Fatimah listening to a briefing from an operation personnel on a vagabond picked up at Electra House area in Kuching.
KUCHING: Three vagabonds have been picked up in the city and temporarily placed in ‘Anjung Kasih’ a temporary shelter during an anti-vagabond operation conducted recently.
All of them were found at the five-foot-way at India Street, behind Electra House and Kuching Waterfront before being sent to Anjung Kasih at Jalan Rubber, here.
Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah who also participated in the operation, said family problems were among the contributors to these people in choosing to live on the streets.
“Some who were brought in had stayed for six years in the streets although they have family members,” she said when met at Anjung Singgah after the operation recently.
Fatimah said there were vagabonds who have a job but their income were insufficient for them to pay for house rent.
“There are some who are employed but their income is sufficient only to sustain their daily lives.”
She believed that there are still some more vagabonds who are still at large and appealed to the public to channel information to the state Welfare Department.
The two-hour operation which started at 8pm headed by state Welfare Department, was also participated by 31 personnel from various agencies including the National Anti-Drug Agency, Kuching North City Commission and police.
“We will continue with this operation in the future and it will be conducted a bit later because these people are normally visible on the street when the situation in the city is quiet.”
A total of 435 people had used the Anjung Singgah facilities since 2012 and currently, it still houses seven homeless men and a woman aged between 32 and 63 years old.
This temporary shelter which houses those rounded up in the operation for two weeks is under the administration of Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.
It offers various facilities to the vagabonds such as boarding, health check, counselling, rehabilitation service and assisting them to find employment.
Fatimah also revealed that some of those released from the shelter had repeatedly sought shelter at Anjung Singgah with the excuse that they had lost the place to stay.
“This is not a question of taking advantage but there are some who had lost a place to stay because they were unemployed and could not afford to pay their rents.”