SEPANG: MALAYSIANS are donating essential items and medical supplies to flood victims on the east coast.
Malaysia Islamic Medical Association (Imarate) strategic officer Dr Azlan Helmy Abd Samat said the public’s generosity was undescribable.
He said many essential items had been donated after the floods in Kelantan, Terengganu and other states worsened.
“Imarate’s relief team has been collaborating with groups, such as the #FreeMarket team and International Islamic University, in collecting essential items to be donated to the affected states,” Dr Azlan Helmy said at the Kuala Lumpur International 2 (klia2) yesterday.
He was overseeing and sending medical supplies, food and boxes of drinking water that would be dispatched to flood victims in Kelantan via Malindo Air cargo.
Two tonnes of supplies were sent to Kelantan as it had recorded the highest number of evacuees, and the state’s capital, Kota Baru, was paralysed after Sungai Kelantan burst its banks on Wednesday.
Dr Azlan Helmy said about RM40,000 worth of essential items and medical supplies, weighing 10 tonnes, had been donated to flood-hit states since Monday.
Malindo Air’s marketing support manager, Azman Zanoo, said lending a helping hand to flood victims was part of the airline’s corporate social responsibility.
The airline is collaborating with non-governmental organisations, such as Imarate, Syria Care and #FreeMarket, to provide cargo space to transport the supplies.
AirAsia Bhd, which launched an East Coast Flood Relief Fund, is collaborating with Mercy Malaysia to help in post-flood clean-up work, and school and hospital repairs.
Its executive chairman, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, said the airline’s workers and their family members in the east coast were struggling with the disaster. It had pledged to bring in supplies for the flood victims.
Firefly Airlines is doing its part by donating seats and cargo space on board its flights to Kota Baru and Kuala Terengganu.
Its chief executive officer, Ignatius Ong, urged organisations and individuals to approach the airline at its collection centres at the airports in Subang, Kota Baru and Penang to use the service.
Weststar Group of Companies flew in six tonnes of food to flood-stricken areas in Kelantan yesterday.
The undertaking, utilising subsidiary company Weststar General Aviation’s Eurocopter Squirrel helicopter 9M-AZA, has been transporting supplies since Thursday.
Weststar’s Eurocopter Dauphin 9M-LDV also flew Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai to visit flood-hit areas and Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob to visit a flood relief centre. The company also deployed two of its rotor aircraft in joint efforts with various government agencies and non-governmental organisations for flood-relief missions.
Other organisations set up donation and collection centres to collect aid for flood victims.
On Wednesday, Wanita Umno launched a collection centre at Umno headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to allow the public to drop off donations.
Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said more than 200,000 Skuad Sayang members were at flood-relief centres to care for the elderly and children.
The movement was starting a “Misi Sayang” fund with a RM10,000 contribution from Wanita Umno.
Meanwhile, CIMB Group set up four centres in the Klang Valley to collect items. Its chairman, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, said the group hoped to set up more centres and to ensure they were opened for “as long they remained useful”.
The CIMB Foundation is expected to disburse the collected items with the Malaysian Red Crescent and Mercy Malaysia.