Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Datuk Seri Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri yesterday presented a contribution of RM156,870 to Impiana KLCC Hotel to cover the quarantine costs of 83 Malaysian students who returned from Yemen.

He said, of the total, RM79,380 was contributed by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim)’s Musa'adah COVID-19 fund while the remaining RM77,490 came from the Musa’adah Khaira COVID-19 fund, an initiative by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (PPZ-MAIWP) Zakat Collection Centre.

Zulkifli said the financial aid was provided following the pleas from the students via the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) that they could not afford to pay the quarantine costs of RM1,890 each.

“What we are doing is a gesture that we care about our children studying abroad who are facing financial constraints when they are forced to bear the quarantine costs,” he told reporters after the handover ceremony here yesterday.

According to Zulkifli, all the students would complete their mandatory 14-day quarantine today.