SHAH ALAM, Jan 28 — Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari has proposed the establishment of a dedicated ministry to tackle urban poverty in Malaysia.
The Gombak MP said such a move is crucial to address the issue more comprehensively, given its wide-ranging and complex impact on communities, including malnutrition, learning difficulties, and long-term setbacks that leave families struggling.
"The first step is to ensure there is a dedicated ministry. For example, we previously had the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT), which served as a central agency to combat urban poverty in 2009 and 2010.
"Today, we also have a ministry focusing on cost of living, and this portfolio could potentially be strengthened further.
"However, in my view, if we fail to establish a specific ministry or dedicated portfolio to handle urban poverty, we will only end up addressing the symptoms and not the root causes, and the issue of urban poverty will not be dealt with seriously or effectively,” he said during a debate on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The Parti Keadilan Rakyat lawmaker added that the issue of urban poverty requires critical attention, considering the rapid development in the country over the past 50 years.
He noted that in Selangor, between 70 and 80 per cent of localities have been urbanised by development, but some groups have been left behind and fallen into urban poverty.
"I believe the Federal government must work together with state and local governments to formulate a specific plan to eradicate and combat urban poverty,” Amirudin said.
He also took a swipe at Opposition members who downplayed the country's economic achievements, saying the figures are backed by data and not "plucked from the sky".
"When debating in the House, we must rely on figures and data. Otherwise, we end up using anecdotes, like meeting one poor 'makcik' and then claiming the whole country is poor.
"Data on inflation, growth and currency value are official and assessed globally. We cannot simply invent numbers. So, if we want to challenge something, we must challenge it with data,” Amirudin said.
