Census on welfare homes in Selangor

Stephanie Sta Maria

| May 23, 2011

The recent landslide tragedy prompts the state government to act to ensure all welfare homes are approved by local councils.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Hulu Langat landslides have prompted the Selangor government to act: it will conduct a census on the number of shelter and welfare homes in the state within the next three months.

The move comes after a probe into the two landslides that killed 16 people at the Rumah Anak-anak Yatim dan Anak-anak Hidayah Madrasah Al-Taqwa on Saturday revealed that the orphanage was built without approval from the local authorities.

Dubbed “Ops Selangor Prihatin Masyarakat”, it will fall under the purview of the Selangor Welfare, Women’s Affairs, Science, Technology and Innovation and Culture Committee.

Its chairman, Rodziah Ismail, said that the first step would involve issuing a directive to all local councils and district offices to identify the existence and locations of all such homes in the state.

These include orphanages as well as homes for the elderly, the disabled and single mothers.

“The next step would be to check whether all these homes are abiding by the state government’s regulations, which include owning a licence with a certificate of fitness (CF), a business licence and an operating licence,” she said.

“If we find that there are still homes without any of these required licences, they will be asked to immediately submit their applications.”

Rodziah, the state assemblyman for Batu Tiga, added that the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government would also set up a one-stop centre to coordinate the issuance of licences by the local councils, Registrar of Societies and the Welfare Department before granting approval to the applicants.

“The Selangor government takes people’s safety seriously,” she said. “We urge all parties, be it those who manage these homes or residents of private homes, to ensure the safety of their respective properties to avoid lives from being lost through carelessness.”