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.
NEW MINISTER FOR WELFARE MINISTER OF MALAYSIA
Badan Latihan dan Hidup Berdikari Malaysia (ILTC) pada 23hb Mac 2016 menyerahkan memorandum kepada ahli-ahli parlimen mendesak supaya golongan orang kurang upaya (OKU) dikecualikan daripada cukai barangan dan perkhidmatan (GST).
Disabled Members Protest
Disabled Members Protest at JPJ Wangsa Maju
ILTC Malaysia members staged a protest outside JPJ Wangsamaju KL.
Disabled group’s protest disabled drivers required to produce doc's medical report.
Saturday, 3 April 2021
Golongan kelainan upaya hilang elaun bulanan kerana ‘red tape’, kata NGO
Golongan kelainan upaya hilang elaun bulanan kerana ‘red tape’, kata NGO
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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
Red tape stops disabled from getting monthly allowance
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64PETALING 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.
Thursday, 1 April 2021
Disabled activists claim JKM called in the cops to ‘frighten’ them
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.
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.
Wednesday, 24 February 2021
Disabled man turns to loan sharks after losing his stall
Disabled man turns to loan sharks after losing his stall
With no other way to support his family, Murugan Raju is struggling to repay his debt amid threats from 'ah long'.
Murugan Raju checks through a basket of jelly puddings, one in a list of goods that have been
damaged since he was forced to close his kiosk in Rawang, Selangor, a year ago.
Despite his status as a special needs person or OKU, Murugan Raju used to run a kiosk selling snacks and sweets near SK Rawang in Selangor. Now, though, he has lost his stall and is in debt to loan sharks to the tune of RM10,000.
Murugan, 50, was aware of the risk involved when he took out the loan. But he had no choice as he has four children, one of whom also has OKU status.
He was told that he could no longer run his kiosk as it would be in the way of a project to expand the road. Local authorities also rejected his application to renew his business licence.
That was a year ago.
Now, he and his family depend on handouts from the welfare department which gives them RM450 each month.
Murugan had tried appealing to the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) for permission to continue his business until the project begins.
“I need that kiosk. It was our only source of income for the whole family,” he told Malaysianow.
“We asked for assistance to be given a new location to run the business, but until today we have not received any response.”
MPS licensing department director Zulaina Abu Talib said Murugan had been unable to renew his business licence due to the road widening project.
“If he wants to reapply, he can identify a business location and then submit an application for a licence,” she told MalaysiaNow.
Unable to continue running his business, Murugan chalked up losses of up to RM2,000 from damage to the goods he could no longer sell.
His wife Theivanai Vellithan, 42, is unemployed and his 24-year-old daughter still needs her family’s support as she has learning difficulties.
Lacking the money to provide for his wife and children, Murugan turned to loan sharks or “ah long”.
“I was once under such pressure that I thought it would be better to die than to continue suffering like that,” he said with tears in his eyes.
“If I didn’t take that loan, how would I provide for my family?”
Those who borrow from loan sharks run the risk of threats and being roughed up if they are slow in making repayments, something Murugan can now testify to.
“They telephoned, angry because I was behind in my payments. They said if I couldn’t give them one of my daughters, my wife would do,” he told MalaysiaNow.
In an attempt to protect himself and his family, Murugan dipped into his EPF savings, withdrawing RM5,000 under the i-Sinar programme to repay some of his debt.
As he is a member of the Independent Living & Training Centre (ILTC), he also turned to the association for help.
ILTC president Francis Siva said the centre gives skills training and support to about 400 members to live an independent life.
“We offer advice and support as well as assistance in computer skills or anything else they need,” he said.
“We also try to ease the burden of members through contributions of food and daily necessities.”
He voiced hope that more people designated as OKU would register with the centre, adding that they too would continue seeking them out in order to provide assistance.
He estimates that some 600,000 people across the country are designated as OKU but only 124,000 receive help from government agencies.
He said the rest are considered ineligible due to factors such as incomplete forms or the ability to afford a car, refrigerator or Astro TV at home.
Monday, 15 February 2021
Lockdowns spell trouble for the disabled
Lockdowns spell trouble for the disabled
Ainaa AimanFebruary 9, 2021 8:15 AM
PETALING JAYA: The pandemic has been hard on many people, but none so hard as the disabled community.
Not only are many of them jobless, they have also been unable to get adequate food and financial assistance.
An activist for the disabled community has expressed disappointment that despite government policies being passed to help the disabled during the pandemic, many have not got the aid promised in the various economic stimulus packages.
G Francis Siva, president of the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) Malaysia, said most of disabled people are also the poorest.
“Some told me that when they called the Welfare Department (JKM) hotline, the people there would promise them assistance but would keep delaying it.
“Every time they called, they got promises of help. They keep on telling them ‘later we will give’. But they never do.
“I personally called this number, and they said they would come back to me but they never did.
“Under the economic stimulus packages, they were promised assistance worth RM100, but they never received a single sen. That’s very sad,” he said.
Francis, who is himself disabled, said he did get some assistance eventually, but it was just too little.
As a result, he said, many disabled people who were already underemployed or unemployed risked getting evicted when they could not pay rent.
Some would go as far as borrowing money from loan sharks just to survive, he said.
“I notice a lot of people are really stuck and don’t know what to do. I can only help in the Hulu Selangor and Gombak area.
“JKM needs to come and visit recipients at their homes. They must do that, but they don’t. They should come to check and see what kind of situation these people are in.
“There are instructions given to help us. But this help doesn’t reach us at the grassroots. They have all the logistics to come check on us. They can do it.”
Francis said that most disabled people did not know how to ask for help, or which agency to contact. Most could not speak up for themselves because of their lack of education.
“The support system for them is not in place. On top of that, nobody can go out. So they just sit at home, completely on their own sometimes,” he said.
The disabled, Francis said, were facing a double challenge because their mental health was under threat too. Many were already prone to mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, but now suffer increasingly severe symptoms.
He said many people were also forced to pay for their own healthcare and medication despite having close to no income.
With no certainty as to when movement restrictions would end, many were beginning to feel hopeless.
“We try to help them. We managed to raise some donations to be able to cover food for them for one or two months. We send packs of food to their doorsteps. But we can only help those in this area,” he said.
Sunday, 3 January 2021
Personal Assistant For Disabled Training workshop in Rawang, Selangor. This project was a collaboration between the Independent Living & Training Centre Malaysia (ILTC Malaysia) and the Development of Persons with Disabilities Department (JPOKU). Malaysia needs at least seven Independent Living Centres (ILCs) to meet the needs of over half a million disabled people in the country. We have started training personal assistants on 16th – 19th December 2020 and also people with disabilities to enable them to become more independent and be able to go out and be with other people. The first group of 18 PAs would serve as a benchmark for the expansion of the services to those in need. More interesting, they (PAs) will receive an allowance of RM20 per hour for services rendered.
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