SEMPORNA: The number of Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) business partners nationwide has increased to 14,068 premises as of Aug 7, compared with about 700 when the programme was introduced in 2024.

Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the expansion of the network was crucial to ensure targeted cash assistance provided by the government could reach recipients more efficiently and be made available closer to their communities.

He said the government would continue to widen the Sara business partner network nationwide to ensure the assistance not only increased in value but also remained accessible to all eligible recipients.

"This is the government's approach, not merely to provide assistance, but to ensure it reaches the people, can be used and brings benefits to their daily lives," he told reporters after checking on the implementation of Sara at Pulau Bum Bum here on Saturday (Aug 15).

Amir Hamzah said of the total Sara business partners nationwide, 1,495 premises are located in Sabah, including 32 in Semporna and 115 in Tawau.

He said the utilisation of Sara in Sabah had shown encouraging results, with RM501.2mil from the Sara Monthly allocation spent by 815,689 recipients as of Aug 7.

Meanwhile, the Sara For All category in Sabah recorded RM158.9mil in utilisation, or 88% of the allocation, involving 1.8 million recipients during the same period.

"The high transaction rate in Sabah shows that remote locations and geographical challenges are not barriers for people to utilise the assistance credited directly to their MyKad," he said.

 Amir Hamzah added that the range of products available under the Sara system had been expanded to more than 140,000 essential items, including groceries, personal hygiene products and frozen food such as chicken and nuggets.

The government had also facilitated the participation of small retailers and village cooperatives by providing free point-of-sale (POS) systems, eliminating the need for traders to purchase the equipment.

He said the increase in the combined allocation for the Rahmah Cash Assistance (STR) and Sara from RM10bil in 2024 to RM15bil this year further reflected the government's commitment towards strengthening the people's social safety net.

Amir Hamzah gave an assurance that the government would continue identifying rural and island areas facing access challenges to ensure no target groups were left out from benefiting under Sara. — Bernama