JOHOR BARU: Joint-operations against street dwellers and suspected drug addicts sleeping on public facilities in the city centre will be conducted on a weekly basis.
The street dwellers included vagabonds, beggars and the mentally unsound.
State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Khairin-Nisa Ismail said the operations were not aimed at enforcement, but rather the main focus was to rehabilitate them.
"We need to clear the streets from this unsightly issue, and the individuals will be housed at Anjung Singgah, along Jalan Nong Chik, here, temporarily."
Anjung Singgah is a temporary transit centre that house the homeless under the Welfare Department's initiative.
"It accepts conditional admissions, where those who are willing to seek employment, will be provided with lodging and meals. They are required to leave the premises once they secured jobs and are stabilised," said Khairin-Nisa.
Between midnight and 3.30am this morning, Khairin-Nisa, and state Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon led 77 officers from various state and federal agencies to inspect several hotspot areas where vagabonds loitered and slept.
The joint operation saw Khairin-Nisa and her team visiting the Larkin Sentral Terminal, JB Sentral and several other areas in the vicinity, while Ling inspected public areas along Jalan Meldrum, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Jalan Segget and in the vicinity of the Johor Baru City Centre.
During the operations, 32 men and two women were picked up.
Ling said the main issue faced were regards to those who got drunk and slept in public places.
"We can't house them at Anjung Singgah, as they will create a ruckus, and also due to the limited housing space," he said.
"It's a rather vicious circle, the welfare officers managing the centre recognised the individuals we rounded-up previously.
"It seems that after they get picked up, they would claim that they had secured employment, but will return to the streets.
"I will bring up this matter in our state executive council meeting to discuss a permanent solution to this problem," he said
The operation also saw the individuals' MyKads scanned by National Registration Department (NRD) officers.
Policemen from the Johor Baru South headquarters accompanied the team, for security purposes.
Also involved in the operations where officers from the National Anti-Drug Agency, Johor Baru City Council, Welfare Department and state National Security Council, among others.
The state-government is robustly working on cleaning up Johor Baru's image and enhancing its safety standards to align with the Johor Maju agenda.
More than 12 million domestic and international tourists are expected in the Visit Johor Year 2026.
