KUCHING: Homeless individuals in the state have an opportunity to return to society as they will be given a place to stay including having jobs.
Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said her ministry and the State Welfare Department were preparing a Social Intervention Directory for the homeless to identify their needs during and after the movement control order (MCO).
“This includes screening for issues related particularly to health, employability, training and shelter,” she told New Sarawak Tribune yesterday.
Fatimah was asked on the state’s approach to help the homeless.
Recently Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the homeless in Kuala Lumpur would be trained and given jobs once the MCO was lifted.
Fatimah said to ensure that the homeless were given shelter in the long term, a transit centre was being planned for Sibu, Miri, Bintulu and Kuching.
“We chose Sibu as our pilot project … because the Resident of Sibu is very supportive and he found a place that is the old government rest house which will be transformed into a transit centre for the homeless,” she said.
She revealed that adjacent to the building is a car park which could be turned into a car wash area where the homeless could be given jobs such as washing cars.
“When they have a job, it will boost their self-esteem and thus can be independent,” she said.
Fatimah said the proposed centres would not be run like a welfare institution such as Rumah Seri Kenangan (home for the aged).
“During our encounter with the homeless community, many are reluctant to be placed in welfare institutions as they are not used to the restriction placed on them.
“They are happy when free to roam. The thing that they treasure the most is their freedom,” she said, adding that it took patience and time to persuade them to go to a temporary shelter during the current movement control order period.
Fatimah explained that health screening would be conducted on the homeless and only those free from drugs and substance abuse and from communicable diseases would be allowed into the transit homes.
“If the pilot project (in Sibu) is successful, we will replicate it in other divisions such as Miri, Bintulu and Kuching,” she said.
Meanwhile, the ministry has placed 126 homeless individuals at temporary transit centres across the state.
Of these, 104 are male and 22 females. Seventy-one (56 per cent) are in satisfactory physical health while the rest suffers from mental health issues.
