KOTA KINABALU: The reluctance to improve livelihood is one of the challenges to eradicate hardcore poverty in Sabah, said State Rural Development assistant minister Datuk Seri Dr Ruddy Awah.
Based on information obtained from the Sabah State Development Office (SDO), there are a total of 18,853 hardcore poor individuals in the state as of Oct 31, 2023.
Ruddy said among the main challenges in achieving the government's target to eradicate hardcore poverty by year end include hardcore poor individuals who are unwilling to participate in recommended programmes and lacking specific skills for self-improvement.
"It is also because of the mentality of hardcore poor individuals who are reluctant to move from their place of origin.
"The location of hardcore poor individuals in remote areas makes it difficult for them to participate in income improvement programmes offered by the government.
"The criteria for hardcore poor groups do not meet the requirements of aid, for example, agricultural aid but not owning land and others," he said.
Ruddy was responding to a question by Datuk Hassan A Gani Pg. Amir (Gagasan-Sebatik) on the current percentage of the hardcore poor in Sabah and what the main challenges are, in achieving the government's target to eradicate hardcore poverty by the end of 2023.
Ruddy also said the high number of hardcore poor individuals registered in the E-Kasih system and exhaustion of agency locations this year had also made the eradication effort difficult.
"Hardcore poor individuals registered in the E-Kasih system are mostly above the productive age group which is over 64 years old."
