KOTA KINABALU, July 4 — The Sabah Youth Council (MBS) and 17 of its affiliates have received a RM2.55 million grant from the state government to run youth development programmes and to coordinate supporting activities during the movement control of Phase One under the National Recovery Plan.

The Sabah Chief Minister’s Office in a statement said Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Alfred Angin handed over the grant, witnessed by Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor, who was also present at the Youth Kitchen Programme 4.0 at the Youth Arena here today.

The state government has allocated RM500,000 under Bantuan Sabah Prihatin 3.0 to continue the Youth Kitchen programme, which has been organised by the state Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) since the movement control order (MCO) last year, as it has benefited the needy.

In the previous series, MBS and its affiliates, along with selected youth clubs had distributed food baskets and energy packs to frontliners and other forms of assistance to those affected throughout the MCO.

For the fourth series, 250 food baskets and 70 helmets would be distributed to youth involved in the gig economy industry, including food delivery service.

Currently, 65 per cent of assistance through the Youth Kitchen Programme 4.0 has been distributed to the target group and at the same time, over 2,000 individuals have received food supplies prepared by the food bank at the Youth Arena.

At the event, Hajiji also witnessed the handing over of a replica cheque from the Sabah Social Security Organisation (Socso) worth RM265,180 to two employers as incentives to conduct training programmes for workers.

Hajiji said the government is expanding the job search allowance to non-Socso contributors especially to new graduates, school leavers and workers in informal sectors under the National People’s Well-​Being and Economic Recovery Package (Pemulih) that was announced recently.

"The preparation of a social security net for Sabah youth who lost their jobs is very important in supporting industrial development and socio-economic growth of this group,” he said.

Until Dec 2020, Sabah Socso has provided RM16.8 million in aid to 4,434 workers who lost their jobs, and till April this year, allowance assistance worth RM3.8 million has been channelled to 851 youth who were laid off in the state.

Hajiji also lauded the joint initiative between the Sabah Youth and Sports Ministry, MBS and Socso in helping those who were left unemployed following the movement control through the MyFutureJobs website. — Bernama