ALMOST 80% of the beggars nabbed in Kelantan are recipients of monthly assistance from the Social Welfare Department (SWD). 

State SWD Enforcement Division assistant director Mohamad Md Nor said, usually, most beggars pick certain spots to beg such as in front of banks, at the Muhammadi Mosque compound, the Siti Khadijah Market, and Laman Hijau. 

He said among the reasons given by these beggars was that they wanted to get extra money to cover the costs of medical treatment.

“We would like to remind the public not to be duped and to be careful when giving alms and donations as almost 80% cent of those arrested are recipients of SWD’s monthly assistance. 

“SWD also launched a ‘Bijak Membantu Elak Tertipu’ campaign to raise awareness among the public to offer suitable assistance to beggars because we found that some of them have savings up to RM20,000,” he said. 

He said this to reporters at the state SWD office in Kota Baru after participating in SWD’s Beggar Integrated Operation with several agencies, including the Immigration Department and Kota Baru Municipal Council, involving 32 personnel, today. 

Commenting further on the operation, Mohamad said his office had nabbed a total of 10 beggars aged between 50 and 77, involving nine locals and a Thai citizen. 

He said during the operation conducted from 9.30am to 2pm, two of the beggars arrested were found to be using fake documents from the Kelantan Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council to request donations for surau and mosques in the state.

“We will document all locals detained, (and decide) whether they are sent to old folks’ homes or given a stern warning including signing a Letter of Undertaking, while the detained Thai national will be handed over to the Immigration Department.

“We are not ruling out the possibility that the number of beggars will increase, especially a week before Aidilfitri, because more people will distribute alms then,” he said. – Bernama, April 23, 2022.