Soup kitchens can operate until Aug 16 - Tengku Adnan

Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the date was agreed upon as the new enforcement date for the ban on giving out food to the homeless after a meeting with 12 NGOs today.

"They can still give out food to the homeless but not within a 2km-radius of the city centre," he said in a statement today.

However, he said, NGOs with suitable premises such as house of worship or their own buildings could distribute the food even if within the 2km-radius.

Tengku Adnan said among the outcomes agreed upon at today's meeting were that all the NGOs involved would cooperate with the government in combating the activities of syndicates which used beggars to ask for alms, and to create the Anjung Singgah premises.

He said a town hall meeting with the homeless and beggars would be held soon to hear their complaints and to help them improve their lives.

Last Thursday, Tengku Adnan said soup kitchens were no longer allowed to operate within a 2km-radius of the Lot 10 shopping mall in Jalan Bukit Bintang, with immediate effect.

He said the move was to clean out the city of beggars and the homeless as well as soup kitchens which gave them food, giving rise to the issue of uncleanliness which marred the city's image.

Meanwhile, secretary-general of the Federal Territories Ministry Datuk Seri Adnan Md Ikshan said the lack of education and qualifications had resulted in the increase of homeless people.

"A study conducted by International Islamic University Malaysia found the cause to be their lack of qualifications to get a job," he said here at the handing-out of education aid to the recipients.