Community gardening at City of Elmina
SHAH ALAM: Sime Darby Property Bhd has launched the Elmina Community Edible Gardens at the City of Elmina, the first township in Malaysia dedicated to wellness and liveability.
The community edible gardens is a new initiative by
Sime Property and supported by the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA).
It will provide residents with the space to grow vegetables and herbs while at the same time nurturing healthy relationships within the community.
The community edible gardens initiative boasts of more than 100 plots at the Elmina Central Park in Elmina West.
Sime Property hopes to increase the allotments and will be introducing similar initiatives across other development phases in the 2,010ha City of Elmina, subject to suitability of the area and response from residents.
Sime Property aims to establish community edible gardening as a key part of sustainable living for the future.
It has linked the community edible gardens to an organic waste recycling programme.
It also aims to coordinate more programmes with MBSA and other organisations to increase knowledge-sharing and encourage wholesome living among the residents.
“A thriving and vibrant community is only achievable by nurturing strong and healthy relationships between residents and through encouraging an active lifestyle,” said Sime Property general manager Appollo Leong.
“There is nothing more important than establishing a functional community to ensure prosperity and harmony within the township.”
Community gardening would make the lives of Elmina West residents more sustainable and help reduce carbon emissions, he said.
By growing locally, the community would consume locally and buy locally, without the need for additional logistics that might harm the environment in the long run, he added.
The community edible gardens concept is one of the sustainability features that was included in the City of Elmina township master plan.
Leong said the gardens supported the township’s eight pillars of wellness covering spiritual, social, emotional, environmental, physical, intellectual, occupational and family.
Besides providing the community with constant food supply, the initiative promotes cooperation and togetherness — a platform that builds caring communities.