MANY families living in low-cost housing (PPR) schemes continue to struggle even after receiving aid, said civil society groups.

They told The Malaysian Insight although these families are provided with food and essential items, they lack access to jobs, healthcare and education.

United Sikh Malaysia general-secretary Anildeep Singh said many poor families have lost their incomes.

“They are daily income earners and many have lost their jobs (due to the pandemic). This is the reason they are stressed.

“They don’t have any income and this has put a strain on them,” Anildeep told The Malaysian Insight.

Anildeep was commenting on a United Nations report entitled Families on the Edge, which found that low-income families in Kuala Lumpur were under increased stress due to worries over their their livelihoods.

The report was the result of a survey of 500 families living in the PPRs in Kuala Lumpur, commissioned by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) and United Nations Population Fund.

The report found that inability to provide enough food for the family and lack of employment opportunities were the major concerns of these households.

Anildeep said the strain on these families will grow now that school has reopened and they have to provide their children’s schooling needs..

“They will start worrying about money for school items and other stuff. Some have also said they need money for rent and medicine for the elderly.

“Some families have sick children and relatives to care for so their household cost has increased. This is happening all over Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

United Sikh Malaysia is currently assisting families in 13 PPR schemes in Kuala Lumpur.

Anildeep said the onus is on the Social Welfare Department to step up and help the families in need.

“These people need more assistance. They also cannot rely on the one-off aid the government is giving.”

He said apart from providing food, United Sikh Malaysia has a group of doctors helping to provide the needy with healthcare.

“We will request for the medicine on a case by case basis after evaluating their requests.”

Pusat Bantuan Sentul executive secretary Stephen Niles Lee said apart from food, the families at the PPR need help with their children’s education and medical assistance.

“Many are in the B40 category and have lost their jobs. Some have more than three children and it is difficult for all of them to have access to online studies as they don’t have the gadgets.

“There are also the elderly with medical conditions and they cannot afford medicine.

“What we are also doing is trying to get donors to sponsor medicine for these people,” he said.

Lee said the centre was assisting about 2,000 families in seven PPR schemes in the Batu area of Kuala Lumpur.  

He said before the first movement control order (MCO) the centre was assisting 500 families, but the number of households in need of aid shot up to more than 4,000 after March 18.

“Those from the B40 group who had lost their jobs were the most in need of assistance.

“However, since June the numbers have started to drop, but we still continue to assist the needy,” he said.

Lee said such food aid as vegetables, fruits, bread and cartons of milk and drinks were provided to the families.

He said the items are distributed about two or three times a week depending on what has been donated.

“Sometimes it’s vegetables, other days it could be bread or other essentials; it depends on what we get from the contributors.

“Based on our data we will distribute the aid accordingly to which PPR needs it most.”

The centre has a list of the 100 most needy households which regularly receive food and other basic supplies.

“The families each month without fail will be given food aid and other essentials.

Pusat Bantuan Sentul welfare officer T. Ragawenthira said they have resumed the tuition classes that were disrupted by the MCO earlier this year.

“We currently have 30 students who are taught by volunteers. We will look into expanding the programme.

“We also provide training for single mothers on running a business, and legal aid.” – March 4, 2021.