PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday reaffirmed the government’s commitment to eradicating hardcore poverty by the first quarter of next year.
The prime minister, however, issued a stern warning that bureaucratic bottlenecks must be cleared to meet the target.
“Efforts to eliminate poverty cannot be delayed by procedural inefficiencies.
“Every project and initiative must be implemented swiftly so no one is left behind,” he said in his speech at the closing ceremony of the Rancakkan Madani Bersama Malaysiaku programme and the 2025 National Convention on Public Service Reform.
He urged ministries and agencies to execute approved assistance programmes quickly, without allowing delays to blunt their impact.
Anwar said the country’s hardcore poverty rate currently stood at 0.09 per cent, thanks to the implementation of people-focused policies and programmes by the unity government.
“Malaysia is recognised globally for being close to ending hardcore poverty, and we are thankful the figure has declined to 0.09 per cent.”
Anwar added that he was optimistic the remaining cases could be resolved within the set timeline.
He described the achievement as historic, made possible through cooperation among ministries, agencies and state governments through initiatives such as the Madani Adopted Village, Madani Adopted School and the Sejahtera Komuniti Madani (SejaTi Madani) programmes.
“All this is to ensure no group is marginalised or left behind.”
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
