IPOH, March 21 (Bernama) -- More than 400 kilogrammes (kg) of surplus food and beverages were successfully salvaged from three Ramadan bazaars in Perak via the MySaveFood@Ramadan 2024 programme which was implemented from March 14 until yesterday.

GEMA Malaysia Youth Organisation (GEMA) Perak branch chairman Puteri Aisyah Megat Shariffudin said all the excess food was obtained through collections made at the Taman Cempaka Ramadan Bazaar, Perak Stadium Ramadan Bazaar and Teluk Intan Ramadan Bazaar.

"Last year, we managed to collect food and beverages at three Ramadan bazaars with an estimated 560 kg during the 19 days of the programme. This year, with just seven days into the programme, the surplus food collected is over 400 kg. We expect that there will be a trend of increasing surpluses (of food and beverages)," she said when met by Bernama at the Perak Stadium Ramadan Bazaar grounds here yesterday.

Puteri Aisyah said this year the programme will be implemented in nine Ramadan bazaars in Perak from March 14 to 30.

"Our main aim is to ensure that the surplus food and beverages is collected and then distributed to those in need," she said.

In addition, she said the programme which was implemented in 2018 also received positive feedback, especially from traders at the bazaars.

In TERENGGANU, a group of Sultan Zainal Abidin University (UniSZA) students took the initiative to collect unsold food for charity through the MYSaveFood@Bazaar Ramadan programme at the Ramadan bazaar in Gong Badak here.

Programme director Muhammad Irfan Iqbar Mohd Khalis said the programme was implemented to prevent the occurrence of food wastage and throwing away food in bazaars which is something that often occurs every year.

He said the programme, which was oganised for the second year, could also help the less fortunate to enjoy the food sold at the Ramadan bazaars for free.

"A total of 30 volunteers from the UniSZA Harmoni Youth Secretariat participated in this programme where every day 10 volunteers will be on duty collecting the food surpluses. After buka puasa, they will move to each stall to collect the food. There are also traders who personally deliver their food to our tent," he said when met at the bazaar in Gong Badak.

Muhammad Irfan Iqbar said every day his team received more than 100 kg of food donated by bazaar traders, and last year more than 1,000 kg of food was successfully collected throughout the 10 days of the programme.

He said the food was not only distributed to UniSZA and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu students, but also to the local community, especially the B40 group, nearby mosques and tahfiz centres.

The programme advisor, who is also a UniSZA lecturer, Farhanin Abdullah Asuhaimi said the programme also trains the students involved to mingle with the local community and further improve their communication skills.

"Through this programme, volunteers who are also UniSZA students can practice how to draw closer to the community and also to learn how to collect food from the traders until it ends at the recipient’s level," she said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Domestic Trade and Costs of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh said the programme was in collaboration with GEMA and the Student Consumer Movement (GPS) involving 2,700 volunteers across the country targeting the homeless, university students or residents in the People's Housing Project (PPR) in the local areas.

"In terms of modus operandi, our volunteers will collect the unsold food and beverages about five to 10 minutes before buka puasa to distribute. But there are also traders who send the food to us themselves because they have been informed in advance," she said on the ‘Temu Bual Eksklusif’ programme on Bernama Radio here today.

She said the MySaveFood programme not only helps the underprivileged, but also helps to reduce food wastage during the fasting month.

According to Fuziah, throughout the seven days of this programme a total of 11.78 tonnes of food and drinks were successfully salvaged in 35 Ramadan bazaars nationwide.

She welcomes more volunteers to join the MySaveFood programme so that it can be expanded and continued after Ramadan.

-- BERNAMA