Homeless in KL - Have temporary shelters effaced the people and issue?

CORONAVIRUS | Authorities in Kuala Lumpur have been placing hundreds of the homeless in shelters in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak, but many have fallen between the cracks and are now relying on the goodwill of others for food.

A recent recce by Malaysiakini has found over a hundred homeless people on the streets.

This has come despite Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) setting up temporary shelters to help not only the homeless but migrants and refugees as the country grapples with the health crisis. 

Several individuals were also found to have been accidentally taken to the shelter by mistake but had to remain there for the duration of the movement control order (MCO).

The government imposed the MCO on March 18 in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19, and it has since been extended to April 28.

Thankfully, self-initiated food aid initiatives from grassroots have managed to help those who are inadvertently left out by the state.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini highlighted one such initiative involving a group of food delivery riders who banded together to deliver food to the homeless and less fortunate during the MCO period. 

Despite working for rival companies, the group used money collected among themselves to buy and send food to these forgotten people in Kuala Lumpur. At times, the food is prepared by their own families.

"There are still many homeless people on the streets, and we can see that (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) DBKL do not have the capacity to get to all of them.

"We still see them, especially in the early mornings, sleeping on the streets," said a FoodPanda rider who only wished to be identified as Yanni.

Knowing where to find them

Without having a fixed list of recipients for the food aid, many of the riders have become familiar with the locations at which these groups of people can be found, GrabFood rider Effi told this Malaysiakini reporter who tagged along last Friday (April 10) when the riders went to distribute food to the needy.

In one instance, a team member stopped at a bus stop near Dataran Merdeka. Seconds later, a few people appeared to receive the food.

The riders also went to Dataran Merdeka, Masjid Jamek, Jalan Tun Perak, along the River of Life, Petaling Street, and Chow Kit areas. During this time, Malaysiakini observed more than 100 homeless people on the streets. 

Some appeared alone and others gathered in small groups. They can be seen lying on flattened card boxes while seeking relief of cool shade beneath the trees, living under flyovers or sheltering under the roof of mobile stalls closed due to the MCO.

Some were seen with backpacks or small suitcases along with whatever little they had. They sleep, wash and dry their clothes at the same spot.

Not all the recipients are homeless, however. They also include the urban poor and workers, such as cleaners and guards.

'Everyone deserves to be safe'

Yet, despite the sheer number of homeless people, this reporter was informed that the numbers are significantly less.

According to Dapur Jalanan founder Mohd Ezzuandi Ngadi, better known as Pak Wan, those receiving food aid on the streets over the past few weeks were different from those his team used to serve.

Dapur Jalanan has been helping to feed the homeless in Kuala Lumpur for over seven years.

Ezzuandi claimed that most of the people on the streets are the elderly, migrant workers or foreigners.

He further hopes that DBKL’s effort to provide shelter would adequately help the less fortunate, saying everyone deserves to be protected in the midst of this ongoing pandemic.

“With the current pandemic, everyone needs a place to shelter in, to be safe. We hope this measure (DBKL’s temporary shelter) will help to slow the spread of the virus and most importantly, protect the community,” he said.

From March 26 to 31, DBKL carried out several operations to "save" the homeless in the city and temporarily sheltered over 500 of them in multipurpose halls or community centres.

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri had earlier this month promised that the homeless would be provided with food and other essentials. 

Even so, he had assured: “There is no such an issue that the homeless were neglected anymore.

Diverse needs among the homeless

The founder of Kedai Jalanan, Rusaslina Idrus, meanwhile, applauded the government's good intention to provide shelter for the homeless during the pandemic but questioned the wisdom of placing all the homeless people in one large space.

Yet, she also stressed that heterogeneity existed among the homeless population and their different needs should be taken care of.

"Different people have different needs. Some of them might need medical care, while some might not really be homeless but in transit to get to work... some are migrants (from abroad) but some could also be local migrants, which means they could be Malaysians coming from the kampung or from East Malaysia to KL,” explained Rusaslina.

Kedai Jalanan is a project comprising a pop-up store offering free pre-loved clothing and other items to the homeless and poor. It aims to afford the recipient more dignity as they are able to choose what they need, instead of receiving any handouts.

Rusaslina, who is a senior lecturer at the University of Malaya, also pointed out the importance of compassion and consideration for the dignity of those being helped, saying the operations to move them to the shelter should not be carried out like a "roundup".

“I wonder why it's a different treatment for people without housing. You've put the homeless in one huge space and it's not the safest way of sheltering (them).

"There are many budget hotels that are available and that's empty in the city. So that could also be another option for the community.”

Rusaslisa also suggested that micro-housing units can be another alternative of proper shelter for the homeless.

DBKL previously launched an RM100 micro-housing affordable accommodation project for single people from the B40 low-income group. 

Meanwhile, Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa (photo) last week announced that the homeless staying at temporary shelters would be trained for jobs in manufacturing or with DBKL. 

Looking beyond the MCO

Those who qualify to work will be transferred to a hostel so they will no longer be homeless. They will also be reportedly placed in jobs starting May 1, if the MCO is not extended beyond April 28.

In response to this, Rusaslisa viewed that it was a very good opportunity for the government to start assisting the homeless as those in the shelters had been registered.

She also pointed out that many of the homeless and less fortunate are not "lazy, or waiting for handouts", as some people think.

"It's great if they (the government) want to give training for those who have no jobs so that they can earn a living. But, in fact, not all homeless are without jobs, a lot of them are working in different capacities."

For instance, Rusaslisa said, some were temporary labourers loading boxes or helping in restaurants but were no longer able to work due to the MCO.

As Malaysia grapples with the economic and health ramifications of the Covid-19 outbreak, concerns have been expressed by various quarters over the welfare of the less fortunate, the marginalised and minority groups.

It remains to be seen whether measures by the government, such as the effort to help the homeless, extend after the MCO on a long-term basis. 

According to Kuala Lumpur mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan, the state hoped to go beyond short-term protective measures.

As of April 13, the operations to move the homeless to shelters were still ongoing with over 700 people getting assistance so far, Nor Hisham told Malaysiakini when contacted.

"We have discussed assisting them to get jobs so they can be independent. We also discussed counselling to help their mental state,” he added.

Nor Hisham also stressed that DBKL was working closely with other government departments and agencies, such as the Community Welfare Department (JKM), Labour Department, Health Department, the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) and the Immigration Department. 

"We have short-term, medium-term and long-term plannings," added the mayor. - Mkini