Abang Johari speaking at the Sarawak State Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2021 Presentation Ceremony yesterday. – Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (Jan 25): The Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) 8.0 package worth RM285.47 million will be launched soon to help reduce the burden of the people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Describing the package as one of the largest assistances ever provided by a state government in the country, he said the non-cash special assistance will cover the first six months of this year.
“This does not include a special allocation of more than RM91 million to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to cover the cost of tackling the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
“In order to reduce the impact of Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, the state government implemented seven assistance packages to the people, namely BKSS 1.0 to BKSS 7.0, with 30 measures.
“This initiative as a whole involved an expenditure of RM5.30 billion,” he said when officiating the Sarawak Civil Service (SCS) Day 2022 here yesterday.
In a statement for the Special Meeting on the 2022 State Budget in October last year, Abang Johari said the RM285.47 million sum has been allocated under the State Budget for 2022.
He said then that for BKSS 8.0, his administration had decided to continue with some of the key initiatives of the previous packages for the first six months of the year, as well as one-off financial assistance.
He had also informed that BKSS 8.0 is line with the eight strategic thrusts of the 2022 State Budget, which are Protecting Lives and Livelihoods, Steering Economic Recovery, Facilitating and Sustaining Business Recovery, Transforming Agriculture and Rural Economies, Developing Human Capital, Accelerating Digital Adoption and Data Utilisation, Balancing Economic Growth with Environmental Sustainability, and Enhancing Government Capacity and Service Delivery.
In a townhall session in last month, Abang Johari said the Sarawak government will launch BKSS 8.0 if Gabungan Parti Sarawak was returned to power in the 12th state election.