KOTA KINABALU – Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak (Usukan-Umno) has called for revision of the e-Kasih registry in Sabah by allowing the name list of recipients to undergo community scrutiny to determine genuine cases.
He said he had received numerous complaints over financially capable individuals being on that list and enjoying government aid.
“As a measure for improvement, I proposed the list to be immediately updated to ensure only those truly eligible will get the government aid.
“This can be done by publishing the names of those in the list for display at community centres, or any suitable locations for public viewing.
“Only through the plain-spoken integrity of the people can checks and balances be made to the aid distribution process. This will stop it from falling into the wrong hands,” he said in his policy speech debate at the state assembly here today.
Some 78,429 households in Sabah enrolled in the e-Kasih system, a programme that aims to assist the poor in the state, which has with 40,782 households listed as uncategorised, 21,881 households listed as hardcore poor and 15,766 listed as poor.
Datuk Yusof Yacob (Sindumin-Warisan) agreed that a revision of the e-Kasih list should be done, saying grassroots leadership had tainted the list with names who don’t deserve government assistance.
“For instance, I came to know that there are those comprise civil pensioners getting such aid, getting housing aid from the government, although they already owned a big house for themselves and use the public housing as merely as a garage to keep their cars,” he said. – The Vibes, November 16, 2020
