Kota Bharu records highest number of poor families as of Jan 2024

GUA MUSANG: Kota Bharu has recorded the highest number of poor and extremely poor registered through the eKasih programme as of January this year.

Kelantan State Development Office director Jasri Kasim said according to the latest eKasih statistics, 15,282 families in the district were successfully registered.

According to him, the figure is based on their census data until this month, which is also cumulative from previous years.

"The residents of Kota Bharu have the highest number of eKasih registrations in Kelantan. We encourage those who fall below the poverty income level to register for eKasih so they can benefit from government assistance.

"We also encourage them to register the Utama Data Base (Padu) system because it can indirectly channel information for help from the government," he said at the eKasih Outreach Programme on the grounds of the Gua Musang District Council Multipurpose Complex Hall on Saturday (Jan 21).

Commenting further, Jasri said those registered were eligible for several types of assistance, including building new houses and upgrading dilapidated ones.

"We will help to build houses, for example, for those who have land, do not own a home or have a house in a dilapidated condition.

"Today, 11 people were identified as eligible to receive a house, with an allocation of RM80,000 for each house that is 300 square feet and equipped with three rooms and two bathrooms," he said.

He said the State Development Office expected to provide 120 units of relief houses in Kelantan, with a total construction cost of about RM9.6mil this year.

According to him, construction of the first five units began in December 2023 and is continuing.

Meanwhile, Norliana Mohd Kamrudin, 39, a rubber tapper who also receives housing assistance, expressed gratitude and relief that the application made almost 10 years ago had finally been successful.

"My house is currently in bad shape and needs to be renovated. Even the kitchen area has collapsed," she said. – Bernama