NEWS & UPDATES
Resettled Murum Community Continues To Progress With Support From Sarawak Energy
KUCHING, 2ND FEBRUARY 2017, THURSDAY: Sarawak Energy continues to work with the resettled community in Murum to provide the necessary support to the Penan children to attend school and get a proper education which is essential for a brighter and more sustainable future.
For the fourth consecutive year, Sarawak Energy’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team has distributed schooling aid to more than 300 primary students at SK Tegulang and SK Metalun, schools which the energy development corporation help set up for the community resettled by the Murum Hydroelectric Plant (HEP).
The schooling aid, which is meant to ease the financial burden of the parents, includes uniforms, shoes, school bags, sportswear and stationeries among others.
Ding Juh, Sarawak Energy’s Community Relations Assistant Manager, presented the aid to headmasters Anu Garing and Majid Aja of SK Tegulang and SK Metalun respectively in two separately held ceremonies at the new multipurpose halls built by the corporation at Tegulang and Metalun Resettlements. Aisah Eden, Sarawak Energy’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Services, said education and young people made up one of the CSR pillars of Sarawak Energy. “Education is fundamental to the development and progress of a community and opens doors to opportunities for better livelihood. We worked closely with the community’s representatives to identify priority areas and education is definitely a key area. “ Aside from setting up schools and providing other form of support, the corporation has also recently made its second contribution to the Bakun Charitable Trust focused on the Penans in Belaga and Murum. Jiwari Abdullah, Sarawak Energy’s head of CSR assured that it will continue to support the Penan community in Murum during this period of transition following their resettlement in December 2013. This is to ensure that the resettled community is able to be self-sufficient. “This year we will continue to build on our community engagement and develop programmes that address their needs sustainably. We will focus on knowledge and skills development of the youth like providing educational support, diversifying their handicraft making and marketing skills and arrange for a development workshop for the community leaders,” he said. The upcoming initiatives specifically for Metalun include the “Youth Development” programme in partnership with the Society for the Advancement of Women and the Family Sarawak and the extension of the “Literacy for Social Inclusion” programme carried out together with the Dyslexia Association of Sarawak. The resettled community has experienced encouraging progress through Sarawak Energy’s past initiatives done in collaboration with agencies like the Workforce Development Unit in the Chief Minister Office, Kapit Resident Office, Belaga District Office, Department of Agriculture, State Education Department, Sarawak Forestry Department, Murum Penan Development Committee and community leaders. In addition to the schooling aid, Sarawak Energy is also providing transportation assistance which helps to improve attendance rate at both SK Tegulang and SK Metalun. Aside from Murum, Sarawak Energy is also implementing community investment programmes in Baleh as part of its contribution towards creating a sustainable livelihood for Sarawak’s rural communities affected by its projects. Skills training for Baleh’s youth is now progressing in partnership with Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara and Institut Latihan Perindustrian, Baleh Education Enhancement programme with the Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Batu Lintang.
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