Civic centres venues of proposed youth centre pilot project — Karim

CIVIC centres are venues for the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Entrepreneur Development’s Youth Centre pilot project, said its minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He told the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) during his winding-up speech that the youth centre project was proposed for all 12 civic centres in the state to encourage the participation of youth in social, sports and entrepreneur activities.

He said this was in line with the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 under the strategic thrust to accelerate economic development by optimising the use of assets such as the existing buildings for productive activities.

“The Kuching Civic Centre will be pioneer of the youth centre pilot project to create a conducive and technologybased platform for youth and local communities. It is also an information centre,” he said.

Abdul Karim said the establishment of civic centre in each division was to provide venue to hold social, cultural, religious and sports activities involving people of all walks of life.

He added that civic centres had fostered national integration, goodwill and understanding among all communities in the state.

On Kuching Civic Centre which was built in 1988, he said it was one of popular spots among city folk as a recreational park due to its safe and friendly nature for public usage which is free-of-charge.

“With that, my ministry will continue to execute maintenance action plans in phases for all civic centres in the state by prioritising their sustainability.

“Since the re-opening after the Covid-19 pandemic, the 12 civic centres in the state have received 3,454 bookings involving 409,036 public participations in various events.

On another matter, Abdul Karim said his ministry was also planning to set up Youth Business Centre in Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri as business and entrepreneurship information platform in the specific sectors geared towards digital economy.