PAPAR: Over 72,000 registered household heads in Sabah have started receiving the first phase of the RM300 cash aid from the Sentuhan Kasih Rakyat (Syukur) 2025 initiative, according to Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
The aid is being credited directly to recipients’ bank accounts, but over 19,000 household heads are still awaiting their payments due to incomplete registration in the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) Secretariat system, he said.
To address this, Armizan said the Ministry, which also served as the secretariat of the National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol), would roll out an outreach programme to ensure all eligible recipients, particularly ahead of Ramadan, received the aid.
“We urge all involved, including the SMJ Secretariat, State Government and local representatives, to ensure no one is left behind,” Armizan said after an event to advocate for the cost of living and open bank accounts for Syukur recipients, here, Thursday.
The aid targeted those in the eKasih system and was part of a broader effort to ease the financial burden on those in need, he added.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor launched the Syukur 2025 programme on Feb 19, which is expected to benefit 100,000 people across the State.
The aid will be distributed in four phases, with the first phase (January-March) beginning in February, the second phase (April-June) starting in April, the third phase (July-September) beginning in July and the final phase (October-December) starting in October.
Armizan, who is also Papar MP, said household heads whose income fell below the State’s poverty line (RM2,742) or were classified as hardcore poor (RM1,218) could apply for the aid through the SMJ Secretariat portal.
He said the initiative, which carried a financial commitment of RM358.5 million, was designed to ensure that Sabahans benefited from the State’s increased revenue.
“This is not a political handout, but a direct distribution of funds from increased state revenue,” he said, noting that there was no fee for opening a bank account. “We’re not asking people to line up (to receive the aid), maybe they need to register initially, but they’ll receive the aid directly into their accounts,” he added.
