Ling (left) presents a contribution to a recipient as Dusit (second left) and others look on.
MIRI: The amendment draft for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) 1991 for the third phase i-Suri implementation is expected to be tabled in the parliament sitting in July this year.
Senator Alan Ling said the implementation of the third phase will begin in the third quarter of next year.
“The third phase requires compulsory contribution from the husbands via the deduction of two per cent EPF contribution to their spouses or housewives.
“This is part of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government commitment to safeguard the women welfare interests in Malaysia,” he said when officiating at the Presentation of Contribution for Mothers’ Day and Gawai/Hari Raya Celebration at Petronas Station Morsjaya Miri on Friday.
Ling, who is also PH Sarawak’s secretary, stated that the government will extend the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme, Suri Voluntary Incentive Contribution (i-Suri) to eligible Orang Asli and indigenous housewives and other eligible women in Sabah and Sarawak.
A total of 107,619 housewives have registered under i-Suri as at April 31 this year since the implementation of the incentive was enforced on August 15 last year.
“The statistic has surpassed the early target for the incentive which is 100,000 recipients.
“Thus, we want to extend the i-Suri to the targeted group of Orang Asli community and indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak.
He pointed out that there are three phases for i-Suri implementation.
The first phase targeted housewives, single mothers, widows and single women who registered under national poverty database, e-Kasih, where the government will contribute RM40 a month while the husband will have to contribute voluntarily with minimum RM5 a month to the housewives EPF account.
Beside husbands, account holders can also contribute the minimum RM5 to their own account.
The second phase is the voluntary contribution with government incentives and extends social protection to housewives under Social Security Organisation (Socso).
Meanwhile, at the function, some 20 single mothers received contributions in the form of food while the fuel station and RTM Miri staff received Mother’s Day gifts.
The event was jointly organised by RTM Miri and Petronas Station Morsjaya Miri.
The organiser also distributed food packets for Ramadan to the guests.
Also present were Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Sarawak special functions officer Dr Dusit Jaul and Radio Section Sarawak Area assistant director-general Zulkifli Muhamad.