GOAL: Dr Annuar (right) admires the skills of a young footballer.
SIBU: A Bumiputera trust fund has been set up to train youths as skilled workers to tap into the vast opportunities in Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) while reducing unemployment among them. Speaking to reporters after a symbolic kick-off of the street soccer competition here on Saturday, Nangka assemblyman Dr Annuar Rapaee said this would increase Bumiputera participation in SCORE as skilled workers.
He however voiced concern that if preparations were not made now, it would open the floodgates to the influx of foreign workers.
“That is why we should not wait until SCORE is running on full throttle to train our youths on technical skills.
“We have to start now and gear them towards the direction of SCORE.
“The fund is mainly to train youths as skilled workers so that they will be ready to participate in the development of SCORE. And we certainly do not want our youths here to miss out on such golden opportunity,” Dr Annuar asserted. And for this to happen, he urged the government to ensure that the fund is available for the training of youths.
He added: “This will help reduce unemployment among youths.”
Towards this end, he pointed out that the state was not short of people to be trained to harness the opportunities in SCORE.
He, however, did not discount the fact that information did not reach the target group effectively, resulting in some youths unaware of the opportunities and excitements in SCORE.
“One of the core objectives of the fund besides providing financing for training is to disseminate information related to SCORE to youths via campaigns.”
Asked why information did not reach the target group effectively, he figured a different approach was necessary to target youths in urban and rural areas.
“In terms of campaign, we need to use a different approach to target the different groups. This is because the strategy to disseminate information to those in urban areas may not be necessarily suitable for rural youths,” Dr Annuar commented.