Sarawak to achieve developed status without jeopardising environment

SIBU, March 21 (Bernama) -- Sarawak's pursuit of becoming a developed state with an economy the size of RM282 billion by 2030 will not be done at the expense of the environment, its Deputy Minister of Public Health and Housing Michael Tiang Ming Tee said.

While a lot of economic activities have been planned with some currently already being carried out, he said environmental sustainability remained one of the cores of achieving this vision.

“That is why the Sarawak government placed environmental sustainability as one of the three main pillars in its Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030. This is an ambitious plan for Sarawak. We implemented this because we want to answer to the global call in the fight against climate change,” he said.

Officiating the Climate Change Action Plan seminar organised by the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) here today, he said the state government believed that economic activities that put the environment into consideration will drive the state’s prosperity even further.

He said Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg had worked to change the economic model and reposition the state towards becoming a major green energy economy in Southeast Asia including ventures into hydrogen, solar energy, hydroelectric and biofuel.

“However, the state government still needs the support from its local authorities to play its part well in encouraging the community to save the environment,” Tiang said.

He reminded that the call to address climate change was more urgent now because if nothing was done, more cities would be submerged, homes and lives would be destroyed, food would be scarce, poverty would increase and people would starve, eventually weakening the economy.

Tiang, who is also the Pelawan assemblyman said the community could play its role in the fight against climate change such as by practising good waste management.

In addition, he said local authorities should encourage the community to recycle as it helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions, apart from working closely with non-governmental organisations to educate the community on the importance of recycling and and car-pooling.

-- BERNAMA