THE Selangor state assembly sitting was told today that over 15,000 Hijrah Selangor borrowers, or 22% amounting to RM135 million have defaulted on their repayment, said state youth, sports and entrepreneurship committee chairman Najwan Halimi.

“So far, 78% have settled but the defaulters are being stubborn,” he said in response to Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (Sijangkang-PN), who wanted an update on the borrowers according to districts.

Najwan said as of September 30, the highest number was the Petaling district with RM37.8 million, followed by Hulu Langat (RM25.7 million) and Gombak (RM18.2 million). The programme had given out loans to 58,885 individuals totalling RM780 million.

He said the state has plans to review angles of repayments and to identify the defaulters.

Meanwhile, infrastructure and agriculture committee chairman Izham Hashim said the state has allocated RM6 million to install 790 solar LED streetlights.

“The criteria include areas without electricity and with a high rate of vandalism or thefts. The installation also focuses on accident-prone spots, isolated junctions and bridges,” he said answering Mariam Abdullah Rashid’s (Meru-PH) question.

In response to a supplementary question by Sallehen Mukhyi (Sabak-PN), on issues with streetlights, Izham clarified that the main cause is cable theft.

“All roads have streetlights. Cable theft is the problem, there are streetlights but no power. So, we are implementing the solar LED streetlights to maintain them,” he said. – Bernama, November 14, 2023.