KUCHING – The Swinburne Sarawak Institution of Engineering and Technology On Campus (SSIET) club recently visited Kampung Salak and SK Salak to provide aid to the traditional fishing village.
Kampung Salak is a traditional Malay fishing village accessible by boat through Pasir Pandak, located about 30km from Kuching city. Its population is approximately 650, with a total of 150 families and 120 houses. In 2011, Rural and Regional Development Ministry approved an electrification project for Kampung Salak where it highlighted the village that was once dependent on generators.
The March visit was the first phase of a community service project by the SSIET club where it involved visiting and interviewing the villagers before further assistance are rendered to them. The main agenda of the visit was to gather feedback from the villagers to determine areas of scarcity or that need improvements despite the various efforts carried out by governmental and non-governmental organisations.
The condition at Kampung Salak where there are no proper waste management facilities available.
During the visit, the SSIET team was welcomed by Headmistress of SK Salak Puan Masni. Accompanied by Deputy Headmaster Mohamad Johan and President of Parent-Teacher Association Puan Zaleha, the team also toured the school compound. Commenting on the visit, Puan Masni said she looks forward to collaborating with SSIET in providing after-class STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities to the students.
Subsequently, SSIET conducted interviews with the villagers of Kampung Salak where several issues were identified including improper handling of garbage. A large quantity of waste is still being disposed into the river and for some villagers who carry the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality, they continue to leave garbage bags in the jungles. However, this is largely attributed to the inadequate waste management facilities at Kampung Salak.
The villagers also face other challenges, for example, transportation. Due to the close proximity of the village to Kuching city, they have difficulties in accessing basic healthcare services such as clinic and hospital. For emergency cases, transporting patients to the hospital at night by boat is not an easy task as low visibility makes steering the boat dangerous in unpredictable tides.
Lamenting the lack of proper mode of transportation, one of the villagers commented that they have to buy groceries in bulk as it is tedious to frequently travel between Kampung Salak and the city.
SSIET pledged to look into the matters and come up with several solutions within the capabilities of the club. For members of the public who would like to know more or be involved in the project, they can visit the Facebook page of Swinburne Sarawak IET On Campus – SSIET.
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