Malaysia
Vagrants continue to sleep in Penang’s public spaces despite movement control order
A few homeless people are seen seeking shelter at a bus stop near the Komtar building in George Town March 20, 2020. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

GEORGE TOWN, March 21 — Every night, more than 70 vagrants gather around Komtar, line the sidewalk with cardboard pieces and turn the site into their "homes”.

Despite the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO), they have continued to sleep in their respective spots, often side-by-side, especially beneath the underpass of Komtar where it is airy and sheltered from the elements.

Advertising
Advertising

None of them had face masks on and many were dressed in tattered clothes, their hair matted, and their faces, hands and feet smudged with dirt.

When they noticed the authorities walking towards them, they immediately gathered up their belongings and ran off to hide.

During a check by Malay Mail around George Town, vagrants were also found sleeping along the sidewalks of heritage houses in the inner city and around Esplanade.

One of them, who appeared well groomed and clean, said he was evicted from his family home, so he did not have a place to stay.


Vagrants were also found sleeping along the sidewalks of heritage houses in the inner city and around Esplanade.

"I am jobless, and I used to rent a room in Padang Besar but I could not pay the rent so I came to Penang, and then this order came into place so I can’t go back to Padang Besar,” he said.

The man, who wanted to be known only as Chin, said he has been sleeping on the beaches in Tanjung Bungah and sometimes at the park in Esplanade.

"It is not that I don’t want to go home. I don’t have one. My siblings evicted me and don’t even want to provide me with a place to stay, so I have to sleep outside,” he said.

State exco for Environment, Welfare and Caring Society Committee Phee Boon Poh said they have recorded 72 vagrants who regularly sleep around the Komtar area.

"Not all of them are homeless, many refuse to go home and prefer to live outside like this,” he said.

He said the state welfare department is now trying to approach each vagrant to talk to them and ask them to go home.

"When they see us coming, they will run away so we have to approach them one by one,” he said.


State exco for Environment, Welfare and Caring Society Committee Phee Boon Poh said the state welfare department is now trying to approach each vagrant to talk to them and ask them to go home.

He said there are non-governmental organisations (NGO) who distribute food to the vagrants and this has only worsened the situation as this encourages the vagrants to continue loitering around Komtar in groups.

He appealed to the NGOs to work with the welfare department if they wanted to help, so that they could work out a better plan to help the vagrants.

"Those with families and homes to go back to, we will counsel them and tell them to go home, as for those who are homeless, we will send them to Anjung Singgah for these two weeks,” he said.

Anjung Singgah is a transit home for vagrants in George Town where they will be given a place to stay for 14 days.

Phee said the state’s Mutiara Food Bank will continue to distribute food to poor families during these two weeks so that they have sufficient food supply during the MCO.

The MCO is until March 31 and Malaysians have to stay at home during this period except to buy food, medicine or to go to work in the essential services sectors.

Related Articles

 

You May Also Like