Sulaiman aims to turn Melaka into green economy hub
16 Mar 2023
Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali intends to turn the state into a Green State Economy hub that can produce better human wellbeing and social equity guarantee as well as reduce environmental risks and ecological scarcity.
He said that as such the state government needs to get this moving with a clear plan and vision towards a Green Economy in line with the measures taken by the Federal government, which always gives additional allocations in Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT).
He added that at the recent tabling of Budget 2023, the development of a Green Economy was given an allocation of almost RM600 million covering, among others, the gazetting of new habitat protection areas, animal and wildlife protection programmes, the separation and recycling of wastes as well as precise technology management and agricultural sustainability.
“Apart from that, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) provides financing facilities for this Green Economy, allocating RM1 billion under the High Tech and Green Facility Financing and RM1 billion for Low Carbon Transition Facility Financing besides Khazanah Nasional allocating RM150 million for Environmentally Friendly Development projects.
“In addition, the Green Technology Financing Scheme (GTFS) increased the financing guarantee to RM3 billion up to 2025 while Bank Pembangunan Malaysia also allocated RM1 billion for the Sustainable Development Scheme,” he told the Melaka State Legislative Assembly here today.
On public transportation, Sulaiman said Melaka was lucky to have been picked as a test location to produce a strategic state public transportation plan in line with the Melakaku Maju Jaya 2035 Strategic Plan (PSMJ 2035), which is the Green Transport Implementation Masterplan (GTIMP) of Melaka with the cooperation of the United Kingdom (UK) government.
“Through the GTIMP document, two intervention programmes have been set aside to be implemented in Melaka, namely the Green Bus Network and Heritage Area Integrated Mobility Plan.
“This integrated strategic plan can help overcome traffic congestions in Melaka through effective road planning, increased public bus services and tackling the issue of first- and last-mile connectivity through efforts to integrate and further diversify interconnected travel modes,” he said.
He said that through these efforts, the environment will be better protected and, thus, encourage the arrival of tourists and open up economic opportunities, especially for traders and hawkers.
He said the state government would form a committee to study the recommendations in the GTIMP document to protect the interests of Melaka in terms of public transport since it was under the jurisdiction of the Federal government.
Source: Bernama
