‘Warisan seems blind to GRS achievements’
Published on: Friday, April 12, 2024
“The State government, led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor (right), does not make noise but instead work in silence with the issue of poverty being among the main focus," Azizah (left) said.
Kota Kinabalu: The opposition in Sabah is trying to use the issue of poverty for political gain, said Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Women’s Chief Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun.
She said Parti Warisan, in particular, seems to deliberately remain ignorant of the State government’s achievements.
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“They touched on the issue of extreme poverty, saying that we deny Federal data to confuse the people. But the truth is they don’t know anything.
“The State government, led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, does not make noise but instead work in silence with the issue of poverty being among the main focus.
“The State government is also currently implementing the whitewashing of Heads of Households (KIR) data in line with our commitment to eradicate poverty in the State.
“In addition, the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) Secretariat has also been given the responsibility to reduce extreme poverty by implementing efforts and various initiatives in that direction.
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“We are not denying the data but since the process is underway, it is certain that the numbers are no longer the same,” she said in a statement.
Based on the whitewashing data being carried out by the Sabah Development Office, Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU, JPM), the number of hardcore poor head of households is 13,179 as of March 2024.
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The number is down compared to the total of 22,510 in 2023.
“Our efforts will not stop until we are able to eradicate poverty. The issue is a legacy inherited from the previous administration. This is the reality and needs to be accepted.
“Thus, eradicating poverty cannot be done overnight. For that reason, the effort has always been and will continue to be a struggle prioritised by the government.
“Among the efforts taken by the SMJ Secretariat include providing as many as 1,500 houses every year as an initiative to help the poor, providing business capital assistance to those in need and providing job opportunities for local children,” she said.
Azizah hoped that Parti Warisan Women’s leader, Norfaizah Chua, would stop confusing the people.
“Try to see what Warisan did when ruling from 2018 to 2020. What did they do to deal with poverty?
“In fact, statistics from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), clearly show that the growth rate of Sabah’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased during the Warisan administration from 1.5 per cent in 2018 to -9.1 per cent in 2020.
“However, GDP increased from 1.5 per cent in 2021 to 3.7 percent in 2022 under the GRS government.
“Thus, this clearly shows that the rate of development has increased since GRS took over the government,” she stressed.
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