KUCHING: Seven youths from the Baleh and Kapit area can now look forward to brighter future prospects as they begin pursuing their diplomas under Sarawak Energy Berhad’s (SEB) special capacity-building programme.
The seven will undergo a 28-month Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health course at a local training institute in Miri.
They are expected to graduate at the end of 2019.
SEB is supporting about 20 youths in three batches to take up the course.
This is to prepare the local community for employment and economic opportunities created by the Baleh Hydroelectric Project (HEP).
Through the programme, aspiring safety and health officers have a pathway to earn a locally and internationally recognised qualification and to become registered safety health officers with the Department of Safety and Health (DOSH).
According to SEB’s press release, within the next two years, 500 youth from Kapit division are expected to complete SEB’s overall skills training programme to obtain certification for employment.
To date, 91 youth have been trained under various skills courses in the fields of construction, welding, scaffolding, safety and health, engine operation and maintenance, electrical, mechanical, metal blasting and coating, rigging and slinging, abseiling, administration, human resources and entrepreneurship.
SEB’s assistant general manager for corporate social responsibility (CSR) Jiwari Abdullah said the company is committed to working closely with the community in Baleh to ensure that they will benefit from the new wave of economic opportunities brought about by the project.
“Sarawak Energy wants to ensure that the local youth are equipped with the relevant skills to enable them to take up the jobs following the construction of Baleh HEP and the opportunities which comes with the regional economic development in Baleh,” he said.
The Baleh Skill Training Programme, aligned with SEB’s CSR community investment focus area on education and young people, will see the youth being absorbed into internship programmes after their training and also undergo coaching on soft skills to prepare them for the job market.
