By STEPHEN THEN
MIRI: Children as young as seven are getting hooked on drugs and glue-sniffing, and living in wet markets and rubbish dumps here, raising alarm bells among state politicians and community leaders.
Two street kids, aged seven and nine, were rescued on Sunday after they were found slumped among some paper boxes near a rubbish dump next to the high-rise Imperial Hotel and Shopping Complex right in the heart of the city.
Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Development and Communications Lee Kim Shin was shocked to find the children stretched out motionless under a pile of discarded boxes, following a call from a concerned member of the public.
Near to them were cans of glue, which police identified as tyre glue.
The two children refused to disclose their names and where they were from. Policemen in a mobile patrol unit took them to the police station and yesterday handed them over to the state Welfare Department.
“The relevant authorities must deal with this issue as soon as possible. This problem of very young kids getting involved in drugs and glue-sniffing, and living on the streets, must be overcome.
“It is getting serious. I have directed the Welfare Department to help these kids and others like them. Save them from the streets and rehabilitate them fast,” Lee said.
The two rescued children are believed to be siblings.
A woman shopper identified one of them as a Year Three pupil in her school.
“This kid might have dropped out though,” she said.
There are other such youngsters loitering about the streets of Miri. They can be found near the old market area, along the riverfront shophouses and outside four-digit outlets – areas frequented by drug users.
Here, there are no shelter facilities for boys rescued from the streets. There is a rehabilitation centre for girls called Taman Puteri. The biggest boys’ home in the state is in Kuching.
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Family takes high-on-glue young boys home
The Star online. News. Nation. Wednesday May 9, 2007
MIRI: The family of the two boys who were found high after sniffing glue took the children home from the Welfare Department.
Sarawak assistant minister for infrastructure, development and communication Lee Kim Shin has asked the department to investigate the matter.
“What has happened cannot be tolerated. I want to find out what happened and whether the parents had abused the children,” he said adding that he would visit the family at the squatter settlement of Pujut Corner.
“The fact that these kids have become addicted to glue and sleep in rubbish dumps show that they have been on the streets for a long time,” he added.
The two street kids, aged seven and nine, were found slumped among paper boxes near a rubbish dump next to the Imperial Hotel and Shopping Complex. Cans of tyre glue were found near them.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the authorities were drawing up a new legislation to define inhaling of intoxicating substances such as glue-sniffing as an offence under the law.
He said that currently glue-sniffing and inhaling of substances for the purposes of getting “high” were not offences under the Dangerous Drugs Act and the authorities did not have power to act on those committing such acts.
He said the National Anti-Drugs Agency had submitted a proposal on the law to be studied by the Attorney-General’s Office.
Lee, who is former vice-chairman of the National Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse (Pemadam), said it was high time for a specific law to deal with the inhaling of intoxicating substances.
“The problem is that sniffing glue or inhaling of other substances is not regarded as dangerous, unlike using heroin, opium and designer drugs,” he said.
Lee said there should be a law to give the authorities power to arrest offenders including sending them for rehabilitation.
He added that the while the agency detected fewer than 15 such cases each year, the small figure was misleading.
“There are few cases because the agency does not have the power to act on and arrest people for sniffing glue. The 15 cases mostly involved those who had come forward.”
