‘Food banks must review ops to avoid abuse of system’
MIRI: Local corporate bodies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should seriously reconsider the administration and management of food banks that they have set up to provide temporarily relief to those in need.
An active local volunteer told thesundaypost here that with more food banks being established by Good Samaritans in the community, in conjunction with the ‘White Flag’ movement, the situation had begun to uncover ‘an ugly side of human nature’.
“I have noticed that many people fail to understand the true intention of a food bank, of which the key motto is ‘take only what you need’.
“It means a loaf of bread, a packet of sugar, or whatever you need right at this moment. Upon finishing this stock of food at home, you could return to the food bank and replenish your stock at home.
“However, there are people who are taking advantage of such kindness by going to several places (food banks) and picking up similar items from each place.
“As a result, they get to have a stockpile of food at home, which goes against the key objective of the food bank – to help those in dire need of food aid.
“These unscrupulous individuals should have been considerate towards those who really need food but have ended up going home emptyhanded.
“There are such cases that have gone unnoticed,” said the volunteer, who wished to be identified only as ‘Tan’.
He also complained about the situation at a number of food banks, where things had gotten out of hands.
“They (those seeking food aid) have completely ignored the SOP (standard operating procedure) as they rush to grab the items for fear of losing out.
“It’s worrying to think that if left unattended in the long run, this could trigger a new cluster here.”
Ideally, said Tan, distributing cooked food and beverages should suffice in helping those in need of food during these trying times.
“Not only that they can save time spent on cooking from scratch, they can also save their gas supply and water (used for dishwashing),” he opined.
Tan said since early this year, he had been visiting many houses here and distributing essential food items to hardcore poor families.
He pointed out that by distributing food to every needy household, one could understand accurately the struggles of families affected by the current situation.
“We can see it with our own eyes. There are families caring for members who are immobile; there are those without any transport and being confined at home during this period.
“So I feel that distributing food directly to these households would help them immensely,” he said.
Another local volunteer, Nelson Wong, believed that the setting-up of food banks was done with good intentions, but having too many might make people taking this initiative for granted.
He said his strategy in distributing food aid had been focused on areas far from the city and other major towns, such as Bakam, Batu Niah and Suai.
“The people in these areas live far from the city.
“They could easily be out of reach when it comes to assistance being brought in by the volunteer teams,” said Wong.