Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (March 29): The government will meet up with humanitarian aid non-government organisations (NGOs) to refine the ways to deliver aid to the public in need during the Covid-19 outbreak, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today. 

He said this following responses from human aid groups on the government’s recent decision to restrict NGOs against delivering aid packages directly to the public, and instead channel them to government centres first. 

“The government is very thankful to the NGOs. During these trying times and even before, NGOs were the ones who are in the front lines. 

“However we wish to maintain the safety of the NGO members themselves,” he said during the daily national address after the special meeting among government ministries and agencies on Covid-19. 

“We are concerned if we cannot determine the status of the member of the public being engaged, there is risk for the NGO members to be infected by Covid-19, and spread the virus to the other members in the NGO and the family members as well,” he said. 

“The Ministry of Health is of the opinion that we have to take care of the safety of the NGOs as well, which is why we made the decision. 

“But we will streamline the measures. We hear the NGOs’ pleas and we will discuss at the committee level to find a better way [to undertake this] and to meet all NGO representatives,” he added. 

Earlier today, the Malaysian Relief Agency called on the government to review its restriction on NGOs against delivering aid packages directly to the public. 

In a statement, MRA raised concerns that the aid, including food packages, may not reach the targeted population if they are placed in Social Welfare Department centres and NGOs are restricted from helping distribute them. 

“The Social Welfare Department itself is already busy managing quarantine centres which have been opened to contain the outbreak,” MRA said.

The association said it is hopeful that the defence minister’s instruction will be reviewed for the good of everyone. 

“MRA also hopes that a special coordination meeting can be organised between the National Security Council, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, the National Disaster Management Agency and related government agencies with humanitarian aid NGOs as soon as possible,” it added.

MRA said that it operated the direct assistance to the public in light of a permission letter from the Health Director-General dated March 21 which provided special permission for MRA to assist the Ministry of Health to address the Covid-19 outbreak during the Movement Control Order. 

“With the special permission letter, MRA has provided medical and food assistance to health ministry frontliners through MRA central and state centres,” it said.

The next round of assistance would include breathing ventilators, face masks, personal protection equipment (PPE), disinfectants, to hospitals nationwide thanks to public donation, MRA added.

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