More rural community centres in the pipeline

The government intends to set up more Rural Community Centres (PKD) nationwide to provide opportunities and space for exposure to the rural community on technology, said Deputy Rural Development Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah.

He said it was aimed at bridging the digital technology gap between urban and rural areas, in line with the PKD Empowerment Programme with a development allocation of RM3 million in the Second Rolling Plan (RP2) of the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMK12).

"There are many applications for PKD sent to the Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB) by small districts, rural and remote areas, including in Sabah and Sarawak," he told reporters after launching Ruang Reka STIE Keluarga Malaysia at the Layang-Layang PKD here. today.

There are currently 191 PKD nationwide including 15 in Sabah and six in Sarawak.

Hasbi said PKD played five roles, namely for skills training; women's activities and empowerment; local services and as volunteer and product collection centres for rural entrepreneurs and that these would be intensified with more activities in line with PKD's motto 'Satu Hentian Pelbagai Perkhidmatan'' (OneStop Centre for Various Services) in order to help the rural community to continue to progress.

Therefore, he hoped that the strengthening PKD through the organisation of various activities and strategic cooperation with other parties will be able to help generate income and improve the quality of life of rural communities while reducing youth migration from rural to urban areas.

He said that last year, PKD successfully organised a total of 3,654 courses or programmes covering skills such as cooking, sewing and information and communication technology (ICT), business and entrepreneurship which benefited 95,000 people.

He said the empowerment of PKD would be disseminated through the use of social media to facilitate rural communities to obtain information quickly.

Ruang Reka STIE Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family Science Technology innovation Economy Design Space) at the Layang-Layang PKD launched today is a strategic collaboration between KPLB, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia (YIM).

It provides three facilities, namely a computer lab, digital studio and a design lab equipped with STIE technology equipment and applications such as computers, arduinos, studio lighting, televisions, 3D printers and desktop computers.

-- BERNAMA