Ting (left) briefs UTS’s Student Council delegation on Sibu’s environmental concerns. On his right is Lu.
SIBU (May 27): University Technology Sarawak’s (UTS) student council, being heralded as a beacon of change, has been urged to work with the local council to address environmental and climate change issues.
Speaking to UTS Student Council and staff during their visit to Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) here yesterday, SMC chairman Clarence Ting expressed hopes that the student body could collaborate with the council in environmental sustainability.
“There is a need to change the habits among the people here, especially when it comes to rubbish disposal and solid waste management,” said Ting.
The increase in waste creation, he added, has caused a severe shortage of landfills in Sibu.
“The student council should discuss this at length at public talks and SMC will be much obliged to be involved in your community programmes,” he told the delegation.
“SMC is now emphasising the environmental issues and sustainable development, whereby we will be attending a mayor’s summit in Kuala Lumpur in June to discuss climate change, environmental sustainability and carbon reduction.
“I really hope that all of you (UTS student body), as a beacon of change, will take up the initiative to raise awareness among the people through public talks and social services,” said Ting.
Students’ engagement in community service, he added, would help boost their interpersonal, social and leadership skills.
SMC deputy chairman Mohammed Abdullah Izkandar Roseley who also spoke to the delegation remarked that the landfills here are almost filled up and that the council is facing challenges and issues on landfill space and environmental impacts.
He also called on the student council to help contribute towards Sibu’s environmental conservation efforts through public talks and community services.
Present at the visit were UTS’s Student Development and Services Department (SDSD) senior manager Lu Yew King, SDSD senior executive Chu Yieng Ni, Student Council president Goh Qi Hao and members, as well as staff from SMC and UTS.
