KUCHING: A total of 886,288 Sarawakians are eligible to apply for the Sarawak Basic Needs Contribution (SKAS) based on the latest data from the eligibility of the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) Phase 4.
Sarawak Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg said that of the total, 410,529 recipients are in the household assistance category, while the single as well as senior citizens without a partner or children categories recorded 361,295 and 114,464 recipients respectively.
According to him, this initiative is expected to ease the burden of Sarawakians in line with the state government's efforts to strengthen community welfare.
"The household category is eligible to receive RM800 with a financial implication of RM328.4 million, singles (RM250) with a financial implication of RM90.3 million and senior citizens without a partner and child will receive RM400 with a financial implication of RM45.8 million.
“This brings the total value of SKAS assistance to RM464.5 million, not including those who will submit applications later for those who are not listed,” he said.
He said this in a press conference after visiting the Service Sarawak Centre at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) here on Sunday.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Zohari added that those who have not been listed but meet the eligibility criteria can re-apply starting from February 1 to March 31 this year.
It is understood that so far, only 27 percent, or 244,000 out of 886,288 Sarawakians, have successfully registered for this SKAS assistance through the SarawakPay (SPay) Global application.
Also present were Sarawak Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier's Department (Corporate Affairs, Information and UKAS) Datuk Abdullah Saidol, Director of the Sarawak Economic Planning Unit Datu Lester Matthew, Director of the Sarawak Public Service Digitalisation Unit Grace Huong Siew Hung, Director of the Sarawak Social Welfare Department Semawi Mohamad, Director of the Sarawak Public Communications Unit (UKAS) Awang Putrayusrie Awang Redzuan, General Manager of the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) Dato Dr Anderson Tiong Ing Heng and Chief Executive Officer of the Sarawak Information System (SAINS) Sdn Bhd Busiai Seman. -UKASnews
