Ministry gives most aid to PR-led states

The poor in the Pakatan Rakyat-led states topped the list of those receiving aid from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.
“We are giving more to the Opposition-led states. There is no favouritism here and this is shown in our statistics for Projek Cari, a special project launched to reach out to the poor,” said Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.
Of the 128,944 poor nationwide who had applied for aid under Projek Cari, only 54,671 were approved, she said.
Dr Ng added that 27,629 had been rejected and 46,644 applications were still pending.
Perak topped the list with 4,974 who had received welfare under Projek Cari from October to March.
Following Perak was Kedah with 4,254 new cases, Selangor (4,092), Kelantan (3,454), Penang (2,363), Pahang (2,281), Sabah (2,218), Johor (1,866), Negri Sembilan (1,653), Malacca (1,358), Sarawak (1,005) and Perlis (594).
She said that Projek Cari was now trying to trace other poor persons as the second economic stimulus package had provided more funds for the ministry.
She also said that the Budget allocated for welfare under her ministry from 2006-2008 had increased from RM350mil to RM850mil this year. She added that the ministry would review on a yearly basis those earning below RM720 a month.
While every state government would have its own welfare policy, Dr Ng said the ministry had a holistic and consistent policy for all the states and did not interfere with the states.
She said this in response to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who announced that each of the 728 hardcore poor families identified in the state would have an income of at least RM500 per month.
She added that the federal funds allocated to Penang had increased and her ministry was still looking out for the poor in the state.
Apart from allocating RM2.249mil for 9,720 poor Penangites in the first two months of the year, the ministry also traced an additional 2,363 poor Penangites through Projek Cari.
They were classified as new cases and a total of RM703,570 was disbursed to them.
Of the 2,363 people, 555 were Malay men 353 Chinese men, 167 Indian men, 711 Malay women, 354 Chinese women and 223 Indian women, said Dr Ng.