Development plan for Orang Asli community being finalised - Mustapa

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said under the 12MP, the government hoped to improve the well-being of the Orang Asli community to enable them to truly enjoy the country's socio-economic development.

Mustapa explained that several comprehensive development approaches will be taken including focusing on education, reducing poverty as well as providing better infrastructure, facilities and basic services for the Orang Asli community.

"With the cooperation among agencies that will be strengthened to enhance service delivery, these initiatives are expected to help achieve inclusive development and improve the socio-economic status of the Orang Asli community," he said in a statement today.

Commenting further, Mustapa, who is also the Jeli Member of Parliament, said the level of education of the Orang Asli community was still low, resulting in the decline of their social mobility and marketability.

He said inadequate basic infrastructure and the lack of amenities and services such as road, electricity supply, treated water supply and telecommunications also affected the well-being of the community.

As such, he said several discussions were held through the second virtual meeting of 'Poverty Circle', a Think Tank on Poverty, involving 35 representatives from various quarters today.

"It touches on the need for precise data related to poverty incidence among the Orang Asli community; a holistic Orang Asli Development Plan and seriousness in implementing development programmes for the community," he said.

Besides that, two paper works were also presented in today's meeting, namely the status and development of the Orang Asli development plan by the Orang Asli Development Department, as well as corporate social responsibilities (CSR) of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-CIMB Islamic Community Learning Centre in Pos Gob, Gua Musang, Kelantan by UKM's Community Transformation Centre.

"This initiative serves to share best practices in addressing the poverty issue among the Orang Asli community using the whole-of-nation approach which involves all stakeholders," he said.

The first Poverty Circle meeting was held on July 1, chaired by Mustapa, to discuss on eKasih data and to share information on the implementation model of the MyKasih CSR programme implemented by Dialog Group.

The think tank will meet again next month to discuss poverty issues in Sabah and Sarawak, followed by the urban poverty issue at the fourth meeting.