| James Kon |
THE President of the Brunei Council on Social Welfare (MKM), Datin Paduka Hajah Intan binti Haji Md Kassim yesterday called for a comprehensive study to determine the “country’s true poverty line”.
“Reliable and complete data will allow us to come up with a strategy to eradicate poverty,” said Datin Paduka Hajah Intan during the opening of the ‘Poverty is not an obstacle for success’ workshop – organised by the council with support from Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD) GenNExt programme – at Sungai Kebun Sports Complex. The workshop was attended by underprivileged students.
“We often question whether there are poor people in our country. The answer is that poverty does exist in every country because its perception can be subjective.
“We don’t see people lying around on the streets in dirt and looking for food in rubbish bins here. Although our poverty level is low, we still need to eradicate it,” she added.
Datin Paduka Hajah Intan said the authorities need to come up with a solid strategy to provide sufficient subsidies to the underprivileged, in addition to food and drinks.
“Many of the underprivileged are not highly educated. This cycle will continue because the children will be trapped in a poverty web,” she said.
“Data collected before this is not reliable because it is based on the number of people receiving assistance from the government but there are unprivileged people who are not receiving any assistance.
President of Brunei Council on Social Welfare, Datin Paduka Hajah Intan binti Haji Md Kassim visiting an exhibition booth set up in conjunction with the opening of the ‘Poverty is not an obstacle for success’ workshop – organised by the council with support from UBD’s GenNExT programme – at Sungai Kebun Sports Complex. – JAMES KON
“Because of certain requirements, some of the poor do not qualify to be beneficiaries,” she added. “There are also many who have not registered for assistance, especially those who live in villages and rural areas.”
According to statistics from 2011 from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, a total of 5,472 families – consisting of 27,360 people – were deemed underprivileged.
She said these statistics, however, “do not give a true picture of the poverty line” in the country.
She said a 2014 finding reported that the average monthly income for 10 per cent of underprivileged households was $994, while the average expenditure per household was $975 a month ($33 a day).
She said a study should also be carried out to determine the number of people who earn between $350 and $400 a month, especially those from the private sector.
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