According to Annuar, the number was identified in 178 localities around Kuala Lumpur, especially among residents at various People’s Housing Project (PPR).

“In the city (Kuala Lumpur), this group cannot meet basic needs such as food, clothes and shelter. So, we feel that they need to be helped with various facilities and aid.

“There must also be special planning so that this group is not left behind,” he told reporters after announcing the list of 335 recipients of awards, honours and medals in conjunction with the Federal Territory Day 2021 celebration here.

Also present were federal territories ministry secretary-general Rosida Jaafar and Kuala Lumpur mayor Mahadi Che Ngah.

However, Annuar said the exact number of household heads who fall under the poverty line could not be ascertained as the matter was managed by various agencies, such as the Social Welfare Department, Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council and Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department.

“We believe there is some overlap but our estimation is based on household heads in 63,000 units of PPR around the capital with half of them being under the poverty line,” he said.

Meanwhile, Annuar said the ministry would distribute over 5,000 bags of rice per week to the needy under the MyBeras@Wilayah programme compared with 3,000 bags previously, due to the overwhelming response from contributors.

“Therefore, we expect to distribute 20,000 to 30,000 bags of rice to target groups every month.

“We are still open for donations and in fact, I personally contacted my friends from private entities to participate in this programme. The public can also donate at least RM10 via the MyInfo portal,” he said.

He added that the rice distribution would be carried out systematically to target groups in each zone so that there would be no violation of standard operating procedures during the current movement control order (MCO).

The MyBeras@Wilayah programme is a sub-programme to MyFood@Wilayah, organised specifically for the urban poor or those who had lost their income during the MCO. It was announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in his Federal Territory Day 2021 message last night.