SIBU: Sarawak's pursuit of becoming a developed state with a RM282 billion economy by 2030 will not be done at the expense of the environment, assured the state's Public Health and Housing deputy minister Michael Tiang Ming Tee.
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 such a vision.
"That is why the Sarawak state 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 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 (March 21), 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 had repositioned 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 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 by practising good waste management.
In addition, he said local authorities should encourage the community to recycle as it would help 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