Not more than a week ago, it was reported that Cameron Highlands farmers had to throw away tonnes of vegetables after facing difficulty in delivery services during the MCO. Now, some have joined hands in helping to distribute these farmers’ produce on the ground and online!
The issue was first highlighted by Sim Tze Zin, the Member of Parliament for Bayan Baru, Penang on Facebook last Tuesday (24 March). In his post, he raised a few concerns regarding the fate of farmers during MCO who had to suspend their farming activities during MCO.
In response to the growing concern of food wastage caused by farmers who are forced to dump their produce due to difficulties in securing transport services, Lazada stepped up by offering special sales and delivery service for Cameron Highlands farmers to continue their activities online.
“Two days ago, we read about Cameron farmers who had to throw away their fresh produce due to supply chain issues during MCO,” Lazada said in a statement.
“The Lazada team reached out, figured out the tech and the logistics, and got them onto the Lazada platform in lightning speed.”
Lazada has created a special tab for “Cameron Farmers” to sell their products online hence securing their jobs during the MCO period and avoiding any produce being thrown out unnecessarily.
Photo: Lazada
“Starting Monday, these farmers can now sell directly to consumers. Buy their produce and fresh food to support our local farmers and fishermen community. #lazadamy #lazada8birthday #cameronfarmers #mymarket #myfishman.”
Photo: Lazada
Lazada isn’t the only one that has contributed to helping the Cameron Highlands farmers in their delivery and distribution services.
Michelle Ng, ADUN for N.31 Subang Jaya, had also shared how she and her team were able to save 2 tonnes of vegetables from Cameron Highlands to feed 1180 needy families!
Michelle described the process her team went through in order to achieve such an impressive feat. The team first packed 2 tonnes of vegetables into 5kg boxes that would bring to a total of 400 boxes. Each box contained a variety of vegetables such as cabbages, lettuce, tomatoes, brinjals, and cucumbers.
These boxes were then allocated to each community leader who was then expected to distribute them.
Michelle was in awe at the level of cooperation everyone exhibited throughout the process. Without instruction, all of the low-cost flat community leaders opened up all the boxes and began repacking the vegetables to be distributed to those who needed the most.
They all had one objective in mind, Michelle said; that is to bless more families.
Michelle highlighted that the low-cost flat community lives uncomfortable lives and that they are daily wage earners, doing off jobs such as dispatch boys, taxi drivers, and coconut stall workers, where income is uncertain. However, they are blessed to have such big hearts, as they managed to still help those in need better than some of us can.
Let’s all help one another during this difficult time because together, we are stronger!
By:Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya
