After reversal of ban, soup kitchens ready to work with Putrajaya on homeless plight
Soup kitchens in the city will gather feedback from the homeless on what kind of help they expect from Putrajaya, following the decision to reverse a ban on their operation in the city centre.
Pertiwi founding member Munirah Abdul Hamid said Putrajaya wanted to help the homeless but did not know what they wanted.
"Helping does not mean purchasing a building and turning it into another half way house or home. It is all back to the recipients. We have to know what the homeless need," said Munirah.
She said after their discussion with the Federal Territories Ministry, Pertiwi came up with a questionnaire to be distributed during its food distribution.
"After we know the numbers and the needs, we can come up with better solutions," Munirah said.
"It is simple, we just need name, identification number and what they need from the government. Once we have the data, we can present it to the ministry," said Munirah in welcoming Putrajaya’s decision to lift its controversial ban against soup kitchens from operating in the Kuala Lumpur city centre.
Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor had previously set August 16 for soup kitchens to move their operations out of a 2km zone from the city centre, saying they dirtied the streets and reflected poorly on the image of the nation’s capital.
The move caused an outrage in the country, with many questioning Putrajaya's lack of any plan to help the homeless.
Tengku Adnan said although the ban has been ditched, the ministry will be monitoring the charity groups for cleanliness.
"We always keep our serving area clean. We never have issue of cleanliness and they are welcome to monitor us. It is not a problem. The problem of cleanliness only occur with ad hoc soup kitchens," said Munirah.
She said Pertiwi will not change its route and location in serving the homeless as it did not want to barge into someone else's territory.
"We do not want to intrude into other peoples area. Our stops will remain as it is," said Munirah.
She said the decision to ditch the ban came a week before Hari Raya during a meeting between non-governmental organisations and the Federal Territories Ministry.
Dapur Jalanan coordinator Hadi Khalid said the charity group always engaged with homeless people to find out about their needs and hardship.
"We talk to them while sharing food with them. So we suggested to the ministry and City Hall to meet them in person to know their problems. We will help in gathering the homeless people," said Hadi.
He said Dapur Jalanan will continue to serve in Jalan Panggung.
"There are reasons why we choose this location. As for cleanliness, we always clean up the place we serve.
"City Hall always has the right to fine us if we dirty it up. That is acceptable," said Hadi. – August 10, 2014.
