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KUALA LUMPUR: The government cannot abandon the earlier regime’s pledge to revise the current “unrealitisic” poverty line of RM980 for Peninsular Malaysia, RM1,020 for Sarawak and RM1,180 for Sabah.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general J. Solomon said this had to be done to allow Putrajaya to draw up effective policies to help the poor.
This follows the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston’s assertion that the government had back-flipped on the commitment by Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Solomon said their concerns were due to the declining conditions of the B40 and M40 that they represented.
“The absence of effective policies due to misguided data and now, the economic fallout from Covid-19 have worsened their plight.”
He said for decades, the B40 workers especially have lived in abject poverty, surviving on meagre salary with little savings for emergencies and old age.
“Many remain unable to afford decent housing, forcing them to live in cramped conditions in poorly maintained rented apartments.”
Alston’s key concern was doubts over Perikatan Nasional’s commitment to change the criteria of how the poverty line is measured in Malaysia.
“As such the MTUC strongly urges the government to state its readiness to make the changes needed for the sake of the millions of marginalised people whose plight has been ignored, deliberately or otherwise, by successive governments due to bad policies drawn from inaccurate data.”
Solomon further said there was credible evidence to show the country’s poverty benchmark used so far had failed to capture the reality on the ground, hence many rakyat-centric policies meant to provide social protection failed to help the targeted groups.
He said this failure meant billions of ringgit in taxpayers’ money were spent in futility while more and more Malaysians became impoverished.
Solomon said official statistics claimed that the incidence of poverty fell from 37.4 per cent of all households in 1979 to 8.5 per cent in 1999, further falling to 0.4 per cent in 2016.
“Malaysians have long felt a sense of disconnect with official poverty statistics because their income is barely enough to make ends meet and yet, are told that by official count, there is hardly any poverty in the country.
“By setting the bar unrealistically low, previous administrations claimed astonishing successes in eliminating absolute and hardcore poverty. Based on this, absolute poverty is low (at 0.4%) and hardcore poverty is considered eliminated.”
He however said that the computation is based on an unrealistic and outdated poverty line measurement of RM980 for a household of four per month that is mainly utilised in the 1970s.
“A wage of RM980 is ridiculously low, especially for urban areas, what more when the living wage ought to be RM2,700.”
Solomon said the poverty line index remains set at a very low bar, and many households are at risk of falling below the poverty line.
“Such low poverty figures cannot be used meaningfully for policy planning purposes to address the continued deprivations experienced and felt by different segments of the Malaysian population.”
He said for the poor, the implications are serious.
“For those in their retirement years, with low wages and EPF savings, coupled with increased life expectancy and facing reduced dependence on their families, setting a low poverty line index will only expose them to vulnerabilities in their years ahead.
“It will also to lull decision makers into a false thinking that everything is okay.”
Solomon said that the Mid-Term Review of the 11th Malaysia Plan, a relative poverty concept was introduced in the form of “low income households” as a subgroup of the B40, defined as households earning between the poverty line index (PLI) and 50 per cent of the national median monthly household income.
Median monthly household income was RM5,228 in 2016 and 50 per cent of the median was RM2,614.
“MTUC, once again, calls on the government to take the matter of poverty seriously. Maintaining the poverty rate at 0.4 per cent is simply wishful thinking and failing to take remedial measures to reduce poverty in the country will also result in dire consequences.”
Solomon however said that the reset of the poverty line must be based on a more realistic criteria.
This has to take into account the steep costs of living and stagnant wages of workers.
“Only by doing so, can the rakyat benefit from policies which address the core reasons for their problems.”
He said Alston’s report was based on extensive surveys in urban and rural areas including Sabah and Sarawak.
Solomon said the findings have to be used as a base to help redress one of the key problems affecting more than 40 per cent of the population.
Meanwhile the Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (PROHAM) chair Tan Sri Dr Michael Yeoh called on the government to establish an independent panel which includes Members of Parliament, poverty researchers and civil society activists to study Alston’s report.
He said the panel should engage the public through town halls to draw up a comprehensive plan to enable Malaysia to become a true champion of poverty reduction.
“These new approaches should be consistent with the “leaving no one behind agenda” of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 to be integrated in the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021 to 2025).”
He said PROHAM is co-hosting an online conversation with Alston to discuss this final report on July 10, 2020 from 9am to 11am.
Source : https://www.nst.com.my/…/04-cent-poverty-rate-wishful-think…
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