KOTA SAMARAHAN: Datuk Dr Lulie Melling is a woman in a hurry. Quite understandably.
With the clock ticking towards her retirement she is trying her level best to put the Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute (TROPI) on solid footing.
The challenge at hand is getting the organisational set-up done in a way that it is sustainable going forward.
And towards this end Dr Lulie, who has served as director of the institute over the last 15 years, is seeking total commitment from the state government.
“If the organisational set-up does not look creative or interesting enough, because of the long hours they need to work, people will not be interested, especially the young ones,” she asserted.
She said this to reporters during a talk on Discover the Hidden Treasure: The Tropical Peatland of Sarawak at the Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute (TROPI) on Saturday (Sept 23).
Dr Lulie said financial support is just one piece of the puzzle.
Equally important, she stressed, is the finalisation of TROPI’s organisational set-up, which remains a work in progress.
With her retirement on the horizon in two years, she underscored the urgency of establishing a sustainable and robust organisational structure.
“We want the organisation to be more sustainable with the right organisational set-up.
“At the moment, it is still not solid. That’s the future that I want from the state government,” said Dr Lulie, who is also president of the Malaysian Peat Society (MPS).
Her mission, Dr Lulie said, has been to raise awareness about the importance of peatland for Sarawak’s society.
“The fact that peatland is a significant issue in Sarawak cannot be overstated, given that 70 per cent of Malaysia’s peatland is located in Sarawak.
“Without the development of our own scientific expertise, we may struggle to support our local industries,” she added.
During her presentation, Dr Lulie covered several subjects, delving into the scientific aspects of tropical peat and peatland, exploring their biophysical attributes, emphasising the significance of their carbon reserves, and highlighting their socioe-economic importance to Sarawak.
