Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL)’s move to install metal dividers on benches to stop vagrants from lying on them has thrown a spanner in the works of ongoing talks between civil society and the government to address the homeless issue.

According to soup kitchen operator Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur, NGOs had met with ministry officials twice to formulate a solution, but this has been soured by the DBKL’s “aggressive” anti-vagrant stance.

“A meeting between the Federal Territories Ministry and the urban poor community is underway, but problems emerge due to DBKL’s decision to turn their backs to all the negotiations.

“The aggressive move of installing metal dividers on public benches has also sabotaged efforts by all parties to solve the issue of the homeless and the urban poor,” it said in a statement.

Labelling the move as a “Hari Raya gift” for the homeless, Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur said that the dividers were a “cruel and inconsiderate move, and an attack by the government on the urban poor”.

It also urged a halt to all operations to drive the urban poor off the streets.

Attack on the urban poor

DBKL’s move to install metal dividers to stop vagrants from lying on public benches has come under heavy criticisim sparked by the circulation of pictures of the homeless trying to wedge themselves inside the bars for a night’s sleep.

A DBKL public relations officer, who declined to be named, told the Malay Mail Online that the dividers were installed as no one would want to sit on the benches oncethe homeless have slept on them.

The government recently launched an operation to get the homeless off the streets and force them into shelters. It also includes imposing a controversial ban on soup kitchens in the city centre.

Amid heavy criticism from the public, Prime Minister Najib Razak went on a walkabout in the city streets early this month to visit the homeless, but this did not stop City Hall from installing the metal dividers.