KUCHING, July 17: The Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Ministry will propose a safe haven or homeless transit center to be established in Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) and Kuching South City Council (MBKS).
Its minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah stated that after the transition of MCO to the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), PPSG had closed their detention centers and a numbers of the homeless individuals had returned to their families, with a others placed in rented houses, and some returning to their homeless state.
Based on a survey, a total of 35 individuals have been identified as homeless in Kuching as of July 7, 2020.
“During the Movement Control Order (MCO) period, a total of 145 homeless individuals has been identified in the state, which put Sarawak in the third place in Malaysia to record the most amount of homeless rescued.
“A total of 79 individuals was sent to six temporary homeless detention center (PPSG) such as in Sri Aman, Sarikei, Sibu, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang, with all the expenses (Sleeping bag, and personnel hygiene kits) covered by the ministry,” she said in a press statement today.
A total of 83 homeless rescue operations have been conducted together with various government agencies to address vagrancy in the state.
According to Fatimah, from 2016 to 2019, the ministry had rescued a total of 162 homeless in the state caused by family problems (62 cases), no place to live (29 cases), alcoholism (19 cases), dismissal from work (17 cases), mental problems (16 cases) and many others.—DayakDaily.
