KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): The government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) Disaster Response Network (GDRN) has collected RM40 million in early contributions to be channelled towards various humanitarian and medical related initiatives to battle the Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia.

In a statement today, GDRN said of the total, RM17 million will be pledged directly to the Ministry of Health (MoH) for the purchase of medical supplies, personal protective equipments (PPEs) and ventilators.

The coordination and implementation of procurement, handling, warehousing and distribution will be done through Pharmaniaga Bhd.

Twelve entities have pledged the RM17 million, namely:
1. Affin Bank Bhd
2. CIMB Bank Bhd
3. Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP)
4. Permodalan Nasional Bhd
5. Sime Darby Property Bhd
6. Pharmaniaga
7. Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB)
8. Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM)
9. TIME dotcom Bhd
10. Yayasan Hasanah
11. Yayasan Sime Darby
12. Yayasan UEM

Meanwhile, the remaining RM23 million has been used to implement relief support which includes distribution of food supplies, hygiene kits and medical equipments to hospitals including Pusat Kesihatan Daerah, universities that are still housing students on campus, and the surveillance centre managed by the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA).

In addition, several GDRN members have also mobilised their volunteers.

The network is managed by a joint-secretariat led by Yayasan Hasanah (a foundation of Khazanah Nasional Bhd) and TM.

“We strongly feel that our support should be better coordinated to avoid duplication of efforts and redundancy of supplies. We hope that this platform will enable a more streamlined approach to assist MoH and the nation during this difficult time. Currently Yayasan Hasanah is coordinating the efforts with GLCs and GLICs under the banner of the GDRN and welcome all [members of the] private sector to also extend their support towards this joint effort," said Yayasan Hasanah managing director Shahira Ahmed Bazari.

In addition, even after the movement control order period — which is expected to end on March 31 — the network will continue to provide support to vulnerable and B40 income groups who have been impacted by Covid-19 in the longer term.

Any interested parties or organisations who wish to contribute via GDRN and Yayasan Hasanah can get in touch with Yayasan Hasanah head of community development and humanitarian disaster relief Anita Ahmad at 019-2782707 or [email protected], and TM head of corporate responsibility and external stakeholders management Izad Ismail at 019-3366035 or [email protected].

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