Council plans various events, programmes on social issues
KUCHING: Sarawak’s Social Development Council ( SDC) or Majlis Pembangunan Social ( MPS) Sarawak will be holding several programmes and activities at various locations throughout the state this year.
There are still many issues that are still nagging since the SDC was placed under the ministry last year. Datuk Fatimah Abdullah, Minister of Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing
Minister of Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said the programmes and activities include an on- going research so that the government can understand better and address social issues effectively, systematically and holistically based on empirical means.
“There are still many issues that are still nagging since the SDC was placed under the ministry last year,” she told a press conference after the council’s first meeting for this year at Wisma Wanita here yesterday.
The research and programmes that will be carried out at various places in the state are related to family, women and children, drug and substance abuse, petty crime, illegal immigrants, teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, viral diseases, divorce, road accidents and school dropouts, she added.
On the meeting, Fatimah, who is also the chairperson of SDC, hoped that it will provide the right direction and guidance for her ministry to do a framework and implement the action plan and social intervention programme for community wellbeing in Sarawak.
Earlier, she summarised the objective of SDC, which is to monitor the trend and social issues at the divisional and state levels, to collect social data, to organise social forum and to do research and distribute the results and information on social matters.
Fatimah later handed a certificate and letter of appointment to Assistant Minister for Solidarity Rosey Yunus as SDC’s new council member.
Present at the press conference were Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Rahman Karim Hamzah and executive secretary of SDC Dr Zufar Yadi Brendan Abdullah.