Selangor’s agriculture modernisation, natural resources and entrepreneurial development state chairperson Yaakob Sapari is one busy executive councillor.

yaakob sapari interview 070408 2 Between meetings, appointments and a 15-minute lunch time, the soft-spoken PKR veteran still managed a smile when meeting various individuals in his humble 14th-floor office in the state building in Shah Alam.

Sandwiched between other appointments, Yaakob on the outset apologised to Malaysiakini for not being informative enough as he only knew one third of his portfolio.

“I haven’t been fully briefed on the natural resources and entrepreneurial development of the state, so if you can excuse me,” grinned the 46-year-old PKR veteran.

The Kota Anggerik state assemblyperson spoke briefly on the issues under his portfolio and his vision for the state in a short interview with Malaysiakini recently.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

Tell us more about your portfolios in the new Selangor state executive council.

Okay, number one my exco portfolio is in modernisation of agriculture, natural resources and entrepreneurial development which my field of study. My first degree was in agri-business and I’m doing a PhD now in entrepreneurship. So there shouldn’t be any problems with this portfolio, I can do it better (than the previous government).

For the modernisation of agriculture, I understand the meaning of modernisation is a knowledge-based agriculture. So my role here is to promote knowledge-based agriculture. There must be researched products, modern technology, using new methods in marketing like using the Internet and everything. Basically is the use of research and technology for agriculture.

What is the state of Selangor’s agriculture research facilities currently?

yaakob sapari interview 070408 3 We have research agencies like Mardi (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute) or Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) but not all of them are commercialised. Our role is on how to commercialise this. You see, research is just research, it doesn’t generate money. We want to take the findings and commercialise it.

You cannot run away from agriculture. Even in our daily lives we’re dealing with agriculture. The moment you take your breakfast it’s agriculture.

What is the revenue that the state earns from agriculture?

I heard it is only two per cent from the state’s gross domestic product. So our effort now is to move beyond this two per cent to contribute more to the state income.

What about your natural resources portfolio?

yaakob sapari biodata 100408 The natural resources portfolio covers forests, rivers, sand, quarry and all these minerals but now our task how to make use of these resources to be more useful and how to make them generate income for the state.

We still make income from the sale of sand for construction and others. It is a big issue in Selangor where the are now more people stealing sand to sell on their own. The problem now in the state is that the sand issue was not being dealt with correctly.

So during my first briefing to my officer, I said that the sand needs to be reallocated and to look for the demand of sand in Selangor. Then allocate a place after that. Sand is now a political issue. What we want is for the sand to be handled properly and we tender it out. Whoever can big the higher price, we give them.

With your portfolio being natural resources, what are your views about the over development that some areas within Selangor are facing?

Bukit Gasing 180108 1st landslide That’s why in our last exco meeting we talked about stopping all hillside development in Class 3 (slopes those are with an angle of 25 degrees) and 4 (slopes with an angle above 35 degrees). We’re also thinking about how to make use of the green area and green lungs. For example we can use it for education and tourism.

What kind of entrepreneurial development are you looking for Selangor?

We want to encourage more young people to become entrepreneurs. Those who are already entrepreneurs, we want to help them to become more successful. There shouldn’t be any problems.

It is only that the tendency to become an entrepreneur (is low and) we need to bring up a lot of people to do this. But what I want for the future of Selangorians is to find their own income and one day become more enterprising.

What do you plan to do to achieve this?

Through training. We can also help them be more successful. For example, if they need space for business premises, we’ll help them in getting the best premise for them. If they are in agriculture, we will try to provide land for the agricultural activities.

We will also try to venture out. If they have a product, we will try to get a funder and the entrepreneur to work together.