OVER RM6 MLN ALLOCATED FOR EDUCATION, INFRASTRUCTURE IN SUNGAI BULOH  – RAMANAN

SUNGAI BULOH, Nov 10 (Bernama) – 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 Member of Parliament, Datuk Seri R. Ramanan.

The Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister said that education is a priority for these allocations as it forms a crucial foundation for future generations.

"Education is very important as our children are the future heirs of this nation. Therefore, a significant portion of the funding is channeled to schools to enhance facilities and management.

"Additionally, part of the allocation is used for road maintenance and flood disaster management," he told the media after attending the Sungai Buloh parliamentary constituency's Deepavali Open House with Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) at its Service Centre.

Also present were the ministry's 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 for the construction of an orphanage and school development, with no funds returned.

In his speech, Ramanan also said that the infrastructure development allocation includes over RM1 million for school management, RM1 million for public amenities, and RM4.7 million for road upgrades in the Sungai Buloh area.

Ramanan, who is also mandated to address issues related to the Indian community and the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (MITRA), promised to introduce various new initiatives for the Indian community next year.

"Apart from addressing raised issues, we are also focusing on initiatives to improve the standard of living for the Indian community. This year, initiatives include 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 already disbursed.

The PENN programme, although only introduced five months ago, has successfully disbursed RM22 million out of a total of RM50 million.

-- BERNAMA