By William Isau
SIBU, Feb 21: The Sarawak government aims to achieve 90 per cent take-up by eligible individuals of the Sarawak Endowment Fund (EFS) and Maternity Assistance (BIB) initiatives this year.
Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said application for EFS was at 72 per cent of the 32,740 births recorded, while 80 per cent of the 26,687 mothers who gave birth applied for BIB.
“This is the state government’s initiative to benefit the people. Therefore, we must reach the target of 90 per cent like the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) that has been set,” said Fatimah after visiting the maternity ward at Sibu Hospital here today.
The Dalat assemblywoman revealed applications can be made online at any time or from anywhere, so applicants no longer need to go in person to government departments or agencies to apply.
“What is important is that all documents submitted must be complete. This is easier, especially in areas with Internet coverage. For areas without coverage, you have to use the manual method,” she added.
Fatimah disclosed that since it was introduced in 2019, EFS had been favourably received, showing 80 per cent of 36,117 birth registrations had applied for the initiative.
The following year, the application rate increased to 85 per cent before dropping drastically to 69 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.
However, in 2022 as Sarawak emerged from lockdowns, the application rate increased to 72 per cent due to an increase in births at that time which totalled 32,740.
As for BIB, since it was initiated in 2020, it was relatively poorly received with only 65 per cent of mothers who gave birth registering, but this increased to 83 per cent in 2021.
In 2022, there was a drop in BIB applications to 80 per cent of the total number of 26,687 mothers giving birth in Sarawak.
Thus, Fatimah urged the wider community to help spread the word so that these initiatives provided by the government would benefit the target group.
EFS disburses RM1,000 in the form of trust savings to Sarawakian newborns, regardless of race, religion or socioeconomic status.
Meanwhile, BIB is a one-off financial assistance of RM450 to every mother with a ‘K’ status in their MyKad or wife of a ‘K’ status MyKad holder who have just birthed a child, regardless of race, religion or socioeconomic status, to help with healthy nutrition and personal care during the post-natal period.
Among those accompanying Fatimah on her visit was her ministry’s permanent secretary Noriah Ahmad. — DayakDaily
