Wiping out poverty
Musa Aman does it for Sabah
Very few poor people left as social-economic schemes pay off
By Wendy Radin
Pictures by Oliver Majaham
It’s a herculean task. But Sabah chief minister Musa Aman has shown his mettle in bringing wealth to the state’s poorest people. In less than a year, he has reduced their number by more than two-thirds to 7,455 from 24,100 of the poorest families. With federal support he uses a two-prong approach in which poor villagers are taught to earn a good living through agriculture, aquaculture and cottage industries. The villagers earn a lasting income from cultivating oil palms, rubber, rearing cattle and fish. Sabah profits from exports of crash crops and moves closer to becoming self-sufficient in food.
The number of poor families has also fallen sharply from slightly more than 44,000 a year ago to 24,247 at the end of November.
The first of 1,167 of the poorest families in the east coast villages of Kalabakan and Tongod will be receiving their monthly dividends of 400 ringgit ($129), according to Musa. This is money earned from working on an oil palm plantation venture of state-owned Sawit Kinabalu Sendirian Berhad.
Given time, it’s possible that they will be earning between 3,000 and 4,000 ringgit a month.
Musa attributes Sabah’s success in bringing wealth to the poor to the mini estates and “agropolitan” projects funded by the federal and state governments to wipe out poverty.
Projects that are coming to fruition are rubber and oil palm plantations at Kampung Bunang, Kampung Kaingaran, Kampung Ulu Patian, Kampung Labang and Kampung Minikodong in the middle of Sabah where the poorest people live.
There are more than 30 such projects that grow cash and food crops, rear cattle for beef and milk and farm fish. Hundreds of houses have been built for the villagers who work on these plantations. A microfinance scheme is offered to some villagers to start cottage industries.
Musa says the federal women, family and community development ministry has also given temporary monthly allowances to 10,798 very poor families under the 1Azam scheme to tide them over as they work on the government agricultural projects.
He is confident of wiping out poverty through these programmes. – Insight Sabah
Posted on 17-12-2010 03:46 pm
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We are making Sabah not just a gateway for trade, investment and tourism but a modern, vibrant, prosperous and harmonious place to live.
Prime Minister Najib Razak speaking at the open day of the Sabah Development Corridor in Kota Kinabalu on February 16.