KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Civil servants can take up part-time weekend jobs or businesses to supplement their income in view of the rising cost of living following food and fuel price increases, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz.

He said the Government was encouraging all Malaysians to work harder over weekends, and was also looking at facilitating those who wanted casual part-time employment at teller or counter services in the public and private sectors.

'This is a long-term solution to the high cost of living we are experiencing,' said Amirsham, who also heads the Economic Planning Unit.

He was speaking reporters after opening the seventh East Asia Poverty Analysis and Data Initiative consultation meeting and regional workshop on 'poverty monitoring and impact evaluation,' here yesterday.

On Monday, Human Resources Minister Datuk S. Subramaniam asked PSD to study a proposal by Cuepacs to allow civil servants to work after office hours.

He said the move might affect productivity, and his deputy Datuk Noraini Ahmad was against the proposal.

Amirsham said the EPU, which jointly organised the three-day workshop with the Institute of Malaysia and International Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the World Bank Institute, was looking at medium and long-term solutions.

He also said the Government was confident of achieving its target of completely eradicating hardcore poverty by 2010, despite the increasing cost of living.

'In the long run, we need to give a group of people more opportunities for income generation, to get themselves out of the pressure of food price and cost of living increases.

'The Government is providing a conducive environment for the opportunity to raise income levels, but at the end of the day, it is up to the people to grab the opportunities,' he said.

Asked about the RM2bil the Government would save following its cost-cutting measures, he said the Government was doing a lot for the people, including allocating for food subsidies.