Chief Minister, SEDIA Committed to Assisting Sabah’s Less Fortunate

Tuaran (Monday) — Chief Minister YAB. Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji bin Haji Noor this evening distributed donations in conjunction with the Ramadan month and Hari Raya Aidilfitri to several orphanages and Tahfiz centres in the district of Tuaran. The donations were given out during the Majlis Berbuka Puasa YAB Ketua Menteri Sabah Bersama Anak Anak Yatim dan Tahfiz Daerah Tuaran event which was organised by the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) for the first time.

The event was aimed at remembering the plights of the less fortunate while observing Ramadan, in which SEDIA identified four orphanages and Tahfiz centres to each receive RM5,000 in cash donations, as well as duit raya for a hundred of their collective residents. It also serves as an opportunity to further strengthen working relationships between the State’s top leadership and the local community, in particular the Tuaran district, and for SEDIA to strengthen its cooperation with State and district leadership.

This also represents a part of SEDIA’s efforts to exercise its corporate social responsibilities (CSR) through channelling aid to the needy. SEDIA hopes to foster a culture of helping each other and encourage local communities to participate in social activities, in line with the value of Ihsan (Compassion for the fate of all parties through the act of humanitarian empowerment) of the government’s Malaysia Madani policy framework. In the past 12 months, SEDIA has carried out a number of CSR efforts such as the distribution of food baskets to those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, and also a community reach programme with school students in conjunction with National Day. Organising CSR efforts involving local communities also gives SEDIA the opportunity to boost public awareness of SEDIA’s role as the implementing agency of the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) programme.

It is hoped that the implementation of this CSR initiative will strengthen the relationship and cooperation between communities, the state government and SEDIA. The institutional framework for SDC is well laid out, with SEDIA as an agency of the Federal Government, working under the State Government and in close collaboration with State Agencies and local authorities. The mandate entrusted onto SEDIA includes attracting investors, implementing infrastructure development projects, developing human capital resources as well as generating and accelerating economic development of the state of Sabah.