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Three public universities co-organize programme for fishermen community

Three public universities co-organize programme for fishermen community

Friday, 17/02/2023

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The existence of universities is not only for the purpose of producing knowledgeable youths but also contributing to the local community.

Looking at the local community’s needs, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), in collaboration with Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) and Univesiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), has taken the initiative to approach the local community, who are mostly fishermen and from the B40 group.

The programme organized by the three universities in the form of a strategic collaboration was aimed at providing information about academic, health, epidemics, farming, and opportunities for income generation through knowledge sharing programmes.

In line with the university for society (U4S) goal, the programme “Jom Carre Komuniti Nelayan” (Let’s Care about the Fishermen Community) brought together the community and the universities and bridged the gap between academia and the local fishing community.

UMT Vice Chancellor Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mazlan Abd Ghaffar said the two-pronged programme fulfilled the Ministry of Higher Education’s aspiration to help local communities and served as a platform for disseminating knowledge about environmental conservation.

“As urged by the Ministry of Higher Education, each innovative product developed by universities needs to be introduced to stakeholders that include students, communities, and industries.

“In line with UMT’s mission of “Generating Knowledge for the Society’s Wellbeing and Environmental Sustainability,” the university is concerned with issues faced by fishermen, such as decreased catch size, smaller fish sizes, a change in fish species along the coastlines, less effective fishing equipment, and lack of fishing hotspots.

“Therefore, UMT has taken the initiative to overcome the issues by lending its expertise in terms of building fish aggregating devices and artificial reefs to replace destroyed habitats and establish new ones for fishery resources, identifying fishing hotspots by species and sizes using mapping technology, and modifying fishing equipment in terms of size and form,” he said.

He added UMT is committed to transforming the lives of the fishermen by designing modern fishing boats that meet the required specifications and can provide greater impact to the socioeconomic development of the fishermen and the sustainability of the country’s fishery industry.

Various activities were organized, including talks on fisheries and farming, a motivational talk for students, games for adults and children, colouring and drawing contest for children, sales booths, exhibition and free medical checkup.

In addition, the agenda of normalizing a healthy lifestyle was also implemented by offering services related to health and food selection based on balance diet.

The programme drew the attention of Director General of Higher Education Dato’ Professor Dr. Husaini Omar, who has made time to officiate the programme.

 

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Corporate Communications Office

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu