Call for more help for the needy

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Junz talking to Andi and his family members in their house.

The poor living conditions the family of six.

INANAM: A welfare system with a wider reach and bigger assistance is needed to adequately help the needy, said Parti Warisan Sabah vice president Junz Wong.

The Likas assemblyman made the remark after a Warisan welfare team visited the family of Mr Andi during a house to house visit organized by Saudari Raini of Warisan Wanita Sepanggar Inanam division at Jalan Bantayan here recently.

Junz said he was shocked and saddened to find the “terrible” living condition that the family of six is living in.

Describing their living environment as lacking in basic comfort and hygiene, he said rainwater would come pouring down through the leaky wooden roof of their derelict home whenever it rains.

He said Andi’s wife, Puan Sarifah, has been paralysed and unable to move or stand without help for seven years ago after suffering from cholera.

The Welfare Ministry has approved a monthly financial assistance of RM300 for his family but did not offer any other assistance.

“While this assistance is graciously accepted, welfare officers should also look into other forms of assistance, as the monthly RM300 assistance is barely enough for her to pay for medicine and adult diapers,” Junz said.

It would be most helpful if the Welfare Department could set up a teamsto assist them in applying for a PPR unit, a low-cost home, he said.

Junz said he was told that one of the couple’s four children, the eldest daughter at 17 years old, was supposed to sit for SPM this year but had to stop school to take care of her mother as they simply cannot afford to hire anyone to look after her.

Andi also found it difficult to cope with the bus fares for the three younger daughters studying in different schools, he said.

As a way out of this predicament, Andi is seeking help from the relevant authorities to relocate his daughters to schools in Kolombong or Inanam areas as this would ease his financial burden.

Meanwhile, Junz proposed for the State government to provide a bigger budget allocation to address the state of welfare of the needy and unfortunate people.

He urged Minister of Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Haji Ahmad Ayid to look into the need to extend assistance other than in monetary form.

He proposed that the monthly welfare assistance be increased from RM300 to RM600, as living costs have increased drastically over the years.

“I am sure the case of Andi and his family is just the tip of the iceberg and that they are many more that we need to extend our hands of help to,” he said.