of opportunity to every child.
In the 1970, one third of Malaysia’s population aged six and over had never attended school.
“Today, Malaysia is close to achieving the second Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education, with almost all school-age children completing six years of learning.
“Public investment in schools has been a key factor in successfully reducing poverty from the high levels seen in the 1970s to the level prevalent today,” he said.