KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will assist private- and non-governmental organisation-run senior care centres that are operating without a licence due to the rigid renewal process.
Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said her ministry would engage with the care centre operators to identify their problems and help them in having a dialogue with the respective agencies that were hindering them from renewing their licences.
Nancy said she would engage with the relevant minister to ensure the smooth-running of the licence renewal process.
"Our officers conduct inspections at least twice a year, and we know whether they (senior care centres) are licensed or not because they require our recommendation to renew their licence.
"After that, they will have to seek approval from the local authority, the Health Department, the Fire and Rescue Department, and in Sarawak, they would also require approval from the Land Office. Different states have different requirements. So, all these must be complied with.
"We will work with them to identify their issues and help bring the matter to higher-ups. For example, I will raise the issue in our meetings with the minister.
"However, local authorities, in particular, operate within their own jurisdictions, so sometimes a ministry doesn't control them as they are controlled by the state. This can be another challenge for them," she told the New Straits Times.
Nancy said her ministry was in constant engagement with the respective agencies to ensure they were being considerate with operators of senior care centres.
The ministry, she said, would ask these agencies for recommendations for centres experiencing difficulties in renewing their licences so that they could be renewed.
Nancy said the ministry, under the Whitelisting Task Force, had taken action against 770 welfare centres, with only 258 left unregistered.
"The Welfare Department will conduct surprise inspections on premises believed to be unregistered," she said, adding that an awareness campaign would be held to educate the public to report suspicious unregistered centres.
Meanwhile, the Welfare Department said the registration approval for any care centre was valid for five years and operators must submit a renewal application six months before the registration certificate expires.
"These requirements ensure that care centres comply with all legal standards regarding building construction, fire safety, health, sanitation, cleanliness, and overall safety as stipulated under subsection 7(h)," it said.
The department said the differences in registration requirements between local authorities were because each local authority operates under its own jurisdiction as specified by the Local Government Act 1976.