MORE than 30,000 families out of the 1.8 million population in the nation’s capital are estimated to have an income of below RM2,200, which is the market for the poverty line, and need appropriate assistance, said Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa.

Annuar said the number was collected from among those living in 178 localities in Kuala Lumpur, including the People’s Housing Project (PPR) residents.

“In the city (Kuala Lumpur), this group cannot meet basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. (So) we feel that they need to be assisted with various facilities and aid, and there must be special planning so that it is not left behind,” he said today after announcing the recipients of awards, honours and medals in conjunction with the Federal Territory Day 2021 celebration here.

However, Annuar said the exact number of household heads who fall under the poverty line could not be ascertained, as the matter was managed by various agencies such as the Social Welfare Department, Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council and Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department.

“We believe (some overlap) but our estimation is based on household heads in 63,000 units of PPR around the capital, half of whom are under the poverty line,” he said.

Annuar also said the ministry would distribute over 5,000 bags of rice per week to the needy under the MyBeras@Wilayah programme compared to 3,000 bags previously, due to overwhelming response from contributors.

“We expect to distribute 20,000 to 30,000 bags of rice to target groups in one month.

“We are still open for donations. In fact, I personally contacted my friends from private entities to participate in this programme. The public can also donate at least RM10 via the MyInfaq portal,” he said.

He added that the rice distribution exercise would be carried out systematically to target groups in various zones so there would be no violation of standard operating procedure during the movement-control order (MCO).

The MyBeras@Wilayah programme is a sub-programme to MyFood@Wilayah, organised specifically for the urban poor or those who lost their income during the MCO. IT was launched virtually by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in his Federal Territory Day 2021 message last night. – Bernama, February 1, 2021.