Just two weeks to get Mara loans, says Idris

Two weeks is all it takes for Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) to disburse entrepreneur loans to deserving applicants.

Its chairman Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said that this would be for applicants who provided all the necessary details when applying for loans of up to RM500,000.

“I’ve spoken to the director-general (Datuk Nam Marthinin) and he will look into improving Mara’s delivery system to disburse the loans quickly,” he said after launching Mara’s Business Solution Centre (BSC) at the Medan Mara building here on Monday.

According to Idris, RM1.19bil in Mara loans had been disbursed to 26,473 bumiputra small to medium enterprises since 2006 under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), compared with RM1.94bil from the first to the eighth Malaysia Plans.

“This goes to show that Mara has greatly improved the speed of its delivery processes and amounts in loan disbursements. But some parts of the system need to be improved,” he said.

Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister Datuk Noh Omar was reported on Sunday to have said that Mara’s loan approval processes had weaknesses and disbursement of loans to needy bumiputra entrepreneurs was too slow.

Idris also said that Mara planned to set up 111 BSCs throughout the country under the 9MP.