MALAYSIA: OVER 49,000 PEOPLE TO BE FREED FROM HARDCORE POVERTY IN 2010

KANGAR (Malaysia), Jan 7 (Bernama) -- Over 49,000 people throughout Malaysia
would be freed from the chains of hardcore poverty this year, Women, Family and
Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said Thursday.

Without mentioning the government allocation set aside to help these 49,413
hardcore poor, she was confident that the "productive welfare" programme
implemented by her ministry since last year would effectively eradicate hardcore
poverty in the country.

Speaking to reporters after launching Perlis Wanita Umno's Jalinan Rakyat
(People's Network) and Skuad Penyayang (Loving Squad) programmes here, she said
her ministry would undertake whatever measure possible to free this group from
the poverty cycle.

Shahrizat said that throughout last year,
more than RM714 million (U$1=RM3.66) were distributed to 357,135 recipients of
monthly welfare aid, including 5,749 from Perlis, to lessen their financial
burden.

On the launching of the programmes Thursday, Shahrizat said they were aimed,
among others, at helping the ministry to identify the poor who might have been
left out of the welfare aid recipient list.


She said people with a household monthly income of less than RM440 were
eligible to receive aid from the Social Welfare Department.


-- BERNAMA