The Federal Government is meeting today to lay out plans and proposals on the arrival and reception of the bodies of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17’s victims.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein said yesterday that the meeting would see relevant ministers and agency representatives submitting their proposals on how best to conduct the reception of the bodies of the 43 Malaysians involved in the tragedy.
The collected proposals would then be submitted to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin some time next week.
Bernama reports that Hishamuddin said, “It will be the first meeting of the 10 Ministerial Coordination Committee under the patronage of the deputy prime minister.”
Today’s meeting is expected to be attended by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim.
It will also be attended by the ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup and Datuk Wee Ka Siong.
Several agencies will also be involved, including the Malaysian Armed Forces, Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim), National Unity and Integration Department, MAS and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.
The ceremony to receive the victims’ bodies will be held at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Bunga Raya Complex, at a date to be announced later.
Flight MH17 was believed to have been shot down over the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, July 17. All 298 people on board are believed to have perished. Of the total number of people on board, 193 were Dutch nationals.
The Netherlands held a reception ceremony for the first group of bodies passing through its borders last week.
Efforts by Malaysian, Dutch and Australian investigators to access the crash site have been hampered by armed conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatist rebels controlling the Donetsk region.
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