KUANTAN, June 18 — Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun said the compound issued against the Rumah Bonda Welfare Organisation (Rumah Bonda) Care Centre was not at her discretion but based on existing laws.

She said there were allegations claiming that she was protecting the shelter, however, Rina explained that the enforcement carried out was based on the set procedure.

"A lot of slanders have been thrown at me saying that I protect Rumah Bonda and so on, you have to understand that according to the act, the compound is RM5,000 and it is not me who decides.

"I do not issue summonses as I please, it’s not under my discretion. It is according to the existing law as enshrined in the act," she said after officiating the Wanita Bangkit@KPWKM programme attended by about 250 participants here, today.

She said this to reporters when asked to comment on the claims that she was protecting Rumah Bonda.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) in a statement denied that Rina had conspired to protect Rumah Bonda, describing the accusation as baseless and defamatory.

The ministry said that all actions taken by the Social Welfare Department (JKM) since July 2021 on the centre are based on legal provisions.

The statement referred to a post uploaded on the Instagram page on June 12 which disputed the amount of compound imposed on Rumah Bonda and accused Rina of protecting the care centre.

Meanwhile, Rina said that discussions had been held with the Ministry of Human Resources regarding the social protection initiative for housewives.

She said KPWKM supported the enactment of the Housewives Social Security Bill and hoped it would be approved and implemented in the interest of women.

Last Wednesday, Perikatan Nasional Women's wing secretary, Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi was reported to have said that the government should immediately announce the implementation of the social protection initiative for housewives that had been agreed upon earlier.

Commenting on today's programme, she said it had benefited almost 18,000 participants in total and the programme aimed at training women in entrepreneurship, would be continued in Perak, Penang and Sarawak. — Bernama