Mayor: Low-carbon grants beneficial

Mohd Haffiz (second from left) with community leaders cooking bubur lambuk at Masjid Taman Impian Emas. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

SINCE introducing the Iskandar Puteri low carbon community grant (IPRK) four years ago, positive changes could be seen among the city folk, says its mayor Datuk Mohd Haffiz Ahmad.

“The IPRK, which started in 2021, has successfully brought together ideas, energy and the efforts of Iskandar Puteri community, academia, professionals and industry players through the awarding of about 70 low-carbon grants.

“By awarding grants to community groups including schools to carry out low carbon projects, we can see positive changes taking place in terms of environmental awareness among the people in Iskandar Puteri,” he said.

Mohd Haffiz added that Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP) had allocated RM500,000 for the fourth edition of the IPRK this year.

He was speaking to the media after opening the city council’s bubur lambuk community event at Masjid Taman Impian Emas.

“More people recycling their waste and using less electricity were among the positive changes seen within MBIP.”

Mohd Haffiz also said grants given under IPRK allowed Iskandar Puteri residents to create a low carbon society.

“We have always received overwhelming requests from the public including schools for the IPRK grants.

“Initially, the grant value was between RM5,000 and RM30,000 for each project, but MBIP has increased this to RM50,000 as we are expecting more participants,” he said.

Mohd Haffiz added that last year, some 5,000 groups participated in IPRK programme.

He said applications from communities including schools and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would go through the MBIP selection process first before grants are offered to projects that met the criteria.

MBIP together with IPRK’s strategic partner consisting of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Education Department and SWM Environment Sdn Bhd, he saidwelcomed everyone to take part in IPRK 4.0.

Mohd Haffiz added that examples of a successful application was the vegetable planting project at Masjid Taman Impian Emas where they received a grant amounting to RM19,000.

“The online application for IPRK 4.0 community grant is now opened until May 2,” he said, adding that more information on the programme could be obtained on the MBIP portal.