KUALA LUMPUR: Several government-linked companies (GLCs), government-linked investment companies (GLICs) and the private sector have collectively contributed RM51.5 mil to the GLCs/GLICs Disaster Response Network (GDRN).
In a statement, GDRN said the contributions will be used to support the Ministry of Health (MoH) in a coordinated and streamlined manner in purchasing medical supplies.
Of the amount, RM42.6 mil was allocated for the purchase of medical supplies and RM8.9 mil was spent on various humanitarian aid for families, frontliners and stranded university students.
It said Pharmaniaga Bhd has been managing the bulk of the coordination and implementation of the sourcing, procurement, handling, warehousing and distribution of the medical supplies.
The GDRN is managed by a joint secretariat led by Yayasan Hasanah, a foundation under Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM).
Yayasan Hasanah managing director Shahira Ahmed Bazari said most of the distribution of medical supplies to hospitals would commence this week as orders have started arriving.
“Typically, the turnaround time from arrival at the Pharmaniaga’s warehouse to distribution at hospitals is around 24-30 hours,” she said.
She said besides the contributions made through the GDRN, GLICs/GLCs and the private sector were also working directly with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to support the needs of Malaysians.
Organisations wishing to contribute via GDRN can contact Yayasan Hasanah community development and humanitarian disaster relief head Anita Ahmad via email at [email protected] or mobile +6019-278 2707.
They can also contact TM corporate responsibility & external stakeholders management head/GDRN secretariat head Izad Ismail at [email protected] or mobile number +6019-336 6035.
The GDRN was created in 2013 through the Putrajaya Committee for GLC High Performance (PCG) with Khazanah Nasional as its secretariat.
The network was deployed between 2013 and 2016 in various relief and reconstruction work. – April 2, 2020, Bernama
