SUNGAI BULOH, Nov 10 — In the past two years of managing the Sungai Buloh constituency, over RM6 million in community-focused funds have been allocated, primarily for education and public infrastructure improvements, said its MP Datuk Seri R. Ramanan.
The deputy entrepreneur development and cooperatives minister said education is a priority for these allocations as it is a crucial foundation for future generations.
“Education is very important as our children are heirs of this nation. A significant portion of the funding was channelled to schools to enhance facilities and management.
“Additionally, part of the allocation was used for road maintenance and flood disaster management,” he told the media after the Sungai Buloh Deepavali Open House with Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) at its Service Centre.
Also present were Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Zamri Salleh and AIM managing director Datuk Mohamed Shamir Abdul Aziz.
According to Ramanan, all community-focused allocations for this year and last year were fully utilised, including to build an orphanage and develop schools, with no funds returned.
In his speech, Ramanan said the allocation for infrastructure development includes over RM1 million for school management, RM1 million for public amenities, and RM4.7 million for road upgrades in Sungai Buloh.
Ramanan, who is also mandated to address issues related to the Indian community and the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit, vowed to introduce various new initiatives for the Indian community next year.
“Apart from addressing issues that have been raised, we are also focusing on initiatives to improve the standard of living for the Indian community. This year, initiatives included the Special Fund for Indian Women Empowerment (PENN) under AIM and the Bank Rakyat Indian Entrepreneur Financing Programme (BRIEF-i),” he said.
He noted that the BRIEF-i programme has greatly benefited Indian entrepreneurs, with more than RM40 million out of the RM50 million fund disbursed.
PENN, though only introduced five months ago, has successfully disbursed RM22 million out of its total of RM50 million.
— Bernama
