KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — The Federal Territories Ministry will give out over 5,000 sacks of rice for free weekly to low-income households in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya starting from this week, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Muhyiddin said this while launching the 5MY aid programme by the Federal Territories Ministry for the urban poor in the federal territories, with MyBeras@Wilayah being the latest addition to the programme.
“Today I also wish to share good news with the residents in the Federal Territories.
“The Federal Territories Ministry together with the cooperation of Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan and Majlis Perwakilan Penduduk Wilayah Persekutuan through the MyBeras@Wilayah will start to contribute 5,750 sacks of rice for free each week to residents from the B40 households in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan starting from today.
“However, I also wish to remind all, during the distribution process, not to forget the need to continue complying with certain SOPs that have been set to protect ourselves from being infected with Covid-19,” he said in a speech broadcast live ahead of Federal Territories Day tomorrow.
In officially launching the 5MY programme today in conjunction with this year’s Federal Territories Day celebrations, Muhyiddin said that over 35,000 individuals and heads of households, and 331 low-cost housing areas in Kuala Lumpur had directly received assistance from the programme in 2020.
The existing initiatives by the Federal Territories Ministry under its 5MY programme that have been running since 2020 are the MYGrocer@Wilayah, MYFood@Wilayah, MYJobs@Wilayah, MYMedic@Wilayah and MYSchoolBus@Wilayah.
Muhyiddin congratulated the government agencies under the Federal Territories Ministry — Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), Perbadanan Putrajaya, Perbadanan Labuan and Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan — for the 5MY programme, which he described as a noble initiative.
He expressed his gratitude over the Federal Territories Ministry’s proactive action in implementing such a social safety net to complement the federal government’s own efforts to help the public during Covid-19, also describing the 5MY programme for the urban poor in the federal territories as containing the ministry’s inclusive approaches to deal with living costs, sustaining the livelihood of the public and eradicating poverty.
In listing what was already achieved in 2020 to help the urban poor in the federal territories under the 5MY programme, Muhyiddin today said that the MyGrocer initiative featuring mobile grocery stores had been introduced in low-cost housing areas around Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, with goods sold up to 20 per cent cheaper compared to the usual public markets.
“MYGrocer@Wilayah is an initiative with the concept of a mobile market to low cost housing areas through the sale of groceries and daily necessities at five per cent to 20 per cent cheaper than the price in the public market.
“To date, MYGrocer trucks have moved to 30 Public Housing and People’s Housing locations in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
Moreover, he said that the government has under MYFood@Wilayah provided food basket assistance containing daily necessities for the urban poor, with 32,000 households in Kuala Lumpur having benefited so far.
Muhyiddin added that to tackle the unemployment problem, the Federal Territories Ministry has, under its hiring initiative MYJobs@Wilayah, provided 3,259 job openings in Kuala Lumpur within various sectors and industries, which he said was 28 per cent higher than initially targeted.
Other than that, the MYMedic@Wilayah initiative assists the urban low-income group in low-cost housing areas in Kuala Lumpur with free basic medical treatment through its mobile clinics.
He added that the MYSchoolBus@Wilayah initiative which involved 94 school bus operators has helped 9,704 students in 67 low-cost public housing areas.
Muhyiddin today said that he was told that the Federal Territories Ministry will re-evaluate all targeted aid recipients under the 5MY programme to avoid those who qualify for aid being left out, as assistance was currently more focused on residents in public housing and people’s housing.
Muhyiddin also said that various online activities had been planned for the month of February to celebrate the Federal Territories Day, including the River of Life virtual run in conjunction with the government’s regular KL Car Free Morning programme.
He said the virtual run would be a good initiative to create awareness on the government’s efforts for the public, while also congratulating the ministry for its efforts to continue serving the public despite physical constraints and while practising the new normal amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
