Malaysia's Sarawak Miriek Community Launches Cooperative

MIRI (Sarawak, Malaysia), Nov 22 (Bernama) -- The Miri Jatti Miriek Association, one of the oldest NGOs in Malaysia's Sarawak state has formed it own cooperative to enhance the participation of the minority community in the state's economy. MJMA president Abdillah Abdul Rahim said on Tuesday, the cooperative formally established on Sunday, had been named Koperasi Jatti Miriek Berhad. The event was historic for the association that was formed in 1982. Abdillah, who is the protem chairman of the cooperative, said the cooperative would strive to diversify the income of the Miriek community. For a start, he said, the Jatti Miriek communities in Miri, Kuching and Limbang could apply for cooperative membership. The Jatti Miriek is one of the oldest communities in the country and are said to have come to Sarawak about 200 or 300 years ago. The word Miri is said to have originated from Miriek. The Miriek people number about 10,000 and reside mainly in northern Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam. -- BERNAMA