KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — A crowdfund to raise US$5 million (RM16 million) to help hunt for missing Flight MH370 has managed just US$30,000 five days after the campaign was launched.
The tepid response has not discouraged the funds organisers, however, who insist it is faring better than other such efforts.
“We are trying to re-gear some of our efforts to see if we can drive a higher response from people,” Sarah Bajc, the partner of American passenger Philip Wood, told Singapore daily The Straits Times.
“People who have not donated through Indiegogo before, they don’t quite understand the process, so we want to provide a little bit more support for that,” the Beijing-based teacher said, referring to the popular crowdfunding website where they have pitched their campaign.
The families of passengers from five countries — US, Australia, New Zealand, France and India — kicked off their crowdfund campaign at 8pm on June 8, with an aim of raising US$5 million to reward private investigators, whistleblowers or any firm that could provide the information that leads to the recovery of the missing jetliner.
Bajc told the daily she does not believe that “the plane is in the ocean in the place they say it is”, citing lack of debris or related evidence.
The money is expected to entice sources to come forward and provide them with concrete evidence on where the plane can be found, such as location coordinates or screenshots of confidential emails.
The group will launch a website tomorrow where sources can submit their tips, and a committee will take turns going through them.
Any promising leads will then be passed on to a private investigator which they will appoint later.
“We need the money to fund a reward and private investigation. Without that, the mystery may never be solved and, if the mystery isn’t solved, it could happen again,” Bajc said.
Bajc also revealed that there are also Malaysian and Chinese families taking part in the campaign despite their names not being listed down.
According to Bajc, these families wanted to remain in the background as they have been “pressured to shut up”.
Malaysian authorities previously said they welcome the crowdfund campaign to help in the hunt for the missing jetliner, but asked that they share the outcome of their probe with investigators.
Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the families had likely launched the campaign to feel more “inclusive” in the ongoing hunt for the ill-fated jetliner and said any effort to help the search mission is appreciated.
The Boeing 777 jet, which was carrying 239 people on board, disappeared on March 8 after the plane veered from its Beijing-bound flight path and flew in the opposite direction towards the southern Indian Ocean.
Yesterday was the 100th day of its disappearance.
