KUCHING: Sarawak needs new poverty-alleviation models to tackle the issue effectively, especially on skilling, up-skilling and reskilling its people.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Honorary Professor Datuk Dr Madeline Berma said skills development is important, particularly for youth in the B40 group, to enable them to move up the economic ladder.
"The government needs to provide training for them to acquire new skills or widen their set of skills to improve their employability and income," she told New Straits Times.
She said according to the latest data published by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, in 2020, the poorest state was Sabah with a poverty rate of 25.3 per cent, followed by Kelantan at 21.2 per cent and Sarawak 12.9 per cent.
She said three districts in Sarawak with the highest poverty rate in 2019 were the rural areas, namely, Pusa, Tebedu, and Matu.
"One of the main reasons for this high incidence of poverty was due to low income. The median income in Pusa is RM2,449, Tebedu (RM2,614) and Matu (RMRM2,776) as compared to Bintulu RM7,380 that has the lowest incidence of poverty in the state," she said.
The number of households in the B40 category in Sarawak had also increased from 241,500 in 2016 to 250,200 in 2019.
Madeline said the reasons that contributed to urban poverty in Sarawak were quite similar, where the B40 did not have the requisite skills and education or knowledge.
"They are unable to be employed in the high-income and skill-based employment in urban areas, yet have to bear the high cost of living (in the cities).
The situation worsened due to Covid-19 as many lost their jobs while others were working less hours," she explained.
"Thus, the government needs to invest in skills development to improve their productivity, incomes, and reduce poverty in both rural and urban areas," she added.
Apart from that, she said, Sarawak needs more allocations to intensify efforts on infrastructure development, such as coastal roads, minor rural projects, which will trigger economic growth and create more job opportunities, to benefit the B40 group.
Madeline believed there is no "one size fits all" approach when it comes to providing aid and support to low income families and individuals, hence, it is necessary to have a targeted poverty alleviation.
"We need to improve the existing system and reduce red tape to speed up the process in providing financial, physical and emotional support and strengthen support such as community-managed food banks by the religious or community institutions."
She said the government also needs to develop an information-system for the poor, to ensure they have access and knowledge with requisite information on income-earning opportunities, jobs, support, capacity building programmes for their family members to increase their resilience.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob recently said the government took poverty seriously and placed emphasis on it under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) with focus on six states regarded as poor, namely Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu, which have many people in the B40 group.