The Perak government has no basis to deny poverty exists in the country following the findings of Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) published last month, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) said.

Perak Amanah deputy chief Hasnul Zulkarnain said the party’s survey in the Larut constituency alone found many who are “very poor”.

“There are still homes with no electricity or running water that they have to source water from tube wells or the river.

“They live in darkness except for the dim light of candles,” he said.

KRI in its report published Aug 29 said Perak has the second largest number of households earning less than RM2,000 a month, while 81.1 percent of its households earn less than RM6,000 a month.

Perlis and Pahang also have among the highest number of households earning less than RM6,000, making up about 80 percent of households there.

Perak Menteri Besar and Larut MP Zambry Abdul Kadir, however, rubbished the report for categorising Perak as a poor state.

“I feel the KRI report does not present Perak in a good view, as if we are poor like Kelantan. It is wrong to say that Perak is a poor state,” he was quoted as saying by Astro Awani.

In his statement yesterday, Hasnul said Amanah Perak Youth members were saddened by the living conditions of 10 families visited. The families, he said, were “very poor”.

He said most households earned their livelihoods through rubber tapping, farming and collecting recyclables.

“The households earn less than RM800 a month, which is not enough to sustain basic needs, let alone the requirements of modern life,” Hasnul said.

Zambry’s denial, he said, does not solve anything.

“Enough of propaganda. Focus and be sincere in administering the state,” Hasnul added.

KRI, a research house funded by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, was founded in 2014.