Fatimah (fifth left) presenting the cheque for the grant to Yong. Also seen are the rest of the delegation. — Photo by Jeffery Mostapa
KUCHING: Minister of Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah welcomes plan to set up a one-stop welfare centre in Kuching that is similar to Agape Centre in Sibu.
The centre in Sibu has a place for Special Olympics, skills training centre, clinic, library and community rehabilitation centre to name a few.
“It’s a good concept, saving in operation cost, and convenient for parents and clients. It houses welfare services and non-government organisations under one roof,” she said after a courtesy call by Sarawak Welfare Council at her office Thursday.
She said this was among the four items brought up to her attention by the council. The delegation was led by the council’s president Irene Yong.
On the second item, the disabled employment and minimum wage, Fatimah hopes employers will observe the minimum pay for those working over 5.6 hours per day as per Labour Law.
She said though the opportunity for the disabled to have a job was appreciated, they should be paid accordingly, and not on part-time pay if working over the stipulated hours of 5.6 hours per day.
“Some of the disabled have been trained, some have even completed tertiary education at universities, thus are very qualified to hold jobs. We welcome employers to give them jobs as we want them to be as independent as they can, and hope that employers will adhere to the Labour Law.”
On the third item, request for new van, she said it was necessary to help ferry the disabled, especially those in wheelchairs. The existing van is very old and require a lot of repairs, thus it is time to be replaced.
Earlier, Yong said he hoped that companies can consider donating a van to the council.
Finally, Fatimah agreed to the council’s suggestion to hold a welfare conference to improve welfare services.
At the event, she presented a grant of RM10,000 to the council which is the umbrella body for 39 non-government organisations in Sarawak.