KOTA KINABALU: Sabah and Sarawak have been given the lion’s share of rural development funds this year, federal Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his state counterpart here, Ismail said the federal government had given priority to the Bornean states for rural development.
“52.5% of the rural development budget goes to Sabah and Sarawak while the remaining 47.5% is to be shared by all 11 states in the peninsula.
“Sabah’s share is 23.5% while Sarawak has been given 28.5%.
“This is the highest rural development allocation for Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah alone has been allocated RM924 million for rural development this year.”
Ismail said the interior development focus for the year would be on short- and medium-term projects.
“Short-term projects such as improving village roads and installing street lampposts will start in early February and will be completed on Mar 31,” he said.
“There will be lots of short-term rural development projects in Sabah. Medium-term projects will take six months to complete.”
Ismail was also heartened by efforts to enhance the people’s livelihood in rural areas.
“We have carried out short skills courses such as in baking, and provided equipment for participants to begin their business,” he said.
“More than half of the participants started their business after completing their courses and are now earning more than RM1,500 monthly. Some make up to RM4,000 per month.
“Whether the participants are currently working, we target to help them reach an income level of at least RM1,500 per month.”
Of the 80 rural development projects in Sabah last year, Ismail said 12 had been completed while the rest were being implemented.
Several issues concerning rural development projects were also resolved during the meeting, he said.
“Previously, people were expecting approved projects to be completed soon when actually they had not even started.
“From now on, we’ll want to see all elements of the projects, such as design, drafted before we approve the projects.”
On another matter, Ismail said his ministry’s current projects were unaffected by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation into the alleged embezzlement of RM1.5 billion in rural development funds between 2009 and 2015.
“The ministry and our current projects are not affected by the investigation, which is looking into old projects,” he said.
“Even if MACC wants to probe new projects, no problem, we’ll cooperate.” -FMT
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