Putrajaya told to reinstate budget to build childcare centres for frontliners

 

Putrajaya has been urged to re-allocate RM30 million to set up childcare centres for frontliners under Budget 2021.

This comes after a portion of a similar allocation made for this year to set up such centres at government agencies was redirected for other purposes.

Citing a parliamentary reply in July, DAP Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh (above) said RM24.5 million out of the RM30 million allocated in Budget 2020 had been rechannelled as one-off grants to 4,000 private childcare operators under the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana).

According to the parliamentary reply, the Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry explained that only RM5.5 million was set aside to set up childcare centres.

The ministry said it channelled the balance RM24.5 million to the Finance Ministry, which increased the amount to RM35 million to give to the childcare operators.

Yeoh did not dispute that childcare operators were hit hard by lockdowns due to Covid-19. However, she pointed out that the needs of frontliners who were also parents were not addressed.

At a virtual press conference earlier today, Yeoh said it was very rare for the government to allocate a budget meant for the specific purpose of setting up childcare centres.

She said the government had allocated RM10 million in 2019 and RM30 million in 2020 for this.

"It was sad that the intended purpose of the RM30 million failed and was just wasted like that," she said.

Yeoh also cited an Oct 14 survey she conducted on Twitter which showed that only nine percent of respondents, who purportedly worked in the civil service, claimed to have access to childcare facilities at their workplaces.

According to the poll, about 52 percent of 2,679 respondents said they have to take leave to take care of their children while 17 percent said they have to take care of their children on their own.

22 percent of respondents complained about expensive charges at private childcare centres.

"Covid is not going away (soon), we want the government to reinstate the RM30 million to set up childcare centres (for frontliners) in Budget 2021," Yeoh said.

"We know there is a great need and Putrajaya should make it a priority. If they want the frontliners to look after Malaysians, they have to look after the frontliners," she said, adding that only 124 hospitals out of 148 were furnished with childcare centres.

Yeoh said she could not accept the parliamentary answer where the Women's Ministry claimed that it only received a few applications for childcare facilities that involved only RM5.5 million.

"Look at the timeline. The Sheraton Move happened in February and one month after that came the lockdown. I think if the government pushed hard enough and gave more time to the agencies to respond, they could have used the money to increase the childcare capacity," she said.

Yeoh also pointed out the need to expand some childcare centres as some of these places lacked sufficient capacity to take in more children.

There were reports where frontliners complained that a few private nurseries and childcare centres rejected taking in their children as the parents were considered having a higher risk of being infected with the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the Selangor state government reactivated additional childcare centres in six hospitals and a few government agencies for Covid-19 frontliners, including healthcare staff and security personnel. - Mkini