Sabah gets RM927m for rural development this year: Ismail

KOTA KINABALU: Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the RM927.64 million alllocation for rural development in Sabah this year proves that the federal government is concerned about the welfare of rural folks.
"Of the total in Budget 2018, the government allocated 23.98% for rural development in Sabah and 28% for Sarawak, while 47.5% is shared by 11 states in peninsular.
"Every time the budget is announced, the allocation for rural development in Sabah and Sarawak is the largest," he told reporters after chairing the Rural Executive Council (Exco) meeting (Mexclub), here today.
Mexclub aims at enhancing cooperation between the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development and the state governments in the implementation of rural development programmes and projects.
Some 102 rural projects will be implemented in Sabah this year compared with 86 projects last year, with focus on short-term and medium-term projects, to ensure they can be expedited and completed on time.
The short-term projects include the construction of kampung roads, repair of houses under the Hard Core Poor Housing Project and installation of street lights in February and expected to be completed by Mar 31.
Ismail said for Sabah, many of the projects are short-term and need immediate action such as the upgrading and repair of kampung roads.
The ministry was also implementing short-term projects to imp;rove the people's economy by organising training and courses such as bakery besides providing the necessary tools to start business.
On an other note, he said the ministry would give full cooperation to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in their investigations into the case of misappropriation of funds and abuse of power. — Bernama