Sabah clears January hardcore poverty list, but over 57,000 households remain poor, says Hajiji

KOTA KINABALU, June 16 — Sabah has successfully removed all 10,825 household heads classified as hardcore poor at the beginning of this year from the state’s poverty registry, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said today.

Hajiji said the achievement was recorded based on its eKasih data as of May 31, following a series of targeted assistance programmes carried out jointly by the state and federal governments.

He said the reduction was achieved through a data-driven approach involving the Sabah State Database System (PADANS), eKasih records and coordinated intervention programmes.

“This achievement demonstrates that a data-driven approach, coordination of assistance through PADANS and eKasih, as well as the implementation of targeted aid interventions, have successfully brought significant changes to the target groups,” he said when launching the Sentuhan Kasih Rakyat (SYUKUR) Outreach Programme for the Tuaran district here.

However, Hajiji stressed that the achievement did not mean Sabah’s poverty problem had been solved.

“Based on eKasih data as of May 31, 2026, a total of 57,710 household heads remain in the poor category compared to 70,298 in January 2026, representing a reduction of 17.9 per cent within four months,” he said.

Hajiji said the overall number of individuals classified as poor also fell significantly, from 743,939 people in January to 577,110 as of May.

He cited the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s Household Income and Basic Amenities Survey 2024, which showed Sabah’s absolute poverty incidence declining from 19.7 per cent in 2022 to 17.7 per cent in 2024.

Hardcore poverty incidence also dropped from 1.2 per cent to 0.7 per cent over the same period.

“Although Sabah still records the highest absolute and hardcore poverty rates in Malaysia, the decline in these incidence rates indicates that the various policies and development programmes implemented by the government are beginning to yield results,” he said.

Hajiji said reducing Sabah’s overall poverty rate remains the state’s next major challenge, with the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) 2.0 Development Plan targeting a reduction in absolute poverty to between three and five per cent by 2030.

The state is also aiming to reduce hardcore poverty incidence to between zero and 0.1 per cent by the end of the decade.

To achieve this, he said the government would continue implementing programmes focused on affordable housing, education, employment, skills training, rural economic development and targeted financial assistance.

Among the key interventions are the Sabah Maju Jaya Friendly Housing Programme, MySMJ Kerja employment initiative, educational assistance schemes, welfare aid for vulnerable groups, and entrepreneurship programmes such as the People’s Income Initiative (IPR) and Sejahtera Madani.

“The state government has placed poverty eradication as a key priority in the development agenda of the state,” Hajiji said.

“This reflects our to ensuring that no one is left behind in development and that every citizen enjoys a better quality of life.”