Sime Darby Berhad to set up Centennial Park on Carey Island

Monday, 10 August 2009

Sime Darby Berhad to set up Centennial Park on Carey Island

First 500 Trees to be Planted on Island by Yayasan Sime Darby

Conservation got a boost last night with Sime Darby Berhad pledging 100 acres of its land on Pulau Carey in Selangor as a park.

Its chairman Tun Musa Hitam, the area would be renamed Centennial Park.

"We are setting aside 100 acres of land on Pulau Carey to be turned into a park."

"It will cost roughly RM30mil to establish the Centennial Park," he said at the launch of Yayasan Sime Darby by Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Musa said 500 trees which had been presented to the guests by Yayasan Sime Darby during the launch would be planted at the new park.

Najib, who went off the cuff in presenting his speech said he believed the initiative by Sime Darby was worthy.

"Setting aside a certain portion of your profits to help the needy, to help the rakyat to make things better whether it's educating the future generation, provide a female mate for a rhinoceros or to plant more trees is commendable."

"The amount of RM100mil is not small. It is significant and is probably the largest ever pledged by a corporation," Najib said.

Musa in his speech said Yayasan Sime Darby which was established in 1982 was not a new foundation. It's earlier focus was solely on education.

"We will now give emphasis on five pillars namely - community development; education; youth, sports and recreation; arts and culture; conservation of the environment and protection of ecosystems," he said.

Musa said 50% of the funds would be allocated to education while another quarter would be set aside for conservation. The other three pillars will share the balance of funds allocated annually.

For more information on Yayasan Sime Darby, log on to http://www.yayasansimedarby.com