PORT KLANG: About 2,300 tonnes of humanitarian aid consisting of food, medical supplies and other basic necessities has been collected for the ‘Food Flotilla for Myanmar’ mission.
Putera 1Malaysia Club president Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said the humanitarian aid has exceeded their initial target of 1,000 tonnes of aid.
Speaking to reporters at Southpoint of Northport, he said, the vessel Nautical Aliya which will be used for the humanitarian mission has arrived at 7am today from Kemaman, Terengganu.
He said Nautical Aliya, an offshore support vessel, has the capacity to ferry about 2,000 tonnes of goods. While the group will try its best to pack all the supplies on the vessel, Azeez said there is a possibility that they will use a tugboat to ferry the remaining 300 tonnes of food, medical supplies and other essentials.
Azeez, who is leading the mission, said a total of 230 volunteers and activists from various non-governmental organisations are part of the mission.
He said including Malaysia, there are nine countries involved in the mission. The other nations are France, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Germany, USA and Bangladesh.
“We are expected to arrive in Yangon, Myanmar either on Feb 8 or 9, depending on the weather condition.
“We will be spending about eight hours unloading the goods and set sail on the same day to Teknaf, Bangladesh,” he said.
The work of uploading the goods and supplies began soon after the arrival of Nautical Aliya.