Sabah hawker gives away 2 tonnes of fresh vegetables

A hawker stall owner gave away almost 2 tonnes of vegetables to city folk here on Saturday. - NSTP/ Courtesy of NST reader

By Olivia Miwil - April 5, 2020 @ 10:21am

KOTA KINABALU: A hawker stall owner gave away almost 2 tonnes of vegetables to city folk here on Saturday.

Stall worker Suk said her boss wanted to help people badly affected by the Movement Control Order (MCO) implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There are families with only one breadwinner and are struggling to make ends meet.

“We hope that with this small gesture, we are able to encourage others to show their love and give back to society during this difficult time,” she told the New Straits Times.

During the giveaway here from 10.30am to 2pm yesterday, about 300 people turned up to get vegetables such as broccoli and Chinese cabbage.

Suk added that besides being an act of charity, the giveaway also helped ease over-supply of vegetables from Kundasang.

Due to the MCO, tonnes of vegetables are going to waste, as there are few buyers venturing out of their homes.

Kundasang Vegetables Wholesalers and Retailers chairman Mariana Taliban said this is inevitable, as very few people are visiting the district to buy produce now.

“One of our members had to dump about 3,000 kilogrammes of cabbage and the volume could be more than that if we accumulate all the wastage in Kundasang.

“The number is only for vegetables that are harvested. There are more which have yet to be accounted for from the farms,” she said when contacted.

During the MCO, Mariana added that members could only sell their vegetables until 2pm.

She said there are also limited distributors to transport the supply to other districts due to restrictions imposed on travelling.

The association has also tried to limit wastage by giving the vegetables to villagers in Ranau, but she said it only accounts for about one tonne of the supply.

“Alternatively, we have asked our members to bring the vegetables to the city to be resold at half the price.

“There is not much we can do about the profits, but, it is better than to see food being wasted just like that,” she said, adding that by doing so, its 300 members lose almost 90 per cent of their investment.