Fatimah (right) talks to a family who raised the white flag at Tiong Hua Road.
SIBU (July 15): Minister of Welfare, Community Well-being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Seri Fatimah Abdullah said cooperation and collaboration from various agencies is needed to solve the urban poor issues mainly caused by rural-urban migration.
Speaking to reporters at a programme to reach out to people who raised the white flag at Jalan Hua Kiew Road here yesterday, she said different agencies such as the local authorities, welfare department, health department, education department and so forth needed to sit together to solve the problem holistically.
She added this included finding a safe place for these people to stay, addressing education issues and health issues to ensure better life quality.
According to her, most of those who migrated to the urban areas lack education and skills that could bring them better livelihood, although their main aim is to find work.
“We really need to sit together; the local council and all various departments to solve this thing together; in terms of better living space, in terms of education, why are those children not going to school, and also we need to address the health issues because living in a confined space with lots of people is not healthy.
“We need to manage this issue through various agencies, also discuss with the people representative here. We cannot just give one-off assistance. When we give one-off assistance, one week the food is finished, then what?” she said.
According to her, when the white flags issue came up, she had instructed all the staff of the welfare department throughout the state to reach out to the needy.
She said field visit was done and the staffers recorded those who had been affected by the pandemic and investigated whether they had received assistance.
“We will provide assistance to those affected, and then, we will see how the department can help for long term,” she said.
According to her, her staff had managed to visit and help one case in Sri Aman, 50 cases in Sibu, 28 cases in Kapit and 146 cases in Miri.
“There could be more houses that needed to be investigated. Some of them had been recorded in their data and would be receiving monthly assistance according to the scheme that they are eligible.
“However, this is a general figure and when we look at it, they mostly occurred in towns and cities such as Sibu, Miri, and there are some in Kapit,” she said.
Fatimah added that these people had the same pattern, as most were migrants from the rural areas to town for work.
Many worked as contract workers or at the coffee shops and they lost their job during the Movement Control Order (MCO), thus losing their source of income.
“That is why they need help during the MCO. I would like to thank those who had helped them especially the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), government departments, political parties and individuals.
“When these people put up the white flag, it is easier for the people to see that they are in need of help. I would urge those who had received the assistance, please take down the flag,” she said.
She also hoped that the Covid-19 situation will improve as soon as possible so that more economic activities can be opened, and people could go back to work.
She said from her understanding, most people wanted to go back to work and hoped that the situation could be improved soon.
Fatimah also mentioned that the government provided various assistance to those in need, thus urged people to give information to the welfare department if they knew of people who needed help and were yet to receive any assistance.
“We are working with NGOs, corporations and even individuals that can offer help, but we need information. Some people know where to find help, some people do not know,” she added.
She said during MCO, the department would provide instant assistance which included RM300 and food basket to those in need while waiting for the monthly assistance.
On a related matter, she also revealed that the welfare department had spent about RM57.78 million in food assistance at the quarantine centres, roadblocks, lockdown areas and home quarantine throughout last year until June this year.
Also present at the event was Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Bukit Assek Youth chief councillor Joseph Chieng.