JOHOR BARU: A total of 34 homeless people were picked up by government officials from two homeless hotspots here.
State health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said about 50 enforcement officers from various government agencies including the police and National Anti-Drugs Agency (Nada) were involved in the operations at the Johor Baru city centre and Larkin.
“During the four-hour operations from 12am until 4am on Tuesday (March 19), I led the team that covered areas in the city centre such as Bazar Karat, along Sungai Segget, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak and Jalan Wong Ah Fook.
“We picked up 18 homeless individuals there,” he said in a statement.
Ling added that a separate team led by Johor women, family and community development committee chairman Khairin-Nisa Ismail covered another homeless hotspot at the Larkin Sentral bus terminal, where 16 more were picked up.
All of them, including four foreigners, were brought to the Anjung Singgah, a homeless shelter run by Yayasan Kebajikan Negara in Jalan Nong Chik.
“At the shelter, they underwent urine tests and tested negative for drugs,” he said.
Khairin-Nisa said that the Social Welfare Department was also involved in the operations where interviews found two of the homeless persons suffering from mental health issues, some were under the influence of alcohol while some of them had jobs.
“The four foreigners have been referred to the Immigration Department for the necessary actions while those with mental health issues were handed over to the Health Department.
“The rest of them were placed at Anjung Singgah for the time being,” she added.
