GUA MUSANG: Kota Baru has recorded the highest number of poor and extreme poor registered through the eKasih programme as of this month.
Kelantan State Development Office director Jasri Kasim said according to the latest eKasih statistics, 15,282 families in the district were successfully registered.
He said the figure was based on their census data until this month, which is also cumulative from previous years.
"The residents of Kota Baru have the highest number of eKasih registrations in Kelantan. We encourage those who fall below the poverty income level to register for eKasih so they can benefit from government assistance.
"We also encourage them to register the Utama Data Base (Padu) system because it can indirectly channel information for help from the government," he said when met by reporters at the eKasih Outreach Programme on the grounds of the Gua Musang District Council Multipurpose Complex Hall (MDGM), today.
Commenting further, Jasri said those registered were eligible to receive several types of assistance including building new houses and upgrading dilapidated houses.
"We will help to build houses, for example, for those who have land, do not own a house or have a house in a dilapidated condition.
"Today, there were 11 people identified as eligible to receive a house, involving an allocation of RM80,000 for each house that has an area of 300 square feet and is equipped with three rooms and two bathrooms," he said.
He added that the State Development Office was expected to provide 120 units of relief houses in Kelantan, comprising about RM9.6 million in total construction costs this year.
Jasri said the construction of the first five units began in December 2023 and is still going on.
Meanwhile, Norliana Mohd Kamrudin, 39, a rubber tapper who is also the recipient of the housing assistance expressed gratitude and relief that the application made almost 10 years ago had finally been successful.
"My house is currently in bad shape and needs to be renovated, even the kitchen area has collapsed," she said. – BERNAMA
