More stories about the illegal rehab centres in Kajang. They are so clever to find loopholes to make money. Pity the inmates and their families though. Hope they will get proper treatment soon.

Until the next time, cheers.

The Star, Thursday December 22, 2011

No sign of authentic care providers at rehab centre

THE drug rehabilitation centre is tucked between abandoned shoplots in Bandar Teknologi Kajang. The area is empty and forlorn, only several car workshops and eateries show some signs of commercial activities. 

 

There is no signage indicating it is a centre, but from the outside we saw about 10 men sitting on the floor behind a locked grille, packing ang pow packets into bags of 10 in the hot afternoon.

The photographer and I inquired within on the pretext of wanting to send in a cousin hooked on drugs.

Two men who claimed to be the “caretakers” attended to us, from their bleary gaze and unclear speech, it was obvious that they too were synthetic drug users.

Space restriction: The female dormitory of the drug rehabilitation centre in Bandar Teknologi Kajang. This is the only place where the inmates are allowed to move freely.

 

The centre has 60 residents. The 40-odd men looked like they were aged between 20s and 40s, while the women were of various age groups. Most of them lazed around on their beds. A TV was on to catch their attention but most of the time they were buried in their own thoughts.

When we went in, caretaker Wah-Chai sent the male residents to put on their clothes and ordered some of them to stop smoking. He also quickly informed the female section that we were on the way.

Over at the female dormitory, Sister Heung, who runs the centre with her husband, whisked the residents off their beds to start packing the ang pow as soon as we stepped in.

The only common area for the inmates to move about was the ground-floor unit which we first saw, while an “activity centre” on the second floor where they could play table tennis was dusty and left vacant.

Wah-Chai told us that each resident was charged RM750, while the costs of medicine, consultation, transportation, toiletries and other personal needs would be billed to the family at the end of the month.

Abandoned: An activity centre meant for exercising is left vacant all year round.

 

That would mean the family that ran the centre was raking in at least RM45,000 on a monthly basis by providing just basic meals while rental of the quiet area was at RM300 to RM1,000 per unit.

“Your cousin would not want to come if he’s on drugs, but don’t worry, we can send our men to your place to drag him here. Our boss charges only a bit for the extra service, just a few hundred bucks,” he said.

“What if he resists while undergoing rehabilitation here?” I asked.

Wah-Chai answered confidently, “We will control and counsel him, that is why we advise families not to come in at least two months so he will not be tempted...”

As he said that, one of the inmates repeatedly mumbled, “Beat him, beat him...”

“Don’t they go out for some fresh air?” I asked.

“We will bring them out sometimes, but it’s best to keep them here as they are mentally unstable,” he said.

Sister Heung also showed us some photographs of the inmates’ outings to the Hulu Langat waterfall but according to traders nearby, the inmates were locked in the units most of the time.

She was happy that we complemented on the cleanliness of the centre, and showed us the duty roster as well as the timetable for visits to various governmental hospitals. Several folders labelled as accounts were placed in the open to impress visitors.

On our way back, Wah-Chai said they welcomed donations and asked if my cousin smoked. “Good for him if he smokes because I think we are the only centre that allows smoking.”

It was learned that the National Anti-Drug Agency conducted a check on the centre following public complaints. However, they could not take action as the operators claimed that they were monitored by the Welfare Department as they treated mentally ill patients.

The Hulu Langat Welfare Department, when contacted, confirmed that they did not issue a licence to the centre as such a facility should fall under the Health Ministry’s jurisdiction.

The ministry said it had not received any application for licence to operate such a facility, even though a few psychiatrists had shown interest in providing private health services to care for the drug addicts.

StarMetro then called up another drug rehabilitation centre in Batu 9 Cheras, alleged to be making good money while operating illegally.

The five-year-old centre “treats” designer drug users specifically with a monthly fee of RM800, excluding medical expenses.

Asked if they had a licence, the operator said: “Well, actually many drug centres get their licences only after 10 years in operation but that does not stop them from helping the addicts, we are applying for ours, too.”

This is bad and unfortunately the examples are located near Kajang. Hope the MPKj and other relevant authorities will take action.

Until the next time, cheers.

The Star, Thursday December 22, 2011

Illegal rehabilitation centres on the rise

The significant increase in brain damaged patients caused by the consumption of designer drugs has spawned a lucrative and unethical business. 

 

THE noble deed of helping drug addicts get back on the right track in society has been turned into a lucrative business by some unscrupulous parties.

It is a result of the changing trend of drug abuse that has switched to synthetic drugs such as amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and ketamine, instead of the conventional opiate-based options such as cocaine and heroin.

Synthetic drug abusers suffer from detrimental side effects which include irreversible brain damage. These addicts — who end up like zombies — bring in good money for unethical drug rehabilitation centres.

These drug centres charge the family of a drug addict at least RM750 per month for rehabilitation. However, the rehabilitation is nothing more than locking them behind closed doors.

Lazing around: A small TV is constantly on to keep inmates in the female dormitory occupied.

 

One such centre run by a family of four in Bandar Teknologi Kajang keeps more than 60 inmates in three shop units while another centre in Batu 9 Cheras has 40.

The inmates are kept to their beds almost round the clock, with television programmes and simple packaging activities to keep them occupied. There is no medical personnel engaged to monitor the centres.

“The parents are willing to pay the sum so that someone else can take care of the problem for them. Frankly, the families are sick and tired of these drug addicts, who can sometimes be violent. It’s sad,” said a social worker in Cheras.

“This, naturally springs up a good business opportunity,” she added.

Operators of the Bandar Teknologi Kajang drug centre are mischievous enough to land themselves in the grey area of laws. They position themselves as psychiatric nursing homes instead of drug rehabilitation centres to avoid needing a licence from the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK).

They also protect themselves with a licence issued by the Welfare Department for an old folks’ home they operate in Bandar Sungai Long.

Secret joint: The frontage of the drug rehabilitation centre in Bandar Teknologi Kajang does not even have a signage.

 

For the last five years, they have been able to dodge AADK, Welfare Department and the Health Ministry by claiming that their operations fall under the jurisdiction of another department.

Parents who are in the dark about how rehabilitation centres should be run are also duped by the superficial discipline and cleanliness in these illegal centres.

Dr Mahmud Mazlan, who runs 10 clinics treating about 400 designer drug addicts, said he had heard about such establishments that basically provided detention for synthetic drug addicts but without proper treatment.

Dr Mahmud, who has been doing extensive research on synthetic drug trends, said ATS users had overtaken the opiate-based drug users drastically, hence the sudden surge in demand to treat the former.

“Despite the sharp change, the public service in treatment of ATS abuse is almost none. Yes, AADK has set up 1Malaysia Cure & Care clinics but that is not enough to tackle the epidemic,” he said.

Malaysian Mental Health Association president Datin Dr Ang Kim Teng said the emergence of these illegitimate, profit-making drug centres reflected a grave situation — that there were insufficient facilities to address the need.

“The fact that these centres are making good business shows that the affected parties do not have an avenue to seek help.

“AADK’s drug centres cater more for the conventional drug abusers while psychiatric wards in the public hospitals are for the acute cases. Where should these patients turn to then? The authorities need to address this,” she said.

In a written reply to StarMetro, Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman said a solution to this situation might not be clear cut, adding that a concerted effort involving AADK, Welfare Department and Mental Health Council of the ministry, among other authorities, was needed.

On which department should monitor the establishment and operation of such centres, he explained that it would depend on the scope of treatment provided.

“There are two aspects here, first if such centres provide rehabilitation and healthcare to mentally ill patients based on the scope provided by the laws, then it may be categorised as a private psychiatric hospital or private psychiatric nursing home.

“Its services would be regulated under the Mental Health Act 2001 (Act 615) and its Regulations 2010, its facilities under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586), and the practice of the doctors under the Medical Act 1971. There are requirements and standards set under these laws for setting up and to operate such facilities,” he said, adding that enforcement activities could be carried out to inspect these facilities if they fall under the ministry’s jurisdiction.

This applies to facilities that provide healthcare to drug addicts who are mentally ill.

On the other hand, if these centres provide rehabilitation services for drug addicts who may not fall under the category of “mentally ill”, then these centres may have to be monitored by other agencies.

“There is a grey area on when a person or drug addict could become mentally ill and where he could be treated or nursed,” Hasan said.