Semporna Community Laboratory launched
High impact community programs implemented by institutions of higher learning with the involvement of the community and local citizens as well as industry players, will help to create a sustainable minded community.
Rural Development Minister Datuk Jahid Jahim said a long lasting relationship is built through the cooperation of higher learning institutions and the local community while high impact community programs will be beneficial to the people.
“We look at the concept of community engagement that is carried out today, it is a reference to the process in which organisations and individuals continuously build relationships through cooperation that benefits the community,” he said. Jahid said this after officiating the opening of the Semporna Community Laboratory on Thursday.
The programme was jointly organized by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and the Institut Pendidikan Guru Tawau Campus in collaboration with the Semporna District Office.
Jahid pointed out that as a developing country, the rakyat must realise the reality that the component which underpins the process of becoming a nation is a meaningful relationship based on the principles of recognising, respecting and accepting diversity.
“The formula is ‘Relationship’, ‘Recognise’, ‘Respect’ and ‘Reconcile’ (terima) which takes into account the nature of the population and the reality of the Malaysian education system as enshrined in the first strategic challenge of the national vision,” he said.
According to him, there is no denying that Semporna is rich in various natural resources that promise a lot of potential as a centre of economic growth, where the tourism and fisheries sectors can be used as a competitive and long lasting support.
“Therefore, Semporna needs strategic planning towards more sustainable and competitive economic growth to face various obstacles and challenges for a long lasting positive economy,” he said.
‘One district one product program’, under the rural entrepreneur development program was launched in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), but its performance is still unknown.
“In the face of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) at the moment, we can try to target some products developed after the establishment of this Community Laboratory, which emphasizes on the cognitive, effective, and psychomotor development of the community in Semporna,” added Jahid.
He said the advantages of the state were the richness of nature, its unique culture, multi -racial and multireligious society, stable political situation, conducive and modern infrastructure, flora and fauna that are not found in other parts of the world.
These advantages also have the potential to boost economic development in the state to a better level, he opined.
“Along with that, through the distinctive attractiveness of the tourism sector, which is the country’s second largest contributor to the national income, I am confident that Sabah in general, and Semporna in particular, will be able to continue and further boost the world-class tourism sector through the unique destinations as well as natural flora and fauna found here,” said Jahid.
He is confident the involvement of the three institutions in collaboration with the Semporna District Office will be able to identify issues and mobilize relevant resources as well as strategies in moving the community towards change.
Similarly, efforts to create a sustainable minded community are seen as important, in expanding the role of higher learning institutions for the dissemination of knowledge and information to assist industrial development and improve living standards in Semporna in particular and the state of Sabah as a whole.
The Community Laboratory was built at the Kampung Seraya Handicraft Centre in Semporna.