Chang (first left) and Fatimah (second left) visiting the family staying at the dumping site.
SIBU: Relevant government agencies and authorities will work together to solve the illegal squatter problem at the dumping site in Seng Ling Road.
Among the departments involved were Welfare Department, Land and Survey Department, Education Department, National Registration Department, Health Department, local authorities and so forth.
Welfare, Community Well-Being, Women Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said that there are many issues involved, thus it could not be solved with the effort of one agency.
“For my department, we can just give welfare, but there are so many things involved; education, resettlement, health, job opportunities and so forth,” she said.
Twenty four families are currently staying at the dumping site and some had been staying for more than 20 years.
Other issues faced at the squatting site include statelessness, high school dropout rates, glue sniffing activities, and so forth.
Fatimah with various organisations visited the families and the site this morning. Also present were Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang and Pelawan assemblyman David Wong.
Both Chang and Wong together with other Democratic Action Party (DAP) leaders had been visiting and follow up with the issue few times.
With that, they asked the minister to look into the matter and to see on the assistance that could be given to them.
“Today, it is an inter-agency cooperation and strategic partnership, we cannot solve it alone because the issues are more than one. So, apart from Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), it doesn’t matter if we are the government or the opposition, we work as a team to help our people,” said Fatimah.