TANJUNG MALIM: Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah officially opened the National Land and Survey Institute Complex (INSTUN) and Tan Sri Harussani Observatory here today.
His Royal Highness was received on arrival at about 10 am by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, State Secretary Datuk Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim and other dignitaries.
Also present were Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii and state executive councillors.
The ceremony began with the playing of the Perak state anthem and a recital of Quran verses and prayers before Sultan Nazrin formally declared open the facilities and signed a plaque.
His Royal Highness then toured the Tan Sri Harussani Observatory and joined a photography session.
Huang, in his speech, said INSTUN was set up on May 1, 1998 at Wisma Tanah, Jalan Semarak in Kuala Lumpur to provide courses in the fields of land, survey, mapping and related information technology before moving to its present campus costing RM117.2 million in Behrang Ulu here in 2002.
“As the first modern facility of its kind in Perak, the Tan Sri Harussani Observatory serves as a platform for sharing astronomical knowledge with all levels of society.
“INSTUN is also lucky as it is the sole Public Training Institute (ILA) with a world-class observatory,” he said.
According to him, about 70,000 people from various backgrounds including land administration, survey and mapping had attended training at INSTUN.
He said since INSTUN opened its doors to foreign trainees in 2015 under the Foreign Ministry’s Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP), it had produced more than 80 MTCP alumni from 20 countries, including Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Maldives and Egypt.
He said INSTUN, which is an agency under the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry, played an active role in contributing to the body of knowledge through academic publications, research studies, online depositories and its library service.
Huang said the INSTUN Journal had been included in the MyJurnal Index under the Higher Education Ministry’s Citation and Infometrics Centre.
INSTUN has also developed the Land and Survey Information Portal (PINTU) with internal expertise as an online depository which can be assessed by the public, while the INSTUN Library has a collection of 17,000 books, journals and serial publications meeting National Library standards.
INSTUN is also committed to improving the quality and diversity of training modules as well as research activities through strategic cooperation with public universities and statutory bodies.
The observatory was named after the late Tan Sri Dr Harussani Zakaria in honour of his contributions as the 8th Perak mufti from 1985 to 2021. - Bernama
