Sabah's hardcore poverty rate not the same as revealed in Parliament, claims Hajiji

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor claims that Sabah's hardcore poverty rate is not the same as the statistics shared by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli in Parliament earlier this week.

Without providing specifics, the Chief Minister said Sabah's figures on the hardcore poor in the same did not tally with those shared in Parliament.

"The data obtained by the Sabah government is somewhat different to the data reported by the minister.

"But in any case, this is a fight that must be prioritised by the state government," he told reporters after breaking fast in the Tuaran district on Saturday (March 16).

He said that the state was trying its best to lower the number of hardcore poor, especially in eight Sabah districts deemed as the most poverty stricken.

Hajiji, whose Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-led government has been in power since September 2020, said he had given the responsibility to the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) secretariat to come up with plans to bring down the hardcore poverty rate.

He said the state already had existing initiatives in place.

"One is to give 1,500 affordable homes to the hardcore poor every year.

"We provide assistance like capital for small businesses and to find jobs for them.

"I have also instructed every government-linked company (GLC) and new investors coming into Sabah that they must provide jobs for those qualified under the e-Kasih (National Poverty Data Bank system)," Hajiji said.

On Thursday (March 14), Rafizi told the Dewan Rakyat that the hardcore poverty rate in Sabah was 1.2% while the national rate was 0.2%.

He said the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2022 report showed that eight Sabah districts had a higher rate than the national rate, with Tongod the highest at 5.9%

This was followed by Beluran (5%), Pitas (4.8%), Kinabatangan (4.6%), Kota Marudu (4%), Tuaran (2.6%), as well as Ranau and Lahad Datu at 2.4%.