THE transit centre for the homeless in Jalan C.Y. Choy in George Town is now 99% complete and is expected to be operational in April next year.
State Welfare and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said the contractor was supposed to finish the project earlier but due to some delay, the RM4.9 million project would now be completed in January.
The centre, which would cater for the homeless in Komtar and surrounding areas, would be equipped with 88 beds and separate dormitories for men and women, and the disabled.
It will also have other facilities, such as a workshop for residents to learn living skills, an administrative office, an open-air laundry yard, a collection centre for Mutiara Food Bank to help feed the poor, a proposed gallery, and a Bohemian-style café, especially for students to study and to have quiet discussions.
Phee said the transit centre aims to get the Green Building Index (GBI) platinum rating.
He would also enlist the help of an architect from the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to do the interior decorations.
“Based on a survey done before the Covid-19 pandemic, 72 homeless people at the Komtar bus terminal needed help. We will update the record.
“The state government wants these homeless people to live with some dignity and honour.
“Some of them have their own homes but due to some family matters, they do not want to stay at home. We have succeeded in helping a few to reconcile. When you bring the family together, you feel so nice. You feel the power of love.
“We also take into account that by 2030, we will have an ageing society. So, the centre will have some activities for them to do as we promote active ageing,” Phee told Buletin Mutiara in an interview.
He said he had sent officers to Klang and Shah Alam on a learning mission to come out with guidelines on how to operate the centre.
He said during the daytime, the centre would be run by the Buddhist Tzu Chi Merits Society in Penang, a non-governmental organisation. Other NGOs, he said, are welcome to discuss the running of the centre.
Phee said when the transit centre is ready, he would appeal to NGOs which wanted to donate packed food to the poor to register with the transit centre.
“Sometimes, there are five or six groups which come to the Komtar area to give packed food to the needy. The donors have the best of intentions, but because of surplus food, the recipients throw them away here and there.
“As a result, this has attracted rats, dogs and cats, thus giving the state a bad image. That is why when the transit centre is ready, we would like those who want to donate food to register with the centre to prevent sheer wastage,” Phee explained.
Phee also commended MBPP for helping to provide very cheap shelter for some outstation people who came to Penang to work but slept on five-foot ways.
The transit centre is formerly a pre-war house located at No. 19, Jalan C.Y. Choy.
Phee said the state is also turning an adjacent building at No, 17, Jalan C.Y. Choy into a CDERT (Civil Defence Emergency Response Team) operation centre which will also have an ambulance on standby.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Alissala Thian and courtesy of YB Phee’s office