SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government is confident of achieving its target of eradicating hardcore poverty in the state by July, said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
He said this is based on the fact that there are now only 245 families still classified as extremely poor, compared to 861 families two months ago.
“With several initiatives implemented, including providing RM300 monthly assistance to the affected groups through the Bantuan Kehidupan Sejahtera Selangor (Bingkas), we believe that by July we can eliminate the remaining cases of hardcore poverty.
“From our review, some of these families are only RM17 short of the monthly income required to move out of the extreme poverty category, and this is the group we will focus on and assist,” he told reporters after launching the PLATS Biaya scheme here today.
Amirudin added that Sepang has become the first of Selangor’s nine districts to record zero hardcore poverty.
On May 1, Amirudin said the state government aimed to eliminate abject poverty by July. To achieve this goal, it included these families as recipients of the Bingkas programme, making them eligible for RM300 monthly assistance or RM3,600 annually.
Regarding PLATS Biaya, Amirudin said it is a special financing scheme to assist traders who participate in the U-PLATS entrepreneurship training programme in expanding their businesses through government aid.
He explained that for the first phase, the initiative, implemented by Yayasan Hijrah Selangor (YHS) in collaboration with the Selangor Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI), offers financing of RM3,000 to 120 of the 362 entrepreneurs participating in the U-PLATS programme as funds to grow their businesses.
“PLATS Biaya is a subsidised loan scheme where borrowers only need to repay the principal amount, with a financing period of 12 months. This can act as a catalyst for the business growth of U-PLATS participants in the future,“ he said.
PLATS, or Platform Selangor, is a promotional platform and digital directory developed in 2020 to boost the economy of small traders in Selangor, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 31, it has registered 30,781 traders.
