Aid not reaching hardcore poor in Sabah

By Dominic Legeh

NABAWAN: A Sabah assistant minister has rapped the BN-led federal government for the confusion and delay in the distribution of aid to needy rural folk in the state.

Nabawan assemblyman, Bobbey Suan, said federal ministries and the implementing agencies responsible for distributing financial assistance to the needy should be efficient to prevent any inconvenience.

He said that those involved seemed to have forgotten that the assistance is for people in need of help and any foul-up was an extra burden for them.

He warned that the government's efforts would be useless if it was not delivered properly and did not reach the targeted group.

Suan said this after presenting the '1Azam' allowance letter to 557 recipients in Mukim Nabawan recently when he found that about 102 of them were no longer in the latest e-Kasih list of hardcore poor folks.

“Because they used the old list that was produced 10 years ago, there are those who have been left out despite deserving assistance,” said Suan, who is also Assistant Agriculture and Food Industry Minister.

The presentation ceremony also revealed that there were some deceased still listed as recipients for the '1Azam' allowance while some recipients were working in the civil service and not qualified for the aid.

Unfair distribution

The discrepancy had caused anger and accusations that the government is being unfair to the people, he said.

“Probably the authorities concerned were so in a rush to complete the whole process (1Azam presentation) just to achieve their respective performance index under the National Key Result Area (NKRA) or so eager to please the prime minister, and not the people first, that these things happened,” he said.

According to him, his Unit Pemimpin Kemajuan Rakyat (UPKR) had written to the state secretary on the problem but had yet get any answer.

The '1Azam' allowance is provided by the government and channelled through the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry for those identified as hardcore poor.

The presentation ceremony was organised jointly by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) and the state Poverty Eradication Focus Committee. Recipients can redeem the aid at the nearest post office.

The 557 people involved in the presentation in Mukim Nabawan were among a total 1,524 identified eligible for the allowance in the constituency.

Meanwhile, Suan also cautioned the post office representatives to be ready to distribute the cash assistance particularly as it involves recipients from the remote rural areas.

He said most of the '1Azam' recipients in Nabawan came from villages that required a boat ride to reach the nearest town where there is a post office.

“It cost about RM350 to charter a boat to the nearest town and go redeem the allowance at the Nabawan post office. If the post office ran out of cash, which commonly happens, where will the recipient turn to, they definitely will not have anymore money left after that” he said.