Around 60 personnel from the XII/Tanjungpura Regional Military Command and West Kalimantan Police Headquarters are preparing food boxes every day in the public kitchen of the Military Command's Logistics and Transportation Division, head of the division, Colonel Yogi Prasojo, said here on Friday.
The food boxes will be distributed to the needy in Pontianak City and Kubu Raya District for one month, he informed.
"On Day One, we provided 2 thousand food boxes. People will get food boxes everyday for a month, and if they want us to increase the number of donated food boxes, we will do so," Prasojo stated.
Poor and low-income families, and those who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 outbreak, are being prioritized in the distribution of food boxes.
"We have verified the recipient data, and our people will distribute the food boxes to them," Prasojo said.
The coronavirus crisis has spurred several people and institutions to step forward and support those reeling under its social and economic impact.
For instance, an Indonesian housewife named Fifi residing in Kuala Lumpur distributed 25 lunch boxes to Indonesian migrant workers everyday from April 1 to April 14, 2020 in the Malaysian capital to express her concern for her countrymen.
Fifi recently told ANTARA she had won her husband's support for the food-sharing program, and she planned to help migrant workers and volunteers during the imposition of the Malaysian Government's nationwide movement control order (MCO).
"We are delivering 25 lunch boxes to volunteers (for COVID-19 social activism programs) or Indonesian migrant workers, selected by the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI)," said Fifi, a resident of the Subang Jaya neighborhood.
The new coronavirus disease initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. Since then, it has spread to Indonesia, Malaysia, and at least 200 other countries and territories, causing a massive number of deaths. This has prompted the World Health Organization to declare it a global pandemic.
Public health and economy in many countries have taken a major hit on account of the pandemic.
As part of endeavors to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country, the Malaysian Government had implemented an MCO until April 14, while the Indonesian Government has approved large-scale social restrictions in several cities in the country. (INE)
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Translator: Andilala, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
