Economy minister Rafizi Ramli said this would be done under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), Bernama reported.

He said these measures would include developing sustainable economic activities to enable residents to generate incomes and to raise them from the hardcore poverty level.

Rafizi said efforts to eradicate hardcore poverty should not be fully dependent on transfers of cash every month from government departments or agencies.

“Obviously the 13MP will focus on districts with hardcore poor, especially eight districts in Sabah. We will focus on generating incomes for residents.

“Previously, a large part of the macro approach (to eradicate poverty) did not differentiate between poorest districts and others.

“For 13MP, we have a specific strategy to directly intervene in the poorest districts,” he said after attending a 13MP engagement session with the Sabah government, attended by deputy chief minister III Shahelmey Yahya, representing chief minister Hajiji Noor.

The eight poorest districts in Sabah are Tongod, Beluran, Pitas, Kinabatangan, Kota Marudu, Tuaran, Ranau and Lahad Datu. The other two hardcore poor districts in the country are Pusa in Sarawak and Lojing in Kelantan.

Hajiji, in a text read by Shahelmey, said the state government wants the federal government to prioritise basic infrastructure development and utilities in the state under 13MP.