IPOH: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim intends to turn Perak into a successful example of the People's Income Initiative - Agricultural Entrepreneurship (IPR-INTAN) project for other states to emulate.
He said Perak state secretary Datuk Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim and the related state executive councillor had stated that they had identified several plots of land in the state that have been approved for the project and were ready for cultivation.
"There is a process to follow, so maybe it needs to be informed to the state government or other statutory bodies.
"We want to set an example, in these one or two months, we can get a report that Perak is the first state with enough land for a modern agricultural project such as this," he said during his speech after visiting the North Corridor Economic Region's (NCER) Ulu Kinta IPR-INTAN project at Bahagia Hospital in Tanjung Rambutan here today.
Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli were also present.
Anwar also said that the Economy Ministry would prepare whatever is needed for the project in the state should there be other requirements, and expressed his hope that land-related matters for the project would be brought up at the next National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL) special meeting.
The meeting, he said, will involve other ministries including the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry that will be required to prepare the land.
"I mentioned prison land, Home Ministry land, Education Ministry land and other areas under the Health Ministry that can be borrowed for a certain amount of time (for the project).
"I don't know whether it's for a minimum of five years, I'm not sure, but it has to be prepared, this is what we want in the short term," he said.
Rafizi meanwhile shared that seven months after the IPR was launched, his ministry has only managed to obtain 1,000 acres (about 404 hectares) throughout the country.
"This is land from the Federal Government held by various agencies, but we know that there are much more with central ministries and agencies as well as state governments," he said, adding that his department aims to create 20,000 jobs for the hardcore poor by offering monthly salaries under the IPR projects by 2025.
"We have around 1,300 IPR projects throughout the country, but we need land for them if we aim to create jobs as I view IPR as a job creation method, especially in the rural areas where we cannot bring in factories, so the best way would be to provide half an acre per person at IPR sites," he said.
IPR has three models, the Food Entrepreneur Initiative (INSAN), INTAN and the Service Operator Initiative (IKHSAN), and was launched on Feb 26, 2023 to boost people's income in line with rising costs of living. - BERNAMA
