The State Government through the Ministry of Community Development and Consumer Affairs is in the midst of building the proposed Women Protection Home or Rumah Perlindungan Wanita (Rupawan) here to overcome the baby dumping problem. Its Minister, Datuk Hjh Azizah Mohd Dun, said Saturday, it is a State-funded project and the home is scheduled to be completed by July. However, its exact location is undisclosed for security reasons and in the interest of victims' protection. "Once the home is ready, it will be open to target groups throughout Sabah. We will take in women and girls aged 18 and above who face family problems and provide shelter to those in pregnancy crisis who do not get support or sympathy from their families.
"If it so happens, there is a place for them to go for refuge and rectify the damage done so that they can start anew. That is important," she said, after officiating at the Seminar on Growing Love, Million Hopes-Developing Happy Families at the Tun Ahmad Raffae Auditorium, Menara Tun Mustapha, here. The one-day seminar was organised by the Sabah Women's Advisory Council (MPWS) Education Committee with the co-operation of UiTM Sabah Branch and Yayasan Sabah. Azizah, who is Klias Assemblywoman, made it clear that shelter at the Women Protection Home is temporary during which the residents will undergo counselling sessions while their problems are resolved.
The Ministry would be appointing trained counsellors from the State Public Welfare Services Department to serve at the Home. "If necessary, we may also outsource for counsellors from the private sector." Asked about the need to have this women protection home in addition to the Women Crisis Centre (now occupying the former Princess Ann Children's Home in Likas), Azizah said: "That one (Women Crisis Centre) is for a different purpose. We cannot mix the women from different target groups together." The Minister said the question of the women protection home "encouraging" promiscuous behaviour among young people does not arise.
"We will not stop here. At the same time, we are working with NGOs, institutions of higher learning and the community at large to instil high moral values in the young so that they will refrain from getting involved in undesirable activities which they will regret one day." To another question that "red tape" might deter distressed girls from seeking refuge at the home, Azizah said: "No red tape, there is no such thing. There will be no red tape." In the meantime, she said, women and girls in crisis can seek the necessary assistance from the one-stop service centre for clients within the jurisdiction of the Sabah Women's Affairs Department (Jhewa) and housed on the ground floor of Wisma Wanita, here.
"We will find ways and means to help them," she assured. Having said this, the Minister is of the conviction that primary support for girls in crisis and their babies must come from the families concerned. "What the Government is going to provide is meant to be just an additional facility." For this reason, Azizah said emphasis was being given to programmes aimed at strengthening the family institution. "In fact, today's seminar, a collaborative effort by MPWS, UiTM Sabah Branch and Yayasan Sabah, is part of the effort in this direction as young people today will become future parents when they get married and raise their own families." Earlier, in her address, Azizah said the way unwanted babies are being disposed of by unwed mothers today was becoming extreme and senseless.
"Previously, people stumbled upon them (babies), whether dead or alive, in the garbage bin, drain and toilet, outside homes or the mosque, on the five footway or beach and under the tree. "Recently, a baby was thrown from the upper storey of a flat. In another case, the baby was left in a plastic bag that was tightly tied. "But what is more saddening is the incident where a student gave birth to a baby in school and then put the newborn inside her schoolbag."
The Minister added that those cases of baby abandoning and others that were left to die were the outcome of "rashness" on the part of the mother and father, most of whom were teenagers. "Such births were the result of illicit sex and promiscuity that are increasingly becoming a trend in our society." Azizah stressed that baby dumping was clear-cut proof that our society was plagued with the serious problem of moral decadence. Young people were reminded that baby dumping is a sinful crime with a heavy penalty from the religious perspective.
Also present were Political Secretary to the Ministry of Community Development & Consumer Affairs, Jornah Mozihim, its Permanent Secretary, Datuk Asnimar Hj Sukardi, MPWS Chairperson Datuk Hjh Mariati Robert, Director of Sabah Women's Affairs Department (Jhewa), Datuk Hjh Siti Sapoo Hj Ahok, UiTM Sabah Branch Deputy Rector, Dr Rozita @ Uji Mohammed and MPWS Education Committee Chairperson, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching.
Meanwhile, Mariati handed over a scroll containing resolutions from the seminar to Azizah. UiTM Sabah Branch Deputy Director, Dr Rozita @ Uji Mohammed officially closed the event on behalf of the Rector, Dr Hj Abdul Kadir Hj Rosline.
Daily Express
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