Nor Fuad (front row, sixth from left) and deputy mayor Cheremi Tarman (front row, fifth from left) posing with MBSA heads of department and councillors. — Photos: LOW BOON TAT/The Star
SHAH Alam City Council (MBSA) will strategise the next edition of its MBSA MySaveFood @ Ramadan Bazaar programme, to enable more volunteers to be recruited so that it can increase the number of locations.
MBSA’s Solid Waste Manage-ment and Public Cleaning Department director Mohd Azmi Amer Khan said, “Many MBSA councillors are keen to hold this programme in their zones.
“While we would like to expand the programme to more locations, we were hampered because we did not have enough volunteers to run it.
“By planning the programme ahead, we hope to recruit more volunteers and increase the number of locations.”
MBSA MySaveFood sees volunteers collecting surplus unsold food from Ramadan bazaar traders and redistributing it to the needy, such as B40 families and the asnaf (destitute).
It aims to reduce food wastage at Ramadan bazaars and ultimately reduce the amount of food waste sent to landfills.
The programme is a collaboration between MBSA, Pemuda Gema youth organisation and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam campus. The latter two organisations provide the volunteers to run the programme, while MBSA handles logistics, transport and staff support.
An average of eight volunteers are stationed at each bazaar location to educate traders on MBSA MySaveFood and collect the food when a bazaar is closed for the day.
They then pack and send the food for distribution.
MBSA MySaveFood started in 2021 at one Ramadan bazaar and expanded to three locations last year and this year.
“This year, 130 volunteers working on rotation collected close to 3,000kg of surplus food and drinks during the two-week programme,” said Mohd Azmi, elaborating that the three bazaars were located in Section 17, Section 20 and Section 7.
“The surplus food and drinks were distributed to beneficiaries at nine locations, including Flat PKNS in Sections 7 and 17, Ken Rimba Apartments in Section 16, village houses and surau in Padang Jawa, Kampung Baru Hicom and Flat Proton in Section 27,” he said.
Besides creating awareness among bazaar visitors and traders, he said the programme also made traders more conscious about food planning and budgeting to reduce food wastage.
Mohd Azmi was speaking on the sidelines of MBSA’s Aidilfitri Celebration 2023 held at MBSA Convention Centre in Section 13, Shah Alam.
In his speech, Shah Alam mayor Dr Nor Fuad Abdul Hamid said: “Events such as this offer an opportunity to share festive joy and strengthen ties among all stakeholders that work with MBSA.
“Our guests include heads of other local authorities, representatives from district, state and federal government agencies, developers, consultants and other synergy partners.”
Guests at the celebration were treated to a delicious array of local fare such as satay, kambing golek, apam balik, soto padang, yong tau foo and roti john.
Nor Fuad (front row, sixth from left) and deputy mayor Cheremi Tarman (front row, fifth from left) posing with MBSA heads of department and councillors. — Photos: LOW BOON TAT/The Star
Guests at MBSA’s Aidilfitri Celebration 2023 helping themselves to the delicious fare.
Mohd Azmi says 130 volunteers collected almost 3,000kg of surplus food and drinks during the two-week programme.
