Thursday 24 March 2011

SCHEME TO ASSIST SINGLE MOTHER


By: DAP MEDIA

THE Assistant Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Heng Sai Kie in answering in Parliament on the question asked by the DAP Member of Parliament for Kota Malacca Sim Tong Him on the total number of single-mother from each state who had applied for assistance from the ministry during 2010, and the type of assistance available for them.

Heng said there are various scheme set up the ministry (KPWKM) through the Welfare Department Malaysia (Jabatan Kebajikan Masysrakat, JKM) to cater for the need of the poor and needy which includes the single-mother too.

In 2010, a total of RM163,855,217.00 had been utilized to help 73,255 single-mother through out the country. Sarawak is the highest of 13,308 cases with a total of RM27,082,479.00 and F.T. Labuan is the lowest with only 137 cases utilizing only RM264,000.00.

The type of assistance given is divided into 3 categories under Children Assistance (Bantuan Kanak-Kanak -BKK), Grant for small business starting capital (Bantuan Geran Pelancaran-BGP), and Special aids (Bantuan AM-BA).

For the Children Assistance (BKK) is concentrating on the education of the children from the poor family of the single-mother. This is for a sum of RM100 per person up to a maximum of RM450 per family per month. For 2010, 47,526 single-mothers was receiving from JKM a total sum of RM111,986,603. Sarawak is the highest receiving RM15,331,565.00 for their 7,316 cases and Labuan had the lowest only 58 cases receiving RM106,800.00.

For the grant for the small business starting capital (BGP) from JKM for all and including the single-mother to help them to start off their small business to make a living, this is not more then RM2,700.00 per person and this had help 142 single-mothers. For 2010, there was a total of RM357,500.00 being used. Trengganu is the highest with 67 cases with a sum of RM173,200.00 and Penang is the lowest with only 1 cases of RM2,700.00.

Special Aids (BA) is a scheme for the poor and the single-mother to help them financially on a temporary basis with a certain time frame until they are financially stable and capable. This amount varies from state to state. During 2010, a total of 25,587 single-mother had benefited under the BA scheme through JKM with a sum of RM51,511,114.00 being utilized. The lowest record is in Labuan with only 70 cases and RM134,600 was used.

The record from the Ministry showed that for Sabah during 2010 under BKK was 2,991 cases with a sum of RM7,417,272.00, under BA 3,394 cases with a sum of RM7,351,374, and there is no cases on the BGP.

The DAP Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament Hiew King Cheu later received the details from the Assistant Minister Heng in Parliament, and had discussed with her concerning that there are many cases of the single-mother who has yet to know on how to apply for the various assistance and grant available for them. She said they should approach the Welfare department for further information and seek help from the officers there.

Hiew said he has received many request for help from single-mothers in Sabah who need help in many ways. Many did not know how to apply, but Hiew said they can always see him for help. To qualify for applying the financial assistance, the monthly income should not be more than RM830.00.

No comments:

Post a Comment