Bringing Smiles To Hardcore Poor

Saturday October 3, 2009
Bringing smiles to hardcore poor
AT YOUR SERVICEBy DATUK ABD JABAR CHE NAIRural and Regional Development Ministry
ajabar@rurallink.gov.my
Malaysia cannot fully prosper if parts of it remain in poverty. The Rural and Regional Development Ministry is embarking on projects to increase the income of the hardcore poor.
HAZIM Abdul Rahman was excited, and not only because he was in his best clothes. The 10-year-old was grinning ear-to-ear as his family was moving into their new home, a three-bedroom house with electricity and running water.
It was something he had to get accustomed to from the wooden shed with no amenities, where he and his family had lived previously.
With his belongings in his schoolbag, which doubled up most of the time as his travelling bag, he was now ready to take the big step into a brand new world, make new friends and begin a new life, at a place called Agropolitan Gahai or simply “Gahai”, located some 20km away from Kuala Lipis in the interior of Pahang.
Gahai is the second such project implemented by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, through its agency, the Rubber Small­holders Development Authority (Risda), since 2008.
The first, Projek Agropolitan Pulau Banggi, off Kudat in Sabah, was undertaken by the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Felcra), another agency under the ministry.
Hazim’s was among the 80 families of Agro­politan Gahai relocated from their original villages.
Participants were not only given new houses but also promised a new hope for a better tomorrow, with a stable source of income.
From being a population in the backwaters, they are now the mainstream.
The families moved into Gahai a year ago. The project opened its gates to participants with the primary objective of elevating hardcore poverty among the rural folks in the interiors of Malaysia, especially those marginalised by development.
They were not forgotten, but simply left behind. In most societies, they remain forgotten, if not marginalised.
The ministry is working hard to alleviate poverty, especially in Sarawak and Sabah.
Our work with Gahai has set the pace for further eradication of poverty in Malaysia.
Efforts are in place to set the poor free from the shackles of indigence altogether.
Since the corresponding period last year, 50 of the heads of these families have been making a steady and decent living.
They have fixed salaries ranging from RM350 to RM700 monthly, from their work in rubber estates, pineapple plantations, and also as tailors, van drivers and kindergarten hand­­lers.
About 40% are now enjoying income of more than RM700 a month, on track with the poverty eradication programmes envisioned by the Government.
In administering their own destinies, the communities formed committees to meet to discuss issues, and bounce ideas on how to elevate their social well-being.
This ranges from venturing into new economic activities while waiting for the right time to tap and harvest rubber and pineapple respectively.
The 50 heads of family are the inhabitants of the Housing Aid Programme while the remaining 30, who are often old and no longer able to actively earn an income, are shareholders of the scheme.
This, essentially, is the primary role of the ministry – to provide houses, roads, electricity and clean water to the hard-core poor through such projects.
We have also instituted projects to increase the income of the rural folks.
Among the pro­jects introduced are the Skills and Career En­­hancement Programme and the Human Capital Development programmes.
Ten years ago, these projects were pipedreams to the marginalised.
Half a century ago, the ministry set out to combat poverty with a commitment to help the almost “forgotten community” in our country.
Now, they have hope for a promised future, no longer darting from hand-to-mouth and eking out a living from unproductive practices.
The bottom line of the agropolitan project is to enable the participants of Gahai to obtain incomes ranging from RM1,050 to RM1,200, so they can break free from abject poverty by 2010. We are on track to achieve this vision.
The RM8.5mil Agropolitan project was launched by former Prime Minister Tun Abdul­lah Ahmad Badawi on July 31, 2008.
In a nutshell, an agropolitan project is an agriculture township developed through various agricultural activities and agricultural-related businesses.
Its two objectives - to eradicate hardcore poverty through economic upliftment and elevate them from the poverty line.
Fast-tracking development in rural, remote and neglected areas are the pillars of the agropolitan project.
To date, we have been developing several agropolitan projects, namely, Chemomoi in Pahang, Kampung Gana in Sabah, and Batang Sadong and Batang Lupar in Sarawak.
We have also identified new sites such as Sedili in Johor and Kedaya Telang Usan in Sarawak.
The latest is Beris Jaya in Sik, Kedah.
The poor recruited into the projects will have their livelihood enhanced under the various poverty-eradication programmes.
Malaysia cannot fully prosper if parts of it remain in poverty.
The Government has placed much priority and effort in eradicating poverty.
It is, by and large, seen as a role model amongst its regional peers, in poverty eradication.
The not-so-shy Hazim managed a “terima kasih” to the ministry officials, again grinning ear-to-ear, his best clothes already partly soaked with sweat after queuing up with the rest in the community hall, where the ceremony to hand over the keys was held.
Hazim finally stepped into his new home, having outrun his siblings to choose which of the three rooms of the RM33,000 house would be his.
He smiled, saying softly “Now I have my own room”, something he could only dream about five years ago.
Malaysia is working hard to put more smiles on the faces of our marginalised.
Datuk Abd Jabar Che Nai is secretary-general of the Rural and Regional Development Ministry