BATU GAJAH: Psychiatrists and specialists will be despatched to the Welfare Home for Children with Disabilities here to assess the condition of its residents, said Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun.
"This is to verify claims by the operator that residents kept in cubicles have a tendency to be aggressive.
"If the claims turn out to be untrue, action will be taken against them.
“We will extend assistance to the Home if it is found that the 10 residents who have been made to sleep in cubicles have the tendency to turn violent and pose safety risk to others as claimed," she said.
Chew said it is important to address negative perceptions members of the public might harbour about care facilities for the mentally impaired.
"It would be unfair to take action against the Home's operators without taking into consideration the constraints and the services they were providing to children with special needs.
“(At the same time), measures are needed to improve the cleanliness of facilities and the skills of the 12 staff, as they are apparently not sufficiently trained to handle people with mental disabilities.
"Welfare Department officers will also carry out spot checks at all welfare homes to ensure that residents are not being mistreated," Chew said during a site visit today.
The Home's chairman, R. Sivalingam, said the institution’s structures were built in 2006 through public funds.
"Previously, there were incidents of biting and eye-poking at night among the children with mental illnesses. So we decided to build the cubicles, as our staff are not able to monitor them all the time.
"There were suggestions that we install cameras (closed-circuit television cameras) for supervision purposes, but the issue of privacy arose," he said.
Sivalingam added that residents with mental illnesses are sent for regular check-ups at the Batu Gajah hospital and to get medication.
"However, we don't know the extent of their illnesses, as most of them were rescued by the Welfare Department, and they have no medical records (with the public hospitals)," he said.
Pictures of some of the children in the Home’s cubicles with locked gates made the rounds on the Internet yesterday, raising concerns among the public over the welfare of its 47 residents.