KUALA LUMPUR: A non-governmental agency has urged the government to reconsider its directive for food contributions to be gathered at Welfare Department (JKM) centres instead of having volunteers distribute them directly to the needy.
Malaysian Relief Agency (MRA) president Dr Mohd Daud Sulaiman said the directive, which was recently announced by Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri, may affect ongoing distribution cycles on top of burdening Welfare Department staff.
Dr Mohd Daud said the NGO was worried that people may not receive the food donation packs on time as all this while, MRA had been actively going from house-to-house to deliver the items.
"MRA is concerned that the food donation packs left at the JKM centres, without the help of NGOs, might not reach the target groups because it would require a lot of manpower to cover the large geographical area.
"Besides, we understand that the Welfare Department already has its hands full with the newly-opened quarantine and outbreak management centres," he said.
MRA, a charitable agency which has been actively involved in the forefront of many humanitarian and relief efforts both locally and internationally, had on March 21 been granted special permission from the Health Ministry to distribute food items and medical essentials throughout the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
"With the issuance of this special permit, MRA has already delivered donations, medical equipment and food packs to thousands of MOH frontliners through its central and state MRAs operating throughout Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.
"For the next phase of assistance, the MRA will be distributing high-grade Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), disinfectant liquid, hundreds of thousands of face masks and ventilators for the use of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at state and district hospitals," he said.
Dr Mohd Daud, in urging for a review of the ministry's decision, hoped that a special coordination meeting could be held to discuss the matter further between the National Security Council (MKN), the Ministry of Women Development and Social Welfare, the National Disaster Management Agency, government agencies and NGO representatives soon.
He said the decision would involve food aid donation for nearly 5,000 recipient families from around the country.
Meanwhile, e-commerce platform Lazada has come to the rescue of Cameron Highlands vegetable farmers, who reportedly were forced to discard their stock of produce due to logistics issues following the MCO.
Acting upon this, the Lazada team had reached out and offered a helping hand to assist them in selling farm produce.
The international e-commerce company on its website said “it had figured out the technology and logistics in getting the produces onto its online-selling platform in lightning speed”.
The produce, it said, including fresh raw materials from local fishermen, would be sold in a bundle at a reasonable price, from as low as RM29 a bundle.
It will be on display at the online shopping website starting Monday.