Hajiji (second left) receiving a memento from Maznah and Angkui after launching the Kopeks annual general meeting.
KOTA KINABALU: Many lower paid state and federal civil servants in Sabah have resorted to borrowing from illegal moneylenders or ‘Ah Long’.
This was revealed by the Sabah Government Employees Cooperative Berhad (Kopeks) which said it had disbursed about RM2.52 million to assist its members in settling their loans.
Its chairperson, Datuk Maznah Abdul Ghani, said the disbursement of the money is considered its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to assist more than 250 Kopeks members who were having difficulty servicing their loans taken from Ah Long.
“About 400 members have applied for the special loan from Kopeks under this CSR programme, where we would need more than RM3 million to assist them. However, we only managed to disburse RM2.52 million which is not enough.
“We appeal to the state government to assist us in this CSR programme, so that our members will have the opportunity to settle their problems, as we all know loans taken from Ah Long is very serious matter,” said Maznah, at the 38th Kopeks Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Likas Sports Complex yesterday.
According to Maznah in her welcoming speech, most of its members that are having problems with the Ah Long are currently earning salary below the poverty level.
She appealed for the state government to allow for more than 60 per cent salary deduction limit.
In 2010, the salary deduction limit was increased from 50 per cent to 60 per cent, which is the same salary deduction limit permitted for federal staff. The nett pay, however, should not be less than RM700 per month.
“We are thankful for the support from our members in the past three years, and we are hoping for more members to increase their share in this cooperative.
“In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Kopeks, we are introducing an additional share scheme for our members called Saham Emas which requires a minimum of RM1,000 per share. We are targeting 8.24 per cent to 10 per cent returns on this scheme subject to the cooperative’s performance,” said Maznah.
She also disclosed that Kopeks had achieved steady growth in 2012 earning RM19.61 million in revenue compared to RM12.73 million in 2011. With the positive achievement, Maznah had proposed to maintain the 7 per cent dividend to its members.
She also proposed for an additional five per cent bonus as an incentive in conjunction with its Golden Jubilee celebration this year.
Maznah, who is also deputy state secretary, is also confident that the inherited debt of Kopeks amounting RM6 million would be settled in 2014.
Present at the event yesterday was Kopeks chief executive officer Buvil Angkui.