Raise people’s income and quality of life improves, says Rafizi

 

Economy minister Rafizi Ramli said about half of employed Malaysians are earning just RM2 above the poverty line of RM2,208.

PUTRAJAYA: The unity government’s focus is on raising Malaysians’ income level, as this has a direct effect on their overall quality of life, says economy minister Rafizi Ramli.

The minister said about half of employed Malaysians are earning just RM2 above the poverty line of RM2,208, with the majority of households falling under the low-income category.

“The real challenge in this country is about income. So when we talk about poverty eradication, we really want to create programmes that would generate sustainable income for these households.

“Once we progress with increasing income levels, some factors in the multidimensional poverty index will improve by itself.

“Because (a multidimensional poverty index) looks at access to the internet or healthcare and so on. So it’s a given that when income level increases, quality of life also increases, so let’s focus on that (first),” he told reporters after an event here today.

Rafizi said that was why the government has been investing in infrastructure under various initiatives to alleviate poverty, including the People’s Income Initiative (IPR).

The RM750 million IPR programme involves three initiatives – agro entrepreneur initiative (Intan), service operator initiative (Ikhsan) and Insan.

Insan sees participants selling ready-made food through vending machines, while Intan involves 800 acres (324ha) of federal government land being opened up for people to participate in agricultural activities.

Meanwhile, Ikhsan will see people skilled in maintenance and service recruited for the public sector.

Rafizi was responding to former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who earlier raised doubts over the unity government’s goal to eradicate hardcore poverty.

The Perikatan Nasional chairman questioned whether the poverty line used by the government was still realistic, saying the approach needed to shift from relying on household income to addressing multidimensional poverty. - FMT