Special committee to protect the vulnerable will address care centre registration issue

KUALA LUMPUR: The coordination of care centre registration will be among the key issues that will be addressed by the Special Cabinet Committee for Protecting Vulnerable Groups, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun said.

It would focus on the difficulty faced by care centres in meeting the procedures and the different conditions set by local authorities as each procedure is interrelated and interlinked between the duties and powers in each ministry involved.

She said her ministry was committed to working together with the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) and local authorities to ensure that care centre registration procedures could be improved to better protect the vulnerable groups.

"My ministry is not the sole authority involved in the approval for the setting up of care centres. In fact, it involves the inspection and evaluation of technical agencies, including the local authorities, the Health Department and the Fire and Rescue Department.

"The difficulty in securing the license to operate will result in many unregistered care centres that will operate to meet the demand of various groups," she said in a statement today.

According to Rina, registration of care centres need to be balanced with the obligation to maintain the safety of its occupants, including children, the elderly, people with disabilities (PwD).

"We do not want a situation where there are many registered care centres but the operation and the quality of care given to vulnerable groups do not follow the set SOPs (standard operating procedures)," she said.

She said the implementation of a health screening test approach on caregivers and care center staff will also be scrutinised by the special committee to ensure that they have a good level of mental health and are not prone to neglect, abuse and persecute individuals under their care.

The ministry will table a memorandum to the Cabinet to proceed with the setting up of the committee immediately and also the details on the special committee that will be announced in the near future, she explained.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the setting up of a Special Cabinet Committee for Protecting Vulnerable Groups to safeguard the welfare of children, persons with disabilities (PwD), women and senior citizens.

-- BERNAMA