PENAMPANG: Checks on Sabah's database of the hardcore poor show that many do not belong in the category, said state Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
"We need to go through the statistics to see whether they really reflect what is going on. For a start, we realised that there are about 4,000 people who are dead but still part of the statistics.
"The (Sabah Maju Jaya) SMJ secretariat has been going to each division to identify each and every person considered to be poor.
"Then they realised there are quite a number of them who should not be there (categorised as hardcore poor)," he told the media after the closing of the state-leve Kaamatan festival here.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim set a new deadline to eradicate hardcore poor in Sabah by July.
He had also said that the number has decreased from 20,000 to now, at 9,000.
When asked whether the Sabah government could achieve the target, Masidi said there are ongoing programmes to address the issue.
LINK: https://api.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/01/1005642/sabah-reduce-number-h...
"More importantly, government companies have been told to give priority to employing capable family members.
"With the employment that is available, that alone could take a sizeable number of people out of poverty."
