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Tiang: Correlation between economic growth, safe environment

Posted on 22 Mar 2023
Source of News: The Borneo Post (Jane Moh)
Ting (second right) gives a memento to Tiang as Bujang (second left) and others look on.
Ting (second right) gives a memento to Tiang as Bujang (second left) and others look on.

SIBU (March 22): Economic activities that put environment into consideration will drive the state’s prosperity further, says Michael Tiang.

The Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government said the state government has embarked on an ambitious plan towards green economy not just to answer the global call to fight against climate change, but also to ensure that people could have better opportunity to achieve their dreams and goals as Sarawak achieves a developed state status in 2030.

He said this is the reason why the Sarawak government placed environmental sustainability as one of the three main pillars in its Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.

“We understand that all of us have to advance, Sarawak must have development and must move forward with the advancement of technology so that our people can have better opportunity to achieve their dreams and goals.

“However, that pursuit of advancement cannot be done at the expense of the environment. We cannot put our nature in jeopardy because if we do that, the ones who suffer are the people.

“Economic growth and safe environment must come together and it can come together,” he said at the opening of Climate Change Action Plan Seminar organised by Sibu Municipal Council (SMC), here yesterday.

He believes the green economy that the state government is implementing will enable Sarawak to achieve goals beyond what have been set.

Tiang, who is Pelawan assemblyman, pointed out that the call to address climate change is more urgent now because it is happening even faster than the world feared.

Giving the recent flash floods in Kuching as an example, he said climate change causes natural disasters to be more severe and would put pressure on the economy as the government has to pump in immediate assistance to resolve the issue all the time.

“We are feeling the impact of climate change now, so which means, whatever we are experiencing today is a glimpse of the possible fate that our children would have to face if we continue to be ignorant of this issue and allow climate to keep changing at a faster pace.

“If we do not do something now, more cities would be submerged, more homes and lives would be destroyed, food would be scarce, there would be more poverty, people would be starving, and eventually, our economy would be weakened,” he stressed.

He said this is not the Sarawak that the government has envisioned as what it has wanted is for the state to prosper in every aspect, and that was why the government came up with plans to reach that goal.

He said the Premier of Sarawak has worked really hard to change the economic model, repositioning the state towards major green energy economy in Southeast Asia such as hydrogen, solar energy, hydroelectric, biofuel and so forth.

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

He urged the local authorities to continue to encourage the community to play their roles in saving the environment through various policies and engagement with non-governmental organisations.

“The power to stop climate change is in our hands. All of us can do something about it and let us all do it not for our sake, but for our children’s sake,” he emphasised, adding that everyone can start making a difference at home.

He reminded that everyone should make this world a much better state for the future generations.

Also present at the event were SMC chairman Clarence Ting and deputy chairman Bujang Abdul Majid.