‘Better coordination needed for relief work’

My Hope Hero’s team at the open kitchen’s base camp in Section 13, Shah Alam, one of the areas that was hardest hit by the floods.

VOLUNTEER groups and non-governmental organisations in Selangor should coordinate their flood relief efforts to ensure help reaches everyone in the affected communities.

They should also consider what victims truly need to avoid wastage.

Volunteer and Pharmaceutical Association of Malaysia executive director Chan Li Jin said victims of the recent floods needed help to repair their houses and vehicles and required financial aid to rebuild their lives.

“From my observation, when volunteers appear at villages without coordination, only victims living on the main roads benefit.

“Those who live deep inside the village miss out on help.

“This is happening on the ground because of poor coordination,” she told StarMetro.

As for post-flood recovery efforts, she said it was important that volunteer groups provide what was most needed.

“If you are an individual volunteer, do not just pack some stuff, load it on your four-wheel drive and head to a village to help.

“First, find out the needs of that community.

“When you coordinate well with the village head, they will be able to tell you which household is in dire need and the help that it needs,” she added.

Chan also encouraged cash donations to victims.

“I know money is hard to come by for people to generously donate cash but the victims have lost almost everything in the flood and they need help with purchasing household items and rebuilding their homes.

“Those with the means can select a few affected families and provide them with what they need.

“But stop giving them unwanted items such as old clothes,” she said.

“Also, be mindful of the manner cooked food is prepared or packed.

“I have seen several villagers down with food poisoning,” added Chan.

She recommended individuals who want to help to work with places of worship in the affected areas instead of heading to the site without a plan.

To help with relief efforts, she said the Pharmaceutical Association was providing 300 roll-on, roll-off bins and urged authorities to ensure rubbish was quickly cleared.

Mercy Malaysia vice-president III Assoc Prof Dr Shalimar Abdullah said hygiene kits were useful and needed in flood-hit areas.

But she urged the public to verify if communities that had asked for help on social media earlier still required aid to prevent an oversupply of food and other essentials in one area.

“Besides toiletries, victims also need cooking utensils, cleaning supplies such as mop and detergent.

“Clothes are now piling up at a lot of these places and they are turning into rubbish.

“Clothes must be sorted and categorised — for example, baby clothes, school uniforms, children’s clothes, T-shirts and trousers.

“These cannot be bundled up,” she said when contacted.

Dr Shalimar also urged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) not to provide the same items and coordinate efforts instead.

“For example, one NGO can focus on providing clean water, another can look at supplying generators, and yet another team concentrate on mobile clinics,” she said.

Dr Shalimar said Mercy Malaysia was focused on providing mobile clinics, cleaning houses and sorting donated items at places of worship.

“Help can be channelled without even going to these places.

“The key here is planning and executing the plan well,” she said.

My Hope Hero is another NGO that has been aiding victims following the devastating floods in Klang Valley on Dec 18.

Co-founder Nadia Rahmat, 33, said having an open kitchen on-site was a better option instead of sending packed food to victims in a particular area.

“We have an open kitchen in Section 13, Shah Alam whereby we cook about 600 meals a day and distribute to the residents.

“Some of these donated cooked food can get spoilt by the time they arrive at the homes of the victims.

“So we urge people to instead donate packed food with longer shelf life such as sambal ikan bilis sold in jars that you can buy from the gas station.

“These victims need cooking appliances and utensils too.

“The best way is to work with the community leaders and ask them to list out what they need and provide help based on that list,” said Nadia.