MAIWP ALLOCATES RM30.6 MLN FOR MONTHLY AID SCHEME IN LABUAN

LABUAN, May 5 (Bernama) - The Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) Labuan has allocated RM30.6 million for the Monthly Aid Scheme, benefitting a total of 5,406 household heads thus far.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar said for the first four months of this year, a sum of RM10.7 million had been disbursed for the scheme.

He emphasised that MAIWP's focus is not solely on cash assistance distribution but also on providing aid through various protection categories, such as assistance for housing construction/repair, rental deposit assistance, and home purchase deposit assistance.

"This is part of MAWP's continuous efforts to ensure that recipients have shelter," he said at the Tautan Kasih Aidilfitri MADANI Programme at Medan Selera Labuan today.

He said that as of April 2024, 26 zakat (tithe) recipients in Labuan had received assistance under the housing construction/repair category, with a total aid amount of RM2.1 million disbursed.

Mohd Na’im said MAIWP aims to see that the zakat assistance provided has a significant impact on the recipients.

"In this regard, MAIWP has designed a zakat recipient development programme to sharpen and highlight their potential.

"MAIWP does not want them to solely rely on zakat assistance; instead, eventually, they will contribute by becoming zakat payers themselves.

"The results have begun to show as former zakat recipient entrepreneurs have now successfully generated substantial income as a result of the holistic assistance programmes implemented," he said.

He also highlighted advancements in education, noting that students who previously received aid are now in prestigious professions, contributing meaningfully to society.

Meanwhile, Mohd Na’im said MAIWP Labuan had distributed zakat funds to the poor, needy, converts, and Ar-Riqab under the Aidilfitri Assistance Scheme in two phases, one week before Ramadan and one week before Syawal 1, totalling RM1,000 per person to prepare for Aidilfitri celebrations.

The total Aidilfitri Assistance distributed this year amounted to RM5.3 million.

"MAIWP will continuously improve its zakat distribution services to build a sustainable, prosperous, creative, mutually respectful, and compassionate community in line with the vision of MADANI Malaysia," he said.

-- BERNAMA