Khairy: Help young people mired in debt

Umno Youth has called on the government to look into the problem faced by young people who are mired in debt, and declared bankrupt and blacklisted.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said of 120 bankcruptcy cases since 2005, 32 per cent involved young people.

He said the movement urged the government to make procedures to be discharged from insolvency status to be less stringent and reduce the timeframe for young people affected could not buy a house and do business due to the stigma of bankruptcy.

"We need to educate young people on financial management. In some cases, tax requirements can be delayed and financial assistance could be extended to entrepreneurs in order to help keep them from bankruptcy," he said in his policy speech at the movement's general assembly at the Putra World Trade Centre, here today.

On the 1Malaysia Licence Assistance Programme (BL1M), he said the pioneer project which was being carried out in Pekan, Pahang, offered a motorcycle licence at R199, which was 50 per cent cheaper that the market price.

Khairy said the programme was created after a study conducted by the Umno Youth Urban Affairs Secretariat found that about 200,000 motorcyclists, mostly young people, did not have a licence.

Khairy said Umno Youth was in the process of negotiating for motorcyclists, who faced court action, to be given amnesty under the BL1M so that they could be relieved of any fear of imprisonment.