16 university students take part in SCI rooftop garden project

GEORGE TOWN: Sixteen university students, most of whom from Hong Kong, have taken part in a rooftop farming project organised by Service Civil International ( SCI) in collaboration with the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) here yesterday.

Penang Chapter SCI Education director R Vairavasundaram said that the project was conducted with the main aim of promoting peace and exposing the students to production of organic food.

“This project will enable us to teach the students valuable skills and knowledge on producing sustainable and natural food that is vital for human health and to sustain nature.

“The rooftop garden that we have created here today is 100 per cent chemical free and we have taught the students about the adverse impacts of chemical pesticides and fertilisers,” he told reporters here.

The rooftop garden, located at Jalan Burmah, houses over 50 varieties of vegetables as well as over 30 types of herbs, including turmeric and lemongrass.

Meanwhile, SCI Hong Kong President Billy Lam said that the knowledge learnt through this project had been very useful as there was a lack of knowledge on this type of farming in Hong Kong.

“There aren’t many gardens or farms like this in Hong Kong and we can definitely use what we have learnt here to set up similar projects there,” he added. — Bernama