PUTRAJAYA: Seventy-three percent of the 7,047 homeless people who stayed at Anjung Singgah as at January this year have been given help to land jobs, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said today.
She said Anjung Singgah, which was established by the National Welfare Foundation (YKN), has set up five Anjung Singgah shelters as social service centres to help tackle the issue of homelessness.
Apart from this, Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said 2,315 people have registered with the Kuala Lumpur Transit Centre for the Homeless since its opening in 2016.
YKN also runs Anjung Kasih, which now has 10 temporary shelters for those accompanying family members who are seeking treatment at hospitals, she said.
“As at January 2019, a total of 62,551 people have benefited from the establishment of Anjung Kasih throughout the country,“ she said at a ceremony for the handing over of sponsorships and signing of YKN Strategic Partner Memorandum here.
Wan Azizah said YKN is planning to set up a one-stop centre incorporating social elements of Anjung Kasih, Anjung Singgah, Food Bank and other welfare-oriented bodies at a site of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
“This project is a continuation of the cooperation between YKN Dialisis and UMS, and is the first to be undertaken in Malaysia in line with the needs of the Sabah community,“ she added.
On the other hand, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Unisza) will tie up with YKN in the setting up of Anjung Kasih at Unisza, with the development allocation to be shared between Unisza and YKN, she said.
At the ceremony, the deputy prime minister also witnessed the handing over of sponsorships and signing of memorandum with 12 strategic partners of YKN, comprising government-linked companies, private companies, institutions of higher learning, government agencies, financial institutions and non-governmental organisations.
YKN was represented by its chief executive officer Datin Paduka Che Asmah Ibrahim. — Bernama
