SUNGAI BULOH: In the past two years, more than RM6mil in community-focused funds have been allocated in the Sungai Buloh constituency, primarily for improvements in education and public infrastructure, says its MP Datuk Seri R. Ramanan.
The Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister said that education is a priority for these funds as it forms a crucial foundation for future generations.
"Education is vital as our children are the future heirs of this nation. Therefore, a significant portion of the funding is channelled to schools to enhance facilities and management.
"Additionally, part of the allocation is used for road maintenance and flood disaster management," he said after attending the Sungai Buloh parliamentary constituency's Deepavali Open House with Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) at its service centre.
Also present were the ministry's deputy secretary-general Datuk Zamri Salleh and AIM managing director Datuk Mohamed Shamir Abdul Aziz.
According to Ramanan, all community-focused allocations for this year and last year were fully utilised, including for the construction of an orphanage and school development, with no funds returned.
In his speech, Ramanan also mentioned that the infrastructure development allocation includes over RM1mil for school management, RM1mil for public amenities and RM4.7mil for road upgrades in the Sungai Buloh area.
Ramanan, also responsible for addressing issues related to the Indian community and the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra), promised to introduce various new initiatives for the Indian community next year.
"Apart from addressing raised issues, we are also focusing on initiatives to improve the standard of living for the Indian community.
"This year, initiatives include the Special Fund for Indian Women Empowerment (PENN) under AIM and the Bank Rakyat Indian Entrepreneur Financing Programme (Brief-i)," he said.
He noted that the Brief-i programme has greatly benefited Indian entrepreneurs, with more than RM40mil out of the RM50mil fund already disbursed.
The PENN programme, although only introduced five months ago, has successfully disbursed RM22mil out of a total of RM50mil. – Bernama
