A New Chance At Life: KL Homeless Placed At Shelters Are Now Attending Job Interviews
As many as 125 of the homeless have also been reconnected with family and past employers.
By May Vin Ang — 08 May 2020, 11:59 AM
Some of the 800 homeless people who were saved from the streets and placed at temporary shelters during the Movement Control Order (MCO) are now being given the opportunity to get hired
According to Harian Metro, they are currently going through job interviews to find suitable work, a process which will take about five days from 7 to 12 May.
The initiative was carried out by the Ministry of Federal Territories through a special committee of government agencies including the National Welfare Foundation, the Department of Labour, the National Anti-Drugs Agency, and several non-governmental organisations.
This comes almost after a month of a promise made by Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa.
"The homeless will not be left out on the streets," Musa said in a video statement on 10 April.
Some of the homeless were sheltered at the community centre in Sentul Perdana.
Image via Asyraf Hamzah/Harian MetroThe homeless who are accepted to work as factory production operators will be offered a starting salary of RM1,400, as well as allowances
Some may also be hired as general workers for Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and will be given a salary of no less than RM1,200 a month.
Musa has expressed his gratitude that the homeless were willing to listen to his ministry's encouragement to begin anew.
According to him, while they are waiting for work, they will be newly placed in dormitories prepared by DBKL and the companies who are willing to hire them.
"I'm so thankful they responded to my calls to start a new life," he wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, 5 May, to announce the news.
Some of the homeless have also been reconnected with family and past employers they have been separated from for a long time
DBKL announced that with all the homeless gathered under one roof, the shelters have enabled people to easily find and identify their long-lost family members.
Some of the homeless have been allowed to go home with the condition that their family or employers agree to take care of them and prevent them from roaming the city streets again.
As many as 125 people have left the shelters since 28 April after their caregivers signed letters of undertaking.
DBKL also assured that shelter residents have been screened for COVID-19 and all have tested negative.
The Ministry of Federal Territories have also previously announced that a special fund of RM1 million will be allocated to continue protecting the welfare of the homeless around the capital
The Edge Markets reported that the fund is to provide medical services, counselling, facilities, and more employment opportunities to homeless people in an effort to keep them off the streets of Kuala Lumpur.
