Shahrizat: The homeless should be first to benefit from food stamps Print
Tuesday, 02 August 2011 21:43

KUALA LUMPUR: The homeless should be the first group to receive food stamps if the measure is adopted here, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
“No decision has been made yet on the implementation of food stamps, but the Cabinet has been discussing matters related to the cost of living,” Shahrizat said before presenting Ramadan goodies containing cookies, dates, drinking water, towels and first aid kits to the homeless at the Anjung Singgah centre in Jalan Hang Lekiu here yesterday.

Anjung Singgah is a one-stop intervention centre managed by the National Welfare Foundation which provides meals and temporary lodging for the homeless.

Shahrizat said 1,387 homeless people here were registered with the Welfare Department.

Of that, about 250 has benefited from services provided by Anjung Singgah.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had previously suggested that a food stamp programme similar to the one in the United States could be adopted to cushion the impact of soaring food prices.

Food stamp recipients in the US are given an account and a plastic card, known as the Electronic Benefit Transfer card, to purchase bread, cereal, fruit, vegetable, meat, poultry and dairy products.

“We are not just providing food and shelter to the less fortunate, we also provide intervention programmes like job placements,” she said.