Aktivis OKU dakwa JKM panggil polis ‘takutkan’ mereka

Aktivis OKU dakwa JKM panggil polis ‘takutkan’ mereka

Staff Writers Mar 31, 2021 1:27 PM

Mereka hadir di pejabat JKM untuk bertanya mengenai kes Elaun Pekerja Cacat (EPC) seorang lelaki yang didakwa telah dibatalkan tanpa siasatan yang tepat.

Sekumpulan aktivis orang kurang upaya (OKU) mendakwa Jabatan Kebajikan Malaysia (JKM) memanggil polis bagi menakut-nakutkan mereka ketika di pejabat JKM untuk bertanya mengenai kes Elaun Pekerja Cacat (EPC) seorang lelaki yang didakwa telah dibatalkan tanpa siasatan yang tepat.

Para aktivis dari Independent Living & Training Center (ILTC) Malaysia berkata bahawa mereka melakukan perjalanan dari Rawang ke Kuala Lumpur semalam bagi membantu Kumar Nadeson, seorang lelaki kurang upaya yang dikatakan terjejas sepanjang wabak Covid-19 tanpa pendapatan.

“Kami semua pergi ke sana untuk bantu dia mendapatkan bantuan kewangan bulanan JKM elaun EPC.

“Mereka melayan kami dengan teruk dan bahkan panggil polis untuk menakut-nakutkan kami. Kami bertengkar dengan pegawai JKM di kaunter penerimaan tetamu,” kata mereka dalam satu kenyataan.

Dalam sebuah rakaman video, beberapa orang aktvis orang kurang upaya dilihat sedang bertengkar dengan beberapa pegawai polis.

Seorang aktivis juga dilihat berteriak kepada seorang pegawai JKM ketika diminta dengan sopan untuk meninggalkan premis tersebut.

“Kami ingin tanya menteri Rina Harun untuk jelaskan kepada kami bagaimana cara untuk bantu isu serius ini, sehingga kami dilayan secara buruk, kami sangat kecewa mengapa mereka panggil polis,” tambahnya.

MalaysiaNow sedang meminta respons daripada menteri dan juga pegawai JKM.

Ketika dihubungi, presiden ILTC Francis Siva berkata elaun Kumar dibatalkan kerana dia belum memperbaharui permohonan menggunakan borang baru yang dikenali “Borang Kaji Semula JKM”.

“Pembayaran terakhir adalah pada Januari 2020. Setelah itu, belum ada pembayaran yang dilakukan hingga sekarang.

“Dia telah habiskan RM5,000 setakat ini. Dia hantar borang lain pada bulan November, namun tak ada tindakan juga,” katanya.

Francis juga berkata bahawa elaun itu dibatalkan tanpa pemeriksaan yang sewajarnya, selain proses permohonan baru yang menyukarkan OKU kerana sebilangan besar mereka buta huruf dan tidak tahu cara mengisi borang.

“Mereka tidak faham penderitaan orang OKU,” katanya.

“Mereka tak boleh datang ke pejabat. Pengangkutan awam tidak selesa. ”

Francis menambah bahawa dia dan beberapa orang aktivis lain telah berusaha untuk menghubungi menteri pembangunan wanita, keluarga dan masyarakat bagi mengetengahkan masalah ini dan mendesak supaya kerajaan memudahkan proses permohonan elaun.

Dia juga berkata bahawa permohonan Kumar telah diluluskan dan elaun satu bulan telah diberikan selepas kejadian di jabatan itu.

Golongan kelainan upaya hilang elaun bulanan kerana ‘red tape’, kata NGO

Ainaa Aiman

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April 3, 2021 11:00 AM

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Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat membatalkan elaun orang kurang upaya tanpa menyiasat lebih dahulu keadaan mereka, kata orang kurang upaya.

PETALING JAYA: Golongan kelainan upaya mendakwa terhalang daripada menerima elaun bulanan serta bantuan akibat kerenah birokrasi (red tape) dan prosedur yang disifatkan mendiskriminasi.

Seorang lelaki kelainan upaya dari kumpulan B40 mengadu elaun bulanannya telah dipotong kerana beliau tidak tahu perlu mengisi borang penilaian tahunan untuk mengesahkan kelayakannya.

Menurut mereka, pegawai kebajikan kerajaan juga sepatutnya melakukan lawatan rumah ke rumah untuk membuat pemeriksaan terhadap golongan kurang upaya ini.

Lelaki itu, Kumar Nadeson, mendakwa elaun pekerja cacat (EPC) telah dibatalkan jabatan itu tanpa melakukan siasatan terlebih dahulu, kata Presiden Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) G Francis Siva kepada FMT.

Siva berkata, borang penilaian tahunan itu adalah prosedur operasi standard (SOP) diperkenalkan kerajaan beberapa tahun lalu untuk memastikan mereka yang menerima elaun memang layak, susulan laporan penipuan ketika itu.

Kini golongan kelainan upaya perlu mengisi borang itu secara tahunan untuk terus menerima bantuan.

Siva bagaimanapun berkata, masih ramai dalam komuniti itu tidak tahu mengenai keperluan ini kerana mendakwa tiada usaha untuk memaklumkan SOP berkenaan kepada penerima terbabit.

Siva berkata pegawai kebajikan kerajaan sepatutnya membuat lawatan rumah ke rumah golongan kelainan upaya ini untuk mengesahkan keadaan mereka.

Sambil menggelar SOP itu sebagai satu bentuk diskriminasi, beliau mendakwa pegawai jabatan kebajikan tidak melawat golongan kelainan upaya ini di rumah untuk mengesahkan keadaan mereka sebelum membatalkan elaun mereka.

“Kebanyakan mereka tidak mampu mengisi borang atau pergi ke pejabat. Tiada pengangkutan awam sesuai untuk mereka,” katanya dengan menambah tidak ramai mampu dari segi kewangan untuk menggunakan perkhidmatan teksi atau e-panggilan.

Beliau menggesa Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat Rina Harun supaya mengadakan pertemuan dengan pemegang taruh segera untuk mencapai penyelesaian.

FMT telah menghubungi Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat bagi mengulas isu ini.

Sementara itu, penolong pengarah eksekutif National Council for the Blind Malaysia Choo Siew Cheong berkata golongan kurang upaya penglihatan turut berdepan masalah sama, namun ‘tidak kuasa’ mengadukannya.

“Apa gunanya mengadu? Jika mengadu sekalipun belum tentu akan dapat (elaun) semula.”

Sebaliknya, beliau mencadangkan pembaharuan terhadap struktur elaun sedia ada.

“Sudah tiba masanya kita melihat sistem sedia ada secara jujur dan meneliti sama ada kita memang membantu memberi sokongan untuk golongan kelainan upaya,” katanya.

Menurutnya, kerajaan patut mempertimbangkan elaun untuk setiap orang kelainan upaya yang didaftarkan dengan jabatan kebajikan.

“Kerajaan patut menjimatkan wang dengan melantik pegawai untuk melawat rumah ke rumah bagi memastikan status kelayakan orang kelainan upaya terbabit.”

Tambahnya, kerajaan juga patut mengenal pasti kes paling memerlukan dan menyesuaikan jumlah elaun berdasarkan sejauh mana teruknya keadaan mereka.

Red tape stops disabled from getting monthly allowance

Ainaa Aiman

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April 3, 2021 10:45 AM

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The Welfare Department has cancelled allowances for the disabled without any investigation into their circumstances, say the disabled.

PETALING JAYA: Bureaucratic red tape has apparently caused many disabled people to lose their monthly welfare allowances.

A man from the B40 income group, Kumar Nadeson, complains that his allowance has been cut off because he failed to fill up a yearly review form to confirm his eligibility.

He was unaware of the requirement and the Welfare Department cancelled the allowance without making any investigation, according to G Francis Siva, president of the Independent Living and Training Centre.

Siva told FMT the review form was a feature of an SOP the government put in place a few years ago to ensure that those receiving allowances are truly eligible. This followed reports of leakage of funds.

All disabled persons are now required to fill up the form every year, but Siva said many were still unaware of the requirement and claimed that there had been no effort to inform the recipients.

He said welfare officers should conduct door-to-door visits on the disabled to check on their availability in person.

He called the SOP a form of discrimination and alleged that welfare officers had not visited the recipients to check on their condition before cancelling their allowances.

“Most of them can’t fill up the forms or even go to the welfare office because there is no proper public transportation for them,” he said, adding that many could not afford taxis or e-hailing services.

He urged Rina Harun, the minister of women, family and community development, to set up a meeting with stakeholders immediately to come up with solutions.

Choo Siew Cheong, assistant executive director of the National Council for the Blind, said the blind saw no point in complaining about the procedure.

He said: “What’s the point of complaining? If you complain, you may not even get the allowance back.”

He recommended an overhaul of the system governing the dispensing of welfare aid.

“It’s time we look at the current system honestly and see if we are really helping to support people with disabilities,” he said.

He urged the government to consider employing officers to go door-to-door to check on the eligibility status of the disabled, identify the deserving cases and adjust the amounts given according to the severity of disability.

The government could end up saving money by doing so, he said.

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Disabled activists claim JKM called in the cops to ‘frighten’ them

They say they were very badly treated and urge welfare minister Rina Harun to explain.

Staff Writers Mar 31, 2021 12:55 PM

Activist from the Independent Living & Training Centre Malaysia speaks with officers and police at the welfare department in Kuala Lumpur.

A group of disabled activists have accused the welfare department (JKM) of calling in the police to intimidate them when they went to the department to inquire about a case in which the Disabled Workers Allowance or EPC for a man was said to be cancelled without a proper investigation.

The activists from the Independent Living & Training Centre Malaysia (ILTC) said they had travelled from Rawang to Kuala Lumpur yesterday to help Kumar Nadeson, a disabled person whom they said had been suffering throughout the Covid-19 pandemic without a proper income.

“We all went there to help him to get the JKM monthly financial aid of EPC allowance.

“They treated us very badly and even called the police to frighten us. We fought with JKM officers at the front desk,” they said in a statement.

Videos of the incident show the activists at the department, arguing with several police officers.

An activist is also seen shouting at an officer when politely asked to leave the premises.

“We want to ask our welfare minister Rina Harun to explain to us how to help this serious issue, where we were very badly treated, very upset, and why they called the police,” the activists added.

MalaysiaNow is seeking a response from the minister as well as the JKM officers.

When contacted, ILTC president Francis Siva said Kumar’s allowance was cancelled because he had not renewed his application using a new form called “Borang Kaji Semula JKM”.

“The last payment was in January 2020. After that, no payment was made until now,” he said.“

He has lost more than RM5,000 so far. He submitted another form in November, but nothing was done.”

Francis, who also said that the allowance was cancelled without proper checks, said the new application process was difficult for the disabled community as many of them are illiterate and do not know how to fill up the form.

“They don’t understand the suffering of OKU people,” he said, using the Malay acronym for those who are disabled. “They can’t come to the office. Public transport is not convenient.”

He said he and the activists have been trying to reach out to Rina to highlight the issue and to urge her to simplify the application process.

He also said that Kumar’s application was immediately approved and a one-month allowance issued after the incident at the department.