Saraswati (left) during a meeting with students from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT).
Sekretariat Anak Johor (Sohor) from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) has been selected to conduct a river cleanup and care programme at Sungai Kemelah in Segamat, Johor.
Kemelah assemblyman N. Saraswati said the programme was part of their student adoption programme where the selected university students would stay in the chosen village and community to conduct humanitarian activities.
“We have chosen Sungai Kemelah and Kolam Kemelah at Taman Rekreasi Felda Kemelah as the two locations for them to conduct cleanup operations based on the techniques that they have learned.
“The undergrads will also be required to show and share their skills with the community on how to take care of the river and public pools,” she said when contacted.
Saraswati said the programme was conducted under the “Mahasiswa Angkat” initiative that Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi announced in Budget 2024.
“All 56 assemblymen in Johor will be assigned a group of students from selected universities to ‘adopt’.
“However, the details of how many students will be involved have not been decided yet,” she said.
Saraswati said the programme would run throughout the year, based on the budget allocated by Johor government.
“The state has given an allocation to each assemblyman to help these students and organise a community programme together.
“A total of RM600,000 has been allocated to 25 university student associations to help them organise this initiative,” she added.
Meanwhile, Sohor president Enayatillah Mohammad Zahir said the association had proposed eight programmes to be conducted in Kemelah along with the local community.
“We were selected because of our skills in marine and aquatic resources, and we hope to be able to share our expertise and knowledge with the community soon.
“This programme is aimed at helping the local community gain insights on the solutions that they can apply when faced with issues regarding water resources,” she said.
