KULIM – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants absolute poverty to be eradicated by the end of the year through the government’s various aid incentives.
The prime minister said that moves in this direction have begun with all government components ensuring an all-out effort to eradicate hardcore poverty.
Without citing the number of absolute impoverished or destitute, Anwar said that micro-credit aid agencies such as Amanah Ikhtiar Malatysia (AIM) is an example of how the country can overcome poverty in an impressive fashion.
He said this while opening the AIM Madani carnival at the MBI Multifunction Convention Centre here.
Initiated in 1987 with Anwar’s help and guidance, AIM works to provide entrepreneurship opportunities for the B40 – mostly women such as single mothers, divorcees, and poor households.
It has now touched the lives of participants in 3.8 million households throughout the country.
Around RM31.8 billion has been allocated since 1987 to aid participants to escape the poverty trap through training and building entrepreneurship skills.
After he was informed that the repayment rate is the best among all micro-credit facilities in the country – at 99.5% after only 0.28% of the participants were listed as defaulters – Anwar announced an additional RM10 million to be disbursed to AIM before October.
After October, Anwar, who is finance minister, plans to table next year’s budget where he promises to look at increasing AIM’s funding in view of its success stories.
Citing an example of bad debt, Anwar said that the government has decided to waive the bad debt of the Felda settlers’ scheme worth RM8.3 billion last month.
“So, AIM has fared well compared to others. We have people in government-linked companies who have decided to enrich themselves rather than the people they were supposed to aid. At least in AIM, we can see the positive results,” said Anwar.
Anwar also stressed that he does not make empty promises, as all projects he had disclosed would be eventually implemented because some of them take time to be realised.
He also said that today’s leaders should stop spreading hate and lies. “We should be focused on helping the public despite drawing criticism,” said Anwar. – The Vibes, July 15, 2023
