By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 24: The Sarawak government has collaborated with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Bintulu Campus to establish a Faculty of Veterinary Services and Animal Science.
According to a news report by Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas) today, Minister of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development of Sarawak, Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said, a meeting has been held with the Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent Development (MEITD) led by Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn, and UPM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) Prof Dr Ismi Arif Ismail regarding the urgent need to improve veterinary services in Sarawak.
“The cooperation between the two parties aims, among other things, to accelerate the capacity and capability of veterinary services in Sarawak, with MEITD as the leader.
“This matter can help in empowering the development of livestock and agriculture in this region,” he said.
He said this when met by reporters after attending a briefing on the proposed establishment of the UPM Sarawak Veterinary Faculty here yesterday.
In the same development, Roland highlighted that such an initiative was requested by Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg following insufficient number of veterinarians due to the limited intake of students for veterinary courses in Sarawak.
He explained that the Sarawak government is very lucky because UPM is willing to cooperate not only because it has a branch campus in Bintulu but it also offers courses related to veterinary animal science.
“This will make it the third veterinary faculty in Malaysia and the only one in Borneo which is expected to attract students from other countries in the region,” he said.
For the record, Sarawak only has 15 government veterinarians and 98 private practitioners.
Also present were Deputy Minister II (Talent Development) of the Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Sarawak, Datuk Francis Harden Hollis, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food Industry, Commodities and Sarawak Regional Development, Sirai Daha and Director of Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus (UPMKB) Prof Dr Shahrul Razid Sarbini. — DayakDaily
