Kerajaan setuju lantik senator OKU

Kerajaan setuju lantik senator OKU

Bernama 6:45PM Okt 8 2013

Kerajaan bersetuju melantik seorang Senator Dewan Negara daripada kalangan orang kurang upaya (OKU), kata Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim.

Beliau berkata kementerian telah mencadangkan beberapa nama terdiri daripada mereka yang mempunyai pelbagai kecacatan seperti cacat penglihatan, pendengaran dan fizikal tetapi berkelulusan tinggi dan aktif yang boleh membawa suara golongan OKU ke Dewan Negara.

"Kerajaan telah memberi lampu hijau kira-kira dua minggu lepas.

"Kami harap nama (senator OKU) akan diumumkan secepat mungkin agar bakal senator boleh angkat sumpah dan menghadiri mesyuarat serta menjalankan tugas bagi pihak OKU di seluruh negara," katanya pada sidang akhbar di Putrajaya hari ini.

Sebelum itu, Rohani menghadiri majlis ramah mesra bersama Pertubuhan Sukarela Kebajikan (PSK) di Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat di Putrajaya. 

Allahyarham Senator Prof Datuk Dr Ismail Md Salleh, seorang pakar ekonomi yang menerima ijazah Doktor Falsafah (PhD) merupakan Senator Dewan Negara pertama yang dilantik daripada kalangan OKU cacat penglihatan di negara ini.

Sementara itu, Rohani berkata kementerian akan mengusulkan kepada kerajaan untuk mengkaji semula kadar bagi membiayai makanan di institusi kebajikan di bawah kementerian.

Sebagai contoh, beliau berkata kos makanan untuk seorang penghuni di rumah anak yatim ialah RM8 untuk enam hidangan setiap hari.

"Saya memandang serius perkara ini...sebanyak RM8 untuk enam hidangan bagi setiap penghuni adalah satu jumlah yang berat khususnya dengan keadaan harga barang juga meningkat.

"Pada masa sama, kami kena pastikan anak-anak mendapat makanan seimbang, sihat dan membantu tumbesaran mereka," katanya. 

Terdahulu dalam ucapannya, Rohani berkata Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) akan melaksanakan Manual Penilaian Kualiti di setiap PSK yang menyediakan perkhidmatan perlindungan dan jagaan kepada kanak-kanak, mulai tahun depan.

"Manual kualiti ini akan diperluaskan kepada PSK yang memberi perkhidmatan kepada warga emas dan OKU. Selain itu, JKM akan mengredkan PSK kepada Gred A hingga C berdasarkan kriteria yang akan dibangunkan secara bersama antara JKM dan PSK.

"Penggredan ini penting untuk kementerian melaksanakan 'exit policy' serta mengenalpasti PSK yang akan menjadi pakar rujuk kepada lain-lain PSK," katanya.

Sementara itu, Rohani berkata sehingga September tahun ini, terdapat 46,864 NGO berdaftar dan daripada jumlah itu sebanyak 7,486 NGO adalah di bawah kategori kebajikan masyarakat.

Beliau berkata Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat melalui JKM menyediakan geran berjumlah RM27.5 juta yang diagih kepada 242 PSK di seluruh negara sehingga 2 Ogos lepas.

-Bernama

District welfare head rapped for not meeting disabled

Nation

Published: Tuesday October 8, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Tuesday October 8, 2013 MYT 7:20:21 AM

District welfare head rapped for not meeting disabled

BY EMBUN MAJID

Gnana crawling up the stairs to hand over a memorandum to the welfare department in Kulim.

ALOR SETAR: State executive councillor Datuk Suraya Yaacob has taken Kulim district welfare head Rohana Yusof to task for not receiving a memorandum by a group of disabled persons.

The incident on Sunday took a painful turn when a disabled man, biting the memorandum in his mouth, decided to crawl up a flight of stairs to the welfare office to deliver the note.

Some 50 people from the Persatuan OKU Setia Daerah Kulim, many of them more able-bodied than wheelchair bound Gnana Pragasan, 53, had gathered at the municipal council building at around 1.30pm to meet Rohana.

Rohana had reportedly refused to receive the memorandum and remained at the department’s office on the first floor of the municipal building.

After waiting for about an hour, Gnana took the memorandum and climbed the stairs on his hands and disabled legs, watched by the others.

Suraya, the state Women Deve­lopment, Community Welfare, Agri­culture and Agro-Based and Entre­preneur Development committee chairman, said she regretted the incident and apologised to the group.

“There was a misunderstanding because the officer was ill-advised not to go down to meet the group and accept the memorandum,” Suraya told reporters during a visit to a site of a fire in Pendang, about 20km from here, yesterday.

She added that she and state welfare department director Zulkifli Ramli will meet the group soon.

“The state government has also agreed to re-look into the location of the welfare office, to make it more accessible for the disabled,” she said.

Stop giving excuses for welfare aid delays’

Stop giving excuses for welfare aid delays

Winston Way

 | October 8, 2013

DAP questions state minister on why steps were not taken to avoid delay in the distribution of aid.

KUCHING: Not a reason, but an excuse, Sarawak DAP said of the state government’s explanation on the delays of the welfare aid disbursements.

DAP assemblyman for Pending, Violet Yong also questioned the state minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Fatimah Abdullah when she remarked that she merely “hoped” that there would be no repeat of such delay.

Yesterday, Yong told a press conference that several welfare aid recipients had complained to her that they had yet to receive the funds for the month of September.

The press later questioned Fatimah on the issue at another press conference and was told that the slight delay in the disbursement of welfare aids was due to her ministry receiving the second disbursement of funds from the welfare allocation at end of September.

Fatimah said it had always been the practice that the ministry did not receive the funds in a lump sum from the federal Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

“We received a RM99.6 million from the federal ministry early in the year. We knew from experience that it was not enough and could only last us until August.

“Based on the total number of welfare recipients, we knew exactly how much we needed with the contingency amount included just in case there is a rise in the number of welfare applicants,” she was quoted in a local daily today in a report on the delay which affected 44,000 recipients..

Fatimah said her ministry received RM50 million in the second disbursement from the federal ministry at the end of last month, which she anticipated would last until December.

“Hopefully, the funds would be disbursed on time next year,” she said.

Don’t blame technical glitch

Yong meanwhile claimed that she had heard of complaints of delayed disbursement in September the preceding year, and that there was no official explanation on the delay.

She said only the senior citizens had each received the RM300 per month payment which was distributed late while the children of the hardcore poor and disabled had yet to receive their aid of RM100 for the children and RM150 to RM300 for the disabled.

“A repeat means they have not resolved the problem. Now she (Fatimah) only hoped that next year’s allocation would be in time. That means that there is no guarantee that the problem would not recur then.

“Relevant actions must be taken so that there would be no repeat. It happened last year and again this year. If they know what the problem is, they would then know how to resolve it,” Yong said, adding that the minister was incompetent to take on the role.

“I believe they (the ministry) are aware that the first disbursement (from the federal ministry) would only last up to August. They should have taken early measures to ensure that the second disbursement is on time,” Yong, who is also the Sarawak DAP organising chairperson said when contacted by FMT.

She also chided the federal and state ministries as well as the respective ministers for their departments’ inefficiency.

“They should already know that it (the first disbursement) was insufficient and therefore, there is no reason (for the delay).

“It is the minister’s duty to make sure that the funds are disbursed on time as these people (the recipients) need the money to survive. They (the ministers and ministries) cannot simply say it is due to a technical glitch,” Yong said.

Karnival Pekerjaan - Return To Work

The World Hunger Relief (WHR) Malaysia 2013 campaign

The World Hunger Relief (WHR) Malaysia 2013 campaign

Held at Dataran Putrajaya, Presint 3, Putrajaya, the WHR campaign culminated in a charity walk cum mini carnival which started at 1pm. (05 October 2013) 

Participants were treated to a number of fun filled activities including inflatables, face painting, colouring contests, several game stalls as well as many other activities for the whole family to enjoy.

Addressing the highly motivated crowd, President and Chief Executive of Johor Corporation cum Chairman of QSR Brands (M) Holdings Sdn Bhd, Dato Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim in a statement said, "It gets better every year, and this year is the best I have ever witnessed. Your participation has made a big difference in people's lives".

On behalf of ILTC Malaysia, we are delighted to be a part of such a wonderful event WHR 2013 campaign and the "Be the Movement" charity walk event for a good cause.

Snubbed by welfare dept, disabled man crawls up stairs

Monday, October 7, 2013

Snubbed by welfare dept, disabled man crawls up stairs

A disabled man resorted to crawling up a flight of stairs in a bid to submit a memorandum to the Kulim Welfare Department (JKM) after its director snubbed his association.

When contacted, Padang Serai MP N Surendran said some 50 members from the Persatuan OKU Setia Daerah Kulim had protested outside JKM to voice their grouses about welfare benefits around 1.30pm today.

However, he said Kulim JKM director Rohana Yusof refused to receive the memorandum and instead chose to remain at the department's office on the first floor of the municipal council building complex.

After waiting for over an hour under the hot sun, Surendran said one of the association's committee members, 53-year-old Gnana Pragasan (left), who cannot walk, decided to personally go up to the first floor and hand the memorandum to Rohana.

"With the memorandum in his mouth, he used his hands to climb all the way up and banged the door until the director finally came out to receive the memorandum," he said.

Surendran said the incident today illustrated the welfare department's insensitivity towards the disabled and elderly in the country.

"It is a sucker punch for the disabled community, it is a national shame... the (Woman, Family and Community Development) minister must answer," he said.

Surendran said among the grouses in the memorandum was the fact that the Kulim JKM office was on the first floor where disabled people found it difficult to access.

They were also upset that JKM officers have refused conduct site visits to disabled people who cannot personally visit the department's office for assessment, while others were unhappy that they were not receiving their welfare allowance.

Also present at the scene were Lunas state assemblyperson Azman Nasrudin and PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya.