Study to be carried out on feedback from recipients of BKSS 6.0 food baskets – Fatimah

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Fatimah (centre) with committee members of Sarawak Blessed Church who paid a courtesy call on her.

KUCHING (July 30): A follow-up survey on the feedback from recipients of food baskets distributed under Pakej Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) 6.0 will be conducted, said Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

She said a report would then be compiled after the survey, which would contain proposal and suggestions from relevant agencies and stakeholders as input to plan and improve any targeted and effective social welfare assistance and intervention programmes in collaboration with relevant agencies to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.

“A quick survey conducted by the Social Development Council (MPS) at the ministry during the previous programme found that 93 per cent of recipients of the food basket aid were very grateful.

“On the other hand, 83 per cent of the recipients were relieved of their burden for essential food supplies during MCO 1/MCO 2, as a lifeline for them before receiving other aid provided by the government,” she told a press conference  yesterday.

Fatimah said as of yesterday, the total cost of the food basket programme including for the homeless was RM34,369,862.14, and her ministry was coordinating as secretariat for the distribution of food basket under the BKSS programme.

She said the distribution was assisted by various government agencies, community leaders, village security and development committees and non-governmental organisations at grassroots level while the Divisional Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) and District Disaster Management Committee help to identify the heads of households that were affected by MCO.

Aside from that, she said the State Welfare Department had assisted 246,345 heads of households during the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 to July 28 this year while the total expenditure for the aids from 2020 to June this year is RM62,559,824.89.

Earlier, Fatimah received a courtesy call from Sarawak Blessed Church committee members.

Sarawak Blessed Church is a church in Kuching, having about 3,000 members and actively involved in helping and providing for the poor and needy through their ‘Project Love and Mercy’.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic last year, they have visited and supplied some basic necessities to families in need regardless of race and religion.