KHAMIS, 7 OKTOBER - Prihatin terhadap pelbagai cabaran dan kekangan yang dilalui oleh segelintir keluarga untuk meneruskan kelangsungan hidup dalam era pandemik COVID-19, dua pensyarah Fakulti Psikologi dan Pendidikan (FPP), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) telah menggerakkan bantuan bagi mangsa banjir kilat di Kg. Sugud, Penampang. 

Menerusi Persatuan Psikososial Sabah (PPS), dua pensyarah tersebut, Dr. Getrude Cosmas dan Dr. Carmella E. Ading yang merupakan ahli jawatankuasa Komiti Khidmat Komuniti PPS telah menghulurkan bantuan dan sokongan kepada sepuluh buah keluarga yang terjejas akibat banjir kilat yang melanda baru-baru ini. 

Menurut Getrude, mereka telah mengadakan lawatan ke salah sebuah kampung yang terjejas dengan ditemani salah seorang penduduk kampung, iaitu  Joannes Moduying.

“Jelas kelihatan banyak harta benda yang musnah seperti peti sejuk, kereta, televisyen dan harta benda yang lain. 

“Kawasan dalam dan luar rumah yang dipenuhi lumpur, rumput dan kayu kering juga pastinya memerlukan masa dan tenaga daripada ahli keluarga untuk melakukan kerja-kerja pembersihan,” katanya. 

Justeru, bagi meringankan beban kepada keluarga yang terjejas, PPS telah menyerahkan sumbangan berupa keperluan harian dan makanan kepada wakil keluarga.

Pihak PPS juga katanya amat menghargai sumbangan dari individu perseorangan yang turut bersama merealisasikan sumbangan ini kepada mereka yang memerlukan. 

“Sememangnya dalam berhadapan dengan bencana seperti pandemik COVID-19 dan banjir, keprihatinan daripada semua pihak amat diperlukan tanpa mengira latar belakang bagi meringankan beban dan memberikan semangat kepada mereka yang memerlukan sokongan dan bantuan,” ujar Getrude. 

Selain bantuan kepada keluarga di Kg. Sugud, PPS juga telah menghulurkan bantuan makanan kepada sembilan buah keluarga di Kg Rugading, Tuaran.

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah Hospital (HUMS) is expected to be completed by 2023.

Its Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin said it was the varsity's mission to complete the hospital as stated in the 12th Malaysia Plan on Monday.

The 400-bed building will have 22 operation theatres and 145 clinics.

"Among facilities available for the public are consultation services and treatment by specialists, 24-hour emergency and trauma centre, orthodontic services, pharmacy, diagnostic labs and radiology centre.

"This will definitely improve medical accessibility, especially in terms of specialist doctors in the state, thus helping to improve the level of better health in Sabah," he said in a statement.

KOTA KINABALU: The various initiatives outlined under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) are seen to be able to bridge the development and economic gap between Sabah and the peninsula.

A senior lecturer at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Dr Rafiq Idris, said the 12MP tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob clearly showed the Federal Government’s commitment to the effort.

He said this was evident with at least 50 per cent of the total federal basic development allocation to be distributed to the less developed states, including Sabah, in the 12MP.

“If the plans and efforts can be translated in the next five years, the economic development gap will be reduced,” he said.

The Associate Fellow at the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies said efforts to bridge the economic gap could also indirectly reduce the poverty rate in the long run.

“With the allocation (in the 12MP), it will enable implementation of basic infrastructure, digitisation, education, healthcare services as well as other basic needs for the state’s development,” he added.

However, in the effort to achieve economic growth, especially to reduce poverty, he said, it also depends on various factors that are interdependent with each other, as well as requires long-term and continuous efforts.

“The factors include existing policies, efficient implementation of planning and awareness to improve the level of education in the society,” he said.

Meanwhile, UMS Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin said the efforts by Malaysia to introduce a more flexible higher education, digital education plans and job creation strategies through the 12MP were seen as capable of producing more high quality human capital.

He said the move was important in the effort by public universities and educational institutions to produce more graduates who met the needs of the industry and avoid a mismatch between academic qualifications and employment opportunities.

“To face this challenge, universities need to have strategies to develop students’ critical skills, especially involving digital, ‘cognitive capabilities’, as well as their social and emotional skills.

“I believe universities are able to be proactive, creative and adaptive in reviewing their academic curricula from time to time to meet the needs of the industry and in turn produce better human capital for the country,” he added. 

KOTA KINABALU: The vaccination centre (PPV) in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will no longer accept ‘walk-in’ vaccine applications starting from October 4.

In a statement on Thursday, UMS announced that its PPV will only distribute the second vaccine shots through booking appointments on the MySejahtera app.

“The public may contact the UMS PPV hotline at 013-815 1373 for more information,” the statement read.

The PPV will operate as usual, from Monday to Friday, starting from 8 am to 5 pm.

The said PPV has been operating since June 14, offering walk-in application, with a capacity of 3,000 vaccine shots a day.

A total of 100,000 doses of vaccines have been distributed, in addition to UMS’ outreach vaccination programmes in rural areas, the Kota Kinabalu Prison and the Temporary Detention Centre.