By Simon Peter
KUCHING, July 6, 2024 - The Sarawak government is currently re-visiting e-kasih system to study the “actual” rate of poverty in the state.
Picture: PBB president Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg (left) chairing the PBB supreme council meeting at PBB headquarters.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg said he will announce the outcome of the study when he tables the state Budget 2025 in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (SLA) sitting in November this year.
“We will then know the conclusion of the study on the poverty in the rural areas,” he told reporters after chairing the PBB supreme council meeting.
“But for me there are signs that the poverty rate has reduced because the situation on the livelihood of the rural people has changed. There are changes in the longhouses and villages and many households have 4WD vehicles.
“If they are really poor, I don’t think that they can own 4WD vehicles,” Abang Johari, who is also PBB president and Gedong State Assemblyman, said.
However, he said the list of e-kasih from the federal Economic Planning Unit is still being used in the categorisation of poverty group.
“There are people who own vehicles and good houses, but their names are still on the list,” he said.
He said it is for this reason that the Sarawak government is re-visiting the e-kasih system to study the poverty rate in Sarawak.
“With the availability of the statistics, we will come up with a long term economic policy,” he said.
He said the state government has the list of people who receive welfare assistance from the government.
He said according to the e-kasih list, these are the people who are under the poverty category and should receive welfare assistance from the government.
“Over the years, these people have improved in terms of getting more income, and should not be under the poverty category anymore because they have increased their income and assets.
“Because the e-kasih is giving free welfare assistance, there are people who do not want to leave. If they are out, then they will not receive the assistance anymore,” he said.
He said based on economic data, there must be a precise data, explaining the reasons why Sarawak wants to find out how many people are actually under the poverty category.
He said on the whole the state’s economy is encouraging and that investors are coming to Sarawak due to the stress on the renewable energy that will give advantage to the state.
