DBKK to step up efforts to rid city of beggars
Published on: Thursday, October 17, 2019
CITY HALL will step up efforts to keep the State Capital free of beggars.
Despite acknowledging that numerous complaints had been lodged with the agency about vagrants around Kota Kinabalu, he said it faced an uphill task trying to discourage beggars from loitering in the public places there. “Our staff periodically keep an eye on the goings-on in the City and ask any vagrants they encounter to vacate the shops these individuals may have entered,” he said.
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“Nevertheless, once our personnel leave to go elsewhere, these beggars are back to making a nuisance of themselves.”
Seeing as how the authority was finding it difficult to cope, he said City Hall had no choice but to reach out to the other agencies for help.
“We are only an ‘agenci bantuan’ (assistive agency) which facilitates efforts by the Police, as well as the Welfare and Immigration Departments, to deal with this problem.”
On a complaint about the presence child beggars on the pedestrian walkway between the main entrance to the Api-Api Centre and the Jalan Dua Puluh – Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens traffic light intersection, the spokesman said the nuisance was not unfounded.
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“Our officers confirmed that there were indeed children begging for alms at the location in question,” he said.
“They went to the area, together with their peers from the relevant authorities, as part of ‘Ops Bersepadu’ on September 3.
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“Unfortunately, they came back empty handed as the kids scattered as soon as soon as they caught sight of the officers.”
MATT of Inanam was taken aback to find a group of child beggars walking about between the cars while he waited at the traffic lights. “I jumped when I heard a loud knocking at my window,” he said.
“I looked out but did not wind down my window and it was then that I noticed a girl in bedraggled clothes with her hand extended towards me.”
He said there did not appear to be any adults, or guardians, accompanying these kids.
“I don’t think these youngsters realise the danger they are putting themselves in,” he said.
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