10 fishermen get help in rearing stingless honeybees
KUALA PENYU: Ten young fishermen from Kuala Penyu fishing community got a kickstart yesterday when Repsol Oil & Gas Malaysia Limited, as part of its social investment initiative in Sabah, sponsored them for the rearing of stingless honeybees (madu kelulut) as a sustainable alternative income other than fishing at sea.
Kuala Penyu assemblyman Datuk Limus Jury officially launched the initiative, which was held at the Kuala Penyu district office.
Limus commended Repsol for its social commitment towards the local community and congratulated the 10 selected participants whilst urging them to make full use of the opportunity given to support themselves and their families through this oneoff sponsorship.
This latest initiative marked the third such social investment projects for the lesser income groups in the community, with the first one being the funding seed grant to assist in capacity building of 80 single mothers to commercialize the production of salted eggs in 2013. The second one was funding 60 rural women in Tambunan to learn the skills of weaving traditional cloth and bead-making into a sustainable income in 2015.
Repsol’s supply chain manager, Shaik Mohamed Jamil Haja, who represented the company’s senior management at the launch, said Repsol has chosen stingless honeybee (madu kelulut) rearing because of the growing demand for this type of honey, which has also been touted as a Super Food.
The participants who had earlier attended a basic course in honeybees (kelulut) rearing conducted by MARDI officials are Sipitan Sanggang, Dang Mesrah bte Esang, Mohd Nazirul Kimsai, Kamil Bujang, Abd Rahman Hapnah, Arryboy Jonggi, Ramboone Jusni, Weelfreed Chong, Saimson Philip and Francis Kimkuan.
They will be given six hives (or colonies) each, relevant farm tools, rearing guide book, training sessions and regular technical visits over the next 12 months.
As an added motivation, Jamil announced that the top three performers will be awarded RM1,000, RM700 and RM500 respectively based on their commitment, farm maintenance and production yield.
The programme is a collaboration between Repsol as the sponsor, Kuala Penyu Fisheries Department, MARDI Sabah and Kuala Penyu district office as the other partners.
Also present at the launch yesterday were Datuk Eddie Abdullah (Repsol Sabah), Sebastian Engkim (district office), Julin Bagang (Fisheries) and Mohd Azmal Mohd Yasin (MARDI).