KUANTAN, June 20 — The government through the Federal Territories Ministry will implement five large-scale programmes to help tackle urban poverty and loss of jobs, said its minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

He said the announcement of the programme scheduled to begin in stages starting next week was proof that the government listened to the concerns of the people, especially the urban poor.

In addition, Annuar said he would also meet with employers and owners of large firms or construction companies on Tuesday, to discuss job opportunities that they could offer to locals in the Federal Territories.

"Previously we would approve plans while they would decide who to hire, including foreign workers. But in post-Covid-19, we saw many who lost their jobs or fell into poverty because they could not continue their business.

"What we are trying to do is help the company to voluntarily list the number of workers they need and if possible give priority to locals who really need work,” he said.

Annuar said this to reporters after checking on the 44 homeless people from the Kuala Lumpur Transit Centre, currently undergoing treatment at Drugs Intervention Community Malaysia in Sungai Soi here today.

He was also optimistic that the meeting with employers would offer more than 5,000 job opportunities and in addition to the construction sector, his ministry would also look at opportunities for job seekers to be involved in businesses.

"We will try to make it easier for people who want to work or do business because before this, many foreign nationals took advantage of the opportunity and some of them became wealthy here. That opportunity should have been given to locals,” he said.

Commenting on the visit, Annuar said all of the affected homeless folk had volunteered to receive treatment from the middle of this month, for a period of up to three months at the expense of the ministry.

The process of recovery, according to Annuar, had to be done before the homeless could change their lives either by looking for work or taking skills classes in preparation for their return to society. — Bernama