SIBU: Plans are afoot to set up an integrated one-stop centre called “Anggah Singgah” and a Soup Kitchen to provide a temporary stay for the homeless caught in the town during the operation.
Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the centre had been proposed to be built at the Maksak house in Jalan Sanyan.
“Previously when we conducted an integrated operation on the homeless here, we do not have a proper place to house them. This proposed centre in Sibu will allow the homeless to stay overnight where they will be given clothes, food and bath,” she said during a two-day workshop to address social development issue involving the homeless yesterday.
Fatimah added that the place would not be a permanent home as once they received the necessary assistance, the homeless would have to continue with their business.
“In Kuala Lumpur, the homeless have a place to stay overnight and the next day, they would continue with their business. It will be the same here. We do not want them to sleep along five foot ways but at a clean place,” she said.
Fatimah also said that Anggah Singgah Sibu would be different from the one in Kuching.
“We want to make the centre here a benchmark for others to follow as we want to get NGOs to come in to provide food for the homeless on a sustainable basis,” she said.
The Sibu Resident Office is already planning to renovate Maksak to turn it into the centre.
“We have prepared the plan but still waiting for the funding. We hope corporate bodies can chip in,” said Fatimah.
From the 54 integrated operations against the homeless in the state from 2016 to 2018, where 162 homeless people were identified and saved from the street, it was found that there was a similarity with the homeless in Kuala Lumpur.
“The similarity lies in the reasons as these people suffer from family problems, mental issues, drugs, and unemployment. The only difference is that the homeless people here are mostly senior citizens while those in Kuala Lumpur are those in the younger age group,” she said.
As a long-term solution to help the homeless in the state especially the youth, she added that they would be given skills training so that they can be independent.
The long-term goal, she said was to have zero homeless people on the streets, and to achieve that the government would have to tailor-made programmes which would suit the situation in the state.
