KUCHING, April 18 — Some 324,224 or 91 per cent of a total of 349,449 households and individuals registered with the 12 Divisional Disaster Management Committees (DDMCs) have received food assistance from the Sarawak government, state Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, said today.
“Distribution of food to the target groups is done through land, river and air transportation,” Fatimah said when providing an update on the allocation of food aid under the special aid package to mitigate the impact of the movement control order (MCO) currently in place to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state.
She said, as for rural and remote areas such as Telang Usan, Murum, Mulu, Batang Ai, Meluan, Pakan, Engkilili and Balai Ringin, which are not reachable by road, the state government has enlisted the help of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) and state-owned Hornbill Skyways via helicopter.
She added 41,859kg of food were airlifted, benefiting 2,933 households and individuals. The exercise started on April 11 and is conducted in compliance with the MCO regulations.
“The food supply chain subcommittee, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, has always emphasised that those who need to be assisted due to the enforcement of MCO must be provided with food aid,” she said.
Fatimah said whoever is entitled to it in all 82 state constituencies will be provided with essential food during the MCO.
She said food distribution in 63 state constituencies has been completed, and in progress in the remaining 19 constituencies.
She dismissed claims by Opposition DAP state lawmakers that their areas have been neglected when it comes to the distribution of food aid.
She added the distribution is handled by DDMCs, and not by state lawmakers from the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), as claimed by Opposition lawmakers.
Fatimah said reports received by the various DDMCs showed that Opposition-controlled constituencies consisting of 3,534 households in Opar have received the food aid, Padungan (1,975), Pending (2,250), Batu Lintang (4,000), Kota Sentosa (3,175), Engkilili (4,066), Krian (4,000), Bukit Assek (2,069), Dudong (4,200 ), Bawang Assan (3,643), Pelawan (1,680), Tanjong Batu (1,816), Pujut (1,598) and Ba’Kelalan (5,274).
She added the distribution of food aid in these constituencies is ongoing.
