MALAYSIA is planning a nationwide survey on poverty after a government minister decided the number of poor in at least two states had been underestimated.
Annuar Musa, the Minister of Rural Development, said the survey would help the Government achieve its target of reducing the number of 'hardcore poor' to less than one per cent of the population by 2000.
Mr Annuar said a 'new and more aggressive approach' was needed to combat poverty and meet the target deadline.
Current estimates put the number of very poor Malaysians at three per cent of the population, while 13 per cent are categorised as poor.
But Mr Annuar said his ministry believed a significant number of people had been excluded from the register. 'The ministry will conduct the survey in 40 districts already identified as having the largest number of hardcore poor, including those in Sabah and Sarawak,' he said.
He said 30,000 families in the two Borneo states had been categorised as very poor but, after visiting Sabah, he believed the number could be higher.