KOTA KINABALU: Sabah UMNO Election Director, Jeffery Nor Mohamed, has questioned the need for another secretariat, especially SMJ, to coordinate assistance for the poor when there is already the Sabah State Welfare Department that can be empowered.
“Is there a need to waste the people’s money by appointing another agency to distribute aid?”
“What is the use of having a UPPM unit where there are two PPM appointments in one or two DUNs?” Among the fundamental tasks of UPPM is data collection, including data on residents categorised as poor and hardcore poor,” he said in a statement today.
Jeffery, who is also the Putatan UMNO chief, said that UPPM staff in each DUN must be more effective in communicating with local leaders and not selective in carrying out data collection tasks.
According to him, to facilitate data collection, there is a need for ‘zoning areas’ where certain regions can be prioritised.
“The urban poor also need to be given due attention by the municipal council, and the UPPM and welfare department should meet more frequently and reduce the interval between focus group meetings so that decisions can be made promptly. This change needs to be implemented immediately,” he said.
Jeffery also expressed disappointment with the statement from the Gagasan Rakyat Information chief, Datuk Haji Nizam Datuk Abu Bajkar, that those who are poor or extremely poor are “ashamed” to inform about their situation.
“Actually, the task lies with the agencies that need to frequently communicate with local leaders and always go down to the ground, so that negative perceptions are no longer shown by those who really need help from the government,” he said.
In this regard, Jeffery believes it is time for “everyone to want to change.”
He said that urgent needs must be addressed more effectively, including creating ‘economic pools’ for zones categorised as poor and with high levels of extreme poverty.
He said this ensures the foundation for forming the ‘financial circular’ ecosystem can be implemented to improve the living standards of the surrounding people.
“Education is also very important because it can change the fate of oneself and the family… so of course, it’s not just about collecting data from the head of the household for poverty assistance, but educational assistance for their children can also be provided for the long term.”
“In that way, the poor people of Sabah will break free from the cocoon of poverty not just through monthly welfare assistance, zakat, or food baskets, but we are looking at it from a long-term perspective,” he added.
