Koperasi Alam Hijau Perak Berhad (KOHIJAU) started off with a bang recently at the YMCA building with over 80 newly-registered members and a starting fund of RM20,000, courtesy of guest of honour Dato’ Hj Samsudin bin Hj Abu Hassan, Executive Councillor for Consumer Affairs, Entrepreneur Development, Cooperative, NGO and Civil Society.
The co-operative is formed by the Ipoh City Watch (ICW). “ICW was established in 2002 and re-launched in 2015. We embark on the journey of making Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia, the same aspiration Mayor Dato’ Zamri has. In recycling, we see there’s an opportunity to supplement people’s income while keeping the environment clean at the same time. However, as an NGO, we don’t have the financial resources to begin with. Plus, there’s a big demand for our services outside of Ipoh at the moment. Therefore, we established KOHIJAU as our platform. The profit would be ploughed back to the community,” said Associate Professor Dr Richard Ng, the President of ICW to Ipoh Echo.
Operating within Perak, the objective of the co-operative is to provide job opportunities and increase the economic status of the community via sales of recycled products and the promotion of green technology for a safer and healthier environment. The services it provides include marketing, education, ICT and event management.
“In Perak, we wish to establish a total of 2000 co-operatives by 2020. Right now, we have up to 1500. I applaud Professor Richard for coming up with his brilliant idea,” said Dato’ Hj Samsudin in his opening remarks. He has promised to assist KOHIJAU in identifying a suitable site for its upcoming composition efforts.
Also present were Hajah Fatimah Ahmad, the Perak Solid Waste Corps (SWC) Director and Hj Zainun Hamzan, Director of Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission (Perak).
At the end of the inaugural general meeting, 12 individuals, representing the various communities, were appointed as members of the Board of Directors.
The number of KOHIJAU members, for the moment, will be limited to a hundred. Membership is open to Malaysians 18 years and above living, working or owning property in Perak.
A one-off entrance fee of RM20 will be levied on members to enable them to buy RM600 worth of shares in the company. Readers keen on becoming members can contact Dr Richard Ng at 012 525 6252 for details.
Thanks to ICW’s hard work, there is no longer any illegal dumpsite at Jelapang Tambahan and Lim Garden. For the record, up till January 2016, more than 5000 tons of rubbish has been recycled in Jelapang Tambahan alone, an achievement by any means.
Mei Kuan
