Hands of the law turn green thumbs
Judiciary staff take advantage of court gardens to grow food and friendship
KOTA KINABALU: Employees of the city court here are learning to be self-sustaining, at least as far as food production is concerned.
And the lessons had are not too far away – in fact, they grow just outside their office.
For the past three months, the staff, including the judges, have been trying out their green thumbs by cultivating patches of vegetables, fruits and local herbs around the court complex in the downtown area here.
Since August, secretaries and judges alike have been coming in early or staying back after office hours to cultivate the three main gardens around the magistrate’s and Sessions courts, as well as the High Courts and the administration office.
There are now more than 50 types of plants including local herbs like daun sambung nyawa that helps reduce cholesterol levels, and vegetables such as choy sum, kangkung, brinjals and celery, as well as trees like papaya and lime.
The garden project was an initiative by Chief Judge for Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum as part of an environmental project.
“We wanted to create awareness on the environment among officers and staff, as well as to teach them on the importance of self-subsistence farming,” he said.
He also said they wanted to raise awareness about organic planting for growing clean food while enhancing relationships among officers and staff, as well as to encourage camaraderie outside of the office environment.
Five units from the courtare involved in the project, led by Sessions court judge Elsie Primus.
“Every morning before work, some of us would spend time tending to our plants,” she said, adding that some of the vegetables were ready for harvest.
Some also stayed back just a little while after work to water and check on their plants while waiting for peak hour traffic congestion to ease.
Elsie said they wanted to make use of the little space they had at the court building compound for plants, as it not only beautifies the surroundings, but also provides food for the staff.
“Instead of letting the space go to waste and turning it into a cigarette butt dumping ground, it is better that we do something useful with it,” she said.
“We want to leave a great impression here and at least have something to remind ourselves about when we move to the new court complex,” she added.
Elsie said each of the gardens would also be judged based on the landscape, fertility and variety of plants and the best would receive a prize from the court management.
The Kota Kinabalu court complex will be relocated to a 2.8ha site about 3km away soon.
We wanted to create awareness on the environment among officers and staff. Tan Sri Richard Malanjum