Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal – File photo
SEMPORNA: Sabah’s first agriculture development blueprint, which aims to enhance the involvement of village folks and university graduates in agricultural and fisheries activities, will be launched next week.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said the blueprint will assist the target group in terms of advice and guidance, including on marketing their products.
“We will launch the first agriculture blueprint, involving the Sabah Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry next month, where we will provide TOL (Temporary Occupation Licence) land for village youths or university graduates to encourage them to venture into fishery activities,” he said in his speech when opening the “Sahabat Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM)” Fiesta here today.
He said further discussions will be held with the District Officers, Sabah Land and Survey Department, as well as with the State Secretary on the TOL permit.
“We may provide land of about seven hectares for them (target group) to rear fish, guide them with the project, like the type of fish to rear, the market price and demand for the fish,” he added.
He said the blueprint was formulated to boost the contributions of the agriculture and fisheries sector to the state’s economy, as well as increase the income of the target group.
Later, when met by reporters, Mohd Shafie expressed his gratitude to AIM for helping to develop women entrepreneurs, with RM17 million for 3,000 small entrepreneurs in Semporna.
AIM has helped a lot in boosting the income of the B40 households, taking them out of the cycle of poverty, he added.
He also thanked Bank Islam for its contribution of RM241,490 to build houses for five “Sahabat AIM” (Friends of AIM), comprising three in Semporna and two in Lahad Datu.
Meanwhile, AIM managing director Mohamed Shamir Abdul Aziz said as of September this year, the agency had disbursed RM208 million to 62,059 Sahabat AIM in Sabah – Bernama