THE July deadline set by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to end poverty should not be seen as a timeline to achieve the goal but as advice to intensify efforts to solve the problem indefinitely, said Masidi Manjun.

The Sabah finance minister said the state government has not set any timeline to end the poverty issue but is focused on finding ways to end the problem.

“Actually, Sabah has not selected a timeline to end poverty. The real challenge is to work hard and find sustainable ways to indefinitely put an end to the poverty problem,” he said after witnessing the anti-corruption pledge ceremony of Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) in Kota Kinabalu today.

Also present were SESB chairman Wilfred Madius Tangau and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Azam Baki.

Masidi said the deadline set by Anwar should not be seen as a timeframe but should be perceived as an instruction to work hard to end the poverty issue in Sabah and to take the problem seriously.

“So, the question of whether the challenge can be achieved or not is not important. It is more about intensifying the effort to ensure the total eradication of poverty,” said Masidi.

During the Kaamatan Harvest Festival celebration in Penampang on May 31, Anwar complimented the Sabah Government for having reduced the number of hardcore poverty households from 22,000 to 9,000.

He then set the end of July as the deadline for Sabah to end poverty. – June 10, 2024.