Prime Minister wants extreme poverty in Sabah to end before the end of July

PENAMPANG: The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants extreme poverty in Sabah to end before the end of July this year.

Sinar Harian reported that he gave priority to efforts to eradicate poverty especially in Sabah, confident that the target can be achieved following the number of heads of households in the extreme poor category in the state decreased from 20,000 to 9,000, so far.

The issue of extreme poverty in Sabah, according to Anwar, is more serious than other states such as Penang and Selangor, therefore the integrated cooperation between the federal government and the state government needs to be further strengthened towards solving the problem.

“Strict poverty means that school uniforms cannot be bought, food, drink or milk for the baby may be a problem (to buy), that’s why it is the responsibility of the federal government together with the states to eradicate extreme poverty.

“We want to eliminate extreme poverty in Sabah before the end of July 2024. This is our priority, we can discuss various things but if our children, our families do not have enough to eat, that is a responsibility that we (need) to resolve,” said the Prime Minister during his speech at the Closing Ceremony of the Sabah State Kaamatan Festival at Hongkod Koisaan Hall, Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA) here on Friday.

The Prime Minister arrived in Kota Kinabalu late last night.

Today is the closing day for the Kaamatan Festival with the celebrations having started with the opening ceremony in Ranau on May 1, the harvest festival which has now evolved into a festival of unity celebrated by people of various backgrounds in Sabah, as well as the whole country.