MIRI: Persatuan Orang Kurang Upaya Fizikal Miri or Miri Association of People with Disabilities (MAPD) is helping its members in agriculture via hydroponic farming.
“As many disabled people are struggling to find employment, we foresee that through this farming (hydroponic farming) programme, they can find some hope in crop farming besides enhancing their skills in planting vegetables for self-sufficiency,” said secretary Abdul Aziz Brahim.
The hydroponic farming initiated by MAPD for its members is the first of its kind in Miri.
“MAPD started the project in December 2021 aimed at providing a supportive environment for people with disabilities as employment opportunities are few (for us with disabilities),” he pointed out.
Abdul Aziz disclosed that when their first crops were harvested recently, they had, on a trial basis, sold them to friends and some members of the public who came to the centre – they had earned about RM450 from sales.
He added that the profit from the hydroponic vegetable sales was channelled into the project’s fund.
Following the success, Sarawak Assistant Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts I Minister Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew allocated another two hydroponic farming sets consisting of 400 holes to the centre.
The centre also plants pineapples and a total of 1,200 is planted in the backyard of the building located in Jalan Pantai here.
On Tuesday (Jan 11), Ting visited the centre and applauded its efforts and also announced an allocation amounting to RM10,000.
In 2019, Ting via the Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) set aside RM128,000 to help upgrade the MAPD building.
He also disclosed that an arrangement would be made to allocate a few Kelulut (stingless bee) sets to the centre.
To date, MAPD has 30 members.
