Rep: Village has capability to turn waste into ‘wealth’
KUCHING: Demak Laut assemblyman Dr Hazland Hipni believes that Kampung Bako has the potential to turn waste into ‘wealth’ — thanks to the commissioning of a compost centre run under Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) through Mosti Social Innovation (MSI) project.
The programme, which involves villagers and Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) as the training body, is seen as a good opportunity to help the village become self-sustainable and be involved in a lucrative venture.
“The venture into the compost and waste management sectors is something quite new. It certainly presents a great opportunity (for the villagers) to improve their livelihood, which relies on fishing and tourism activities,” he said when met at the official handover of the MSI project to the village by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau yesterday.
Dr Hazland disclosed that the idea behind this creative venture was derived from ‘necessity’.
“Kampung Bako is about 30km from Kuching and as such, they (villagers) have to find ways to dispose of their food and garden waste.
“Thanks to Jica, a solution to this problem was discovered. The agency brought eight villagers, who are members of the JKKK (village security and development committee), to Japan for them to learn about the technology behind the processing of compost,” he said.
The eight villagers then took what they learned in Japan and applied the concept at a 43-acre land previously used for prawn farming, said Dr Hazland.
“Since then, they have been successful in producing compost that is safe to be used as organic fertiliser.
“It is because of this I want Mosti to channel assistance to Kampung Bako JKKK so that they could go further in this branch of waste disposal industry.
“I also hope that Mosti and its agencies could help modernise the compost industry in Sarawak,” he said.
Dr Hazland later announced RM10,000 in allocation for Kampung Bako Compost Centre.