Auditor-General's Report: Aid for urban poor not distributed evenly or accurately

PETALING JAYA: Approved aid for the Urban Poverty Eradication Programme under the Housing and Local Government Ministry was not distributed evenly and accurately to the target group, according to the Auditor-General’s Report 2021 Series 1.

The report stated that the outcome of the programme was not met as there were still participants who had failed to generate income and moved above the poverty line.

“In addition, the management of the programme is less than satisfactory because there are still weaknesses that can be improved upon so that the target group can benefit optimally,” the report said.

The programme consisted of three initiatives, namely the Urban Poor Home Repair Programme (PPKB), Urban Poor Home Build Programme (Housing) and Urban Community Economic Empowerment Programme (PEKB).

The target group was the B40 group in urban centres, with RM201.94mil in funding from 2016 to 2021.

The target for PPKB was not achieved as 113 houses of the 2,300 participants failed to be repaired while it was not deemed feasible to repair five houses, the report revealed.

It added that approved repairs or building of houses for 39 participants, at a total value of RM620,000, were not carried out by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall and Kota Belud District Council.

“As for the Housing programme, nine local authorities did not have a dedicated bank account for the programme; and 22 local authorities had the unspent account balances ranging between RM11,808.43 and RM2.06mil, for a total of RM4.82mil,” the report said.

It also reported that 17 local authorities did not ensure application forms were completed, while 10 others did not conduct site visits to verify the poverty status of applicants and the physical condition of the houses.

“A total of 603 participants (6.6%) were not registered in the eKasih programme; 472 participants (5.6%) received home repair/rebuild assistance from other government agencies; and aid received by 1,974 participants (23.3%) was not updated in eKasih.

“Works were not implemented/not fully implemented in accordance with specifications resulting in improper payment amounting to RM402,046,” the report added.

Meanwhile, for PEKB which aimed to empower the urban poor's economic management with the help of non-governmental organisations (NGO), the issues found included the reappointment of several NGOs despite poor performance.

The report also noted that four NGOs did not conduct survey and verification exercises on participants in the programme.

“Equipment supplied by NGOs did not meet specifications/payment. Equipment not used by 10 participants was worth RM18,315.

“Accommodation, food and beverage payments made to NGOs in excess of the set rate resulted in overpayments amounting to RM9,210,” the report added.

The ministry was advised by the National Audit Department to review the eligibility criteria for the programme so that the aid would reach the target group (urban B40) and there would be no redundancy.

“The ministry needs to review the selection process and the course offered to the participants by considering their needs and market demand so that income can be generated optimally and continuously, thus helping them out of poverty.

“The ministry shall assess the need/mechanism to manage unutilised equipment to avoid losses for the government,” it added.

In response, the ministry said order letters had been issued to Kota Kinabalu City Hall and Kota Belud District Council to return the funding following their failure to implement the programme.

The ministry added that statistics for the B40 group were not acquired from the Statistics Department of Malaysia but instead, poverty line income was used in considering an application.

On the selection of NGOs involved in PEKB, the ministry said approval was made in accordance with the applications put forward by the NGOs.

“The ministry has no objection to the locations chosen by the NGOs,” it said.