KULAI, March 24 (Bernama) -- Pemuda GEMA’s Johor chapter aims to save up to 1 tonne of food and drink at Ramadan bazaars throughout the state this year, says its chairman Muhamad Khairi Yalah.

He said the non-governmental organisation would work with the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) and the Johor Solid Waste Management and Public Cleaning Corporation (SWCorp) to achieve the goal.

"Last Ramadan, we managed to collect 300 kg of excess food and beverages in Johor through the MySaveFood programme, so this year's target is to salvage up to 1 tonne from the 52 Ramadan bazaars involved in the campaign in the state.

"At the same time, we hope that the traders at the Ramadan bazaars will also be more conscientious and refrain from wasting excess food and beverages, instead contributing them to those in need," he told reporters when met at the Temenggong Ramadan Bazaar in Indahpura here today.

He said the campaign, held every weekend, was also joined by volunteers including students from schools and universities.

According to him, the MySaveFood programme was launched in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur in 2016 before being expanded nationwide, including in Johor.

“The response from traders has been quite good because they also do not want to waste excess food unnecessarily, so they support this campaign.

"All food and beverages collected will be inspected first to ensure they are still fit for consumption before being distributed to a list of recipients consisting of the local community, especially the B40 group," he said.

Muhamad Khairi said the non-governmental organization (NGO) also aimed to collect up to 50 tonnes of surplus food and drink from more than 100 Ramadan bazaars involved in the campaign nationwide.

-- BERNAMA