THE Malaysian Relief Agency (MRA) has delivered over RM2.5 million worth of food and non-food items to the needy, including front-liners, all over the country since the movement-control order started a month ago.

The aid delivered is made possible through Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund collections as well as donations from various foundations and corporate companies who are sympathetic towards the fight to curb the spread of Covid-19.

MRA is a humanitarian organisation registered under the Trustee Act with branches in each state.

Its president Mohd Daud Sulaiman told The Malaysian Insight that they have been actively delivering aid around the country since the MCO started while also liaising with other civil groups to avoid duplication of aid.

The humanitarian organisation targets deprived groups such as refugees, PPR residents, homeless people, as well as front-liners and others who have lost access to their food supply due to loss of employment under the MCO.

“MRA has two projects under its belt, one is where we supply non-food items and dry rationed food, the other one is Hot Meals which is delivered daily to 500 people like the homeless, refugees, PPR residences, OKUs, and orphanages,” he said.

Partnering with Commerce Dot Com, MRA provides 10,000 packs of hot meals to needy groups around Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, which are cooked daily by local chefs and are then distributed to selected PPR residences.

“In terms of refugees, MRA has delivered help to over 1,800 families, who are mainly from the Rohingya community, in the states of Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, and Terengganu.

“MRA also continues to donate basic food packs to asnaf groups who have lost their food supply throughout the MCO. A total of 8,000 families have benefited from this basic food pack programme,” he added.

Daud said his organisation also traces groups in need of aid through calls for help on social media, feedback from MRA’s central office, Social Welfare Department (JKM), partner civil societies and UNHCR.

However, he said his organisation is unable to reach those who fall through the cracks as the MRA is not a government agency and does not have access to any sort of database.

In terms of logistics, MRA has a central warehouse in Petaling Jaya along with smaller transit stores in all the other states.

About 250 volunteers are on the ground and have been working round the clock since MCO was put into effect.

“We compare our list with other groups and liaise with the nearest JKM office for on-site monitoring with Rela or APM members to distribute the aid.

“Our SOP is we send two MRA volunteers at a time unless it is a big crowd to serve or assist while maintaining social distancing.

“Transportation-wise, we have four four-wheel drives and medium-sized lorries. We coordinate with air force mercy flights from Subang on goods that need to be distributed in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Malaysians are currently undergoing the third phase of MCO after the government extended the deadline from April 14 to April 28.

Malaysia has 5,305 Covid-19 cases with 88 deaths as of yesterday. – April 19, 2020.