SIBU: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will launch a pilot project to rehabilitate children suffering from abuses, especially sexual abuse.
Its deputy minister Hannah Yeoh in saying this after a briefing on the function of Agape Centre yesterday said the project would help victims to recover from the trauma of abuses.
The briefing was presented by paediatrician Dr Toh Teck Hock.
“We are now collecting and studying data on child abuse cases and later focus on rehabilitation of victims. We thus need to spend money on such work,” she said.
She said the ministry had secured a grant of RM10 million from the Finance Ministry this year for the implementation of childcare in the
workplace project.
“We started off with government agencies first especially after the death of baby Adam Raykal Mohd Sufi Naeif last year. The mother is a nurse and has to work on shift, leaving the child to a babysitter,” she said.
According to her, if the childcare project for government agencies is successful, it will be extended to the corporate sector.
On services for children with special needs, Yeoh said there had been much talk on early intervention but less on the children’s quality of life in their later years, including their recreational and social needs.
“You (Agape Centre) will be one of our resources for PutraJaya to show how it can be done. We don’t know what would happen in the next five to 10 years. That is why we need to work closely. We need to have a system in place for us to roll out nationwide,” she added.
On welfare, she said Sarawak was the largest recipient with RM209 million for this year, followed by Sabah RM194 million and Johor RM159 million.
Also present were Lanang MP Alice Lau, Bukit Assek and Pelawan assemblymen Irene Chang and David Wong, respectively.
