KUALA LUMPUR, March  9 (Bernama) -- The  Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has set three locations where non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals can send their donations, including food, during Ramadan.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa said the three locations are Anjung Kembara at the Kuala Lumpur Transit Centre for the Homeless, Medan Tuanku Homeless Service Centre er and Chow Kit Community Learning Centre.

"This is part of an initiative to control food quality and maintain cleanliness in Kuala Lumpur," he told reporters after participating in an operation to help the homeless in the city centre here early today.

Dr Zaliha said 10 NGOs will be working with DBKL to facilitate the distribution of food at the Medan Tuanku Homeless Service Centre and the Chow Kit Community Learning Center, while another 16 NGOs will assist the National Welfare Foundation (YKN)  at Anjung Kembara.

"We can't stop the NGOs that want to help. All we are asking is for their cooperation to liaise with the Community Development and Urban Wellbeing Department at DBKL," she said.

Regarding today's operation which started at 1 am, Dr Zaliha said a total of 150 homeless people were rounded up and brought to the Medan Tuanku Homeless Service Center by  2.30 am and expected the number to increase before the operation ended at 4 am.

Based on observations made last Feb 14, there were 414 homeless people in five hotspot locations in the city, she said, adding that the homeless were brought to Medan Tuanku to record their demographic data, as well as to identify the best solution to help them.

The data will also be used as a reference by the ministry and its agencies when reviewing the requirements of existing policies or regulations, she said.

The operation involved 203 personnel from DBKL, the Royal Malaysia Police, the National Security Council, YKN, the Malaysian Immigration Department, the National Registration Department, the National Anti-Drug Agency and the Social Welfare Department.

-- BERNAMA