15 minutes
COMING out on top of the other nine finalists in Alliance Islamic Bank’s Eco-Biz Dream Project 3, the Green Team from University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) were named the grand prize winner after presenting their business pitch on how to help revitalise Sungai Kerayong.
The team consisting of Mohd Fakharuddin Muhamad, Dayang Siti Herdawati Abang Hardin, Lennevey Kinidi and team leader Norzafirah Azriah Mohd Fadzli won RM10,000 in cash and the opportunity to help revitalise Sungai Kerayong in the Klang Valley with their social enterprise solution.
This will be carried out in collaboration with Alliance Islamic Bank, the local civic authorities, non-profit organisations, private enterprises, and communities living along Sungai Kerayong.
“The Eco-Biz Dream Project is now in its third year, and already it defies convention. It is a social entrepreneurship activation initiative done in collaboration with academia, and this year, the winning project will be jointly implemented by like-minded citizens who want to ‘Do Good’ together, and have a meaningful impact on the environment and society,” said Alliance Islamic Bank CEO Rizal IL-Ehzan.
To ensure sustainability of the winning pitch’s idea, Alliance Islamic Bank has engaged local authorities, non-profit organisations, crowdfunding partners, and private enterprises for the implementation phase.
“Alliance Islamic Bank is committing up to RM200,000 to be used as seed funding for the implementation. Any additional funding required will be raised via our strategic crowdfunding partners’ platforms, Ata Plus and Ethis Ventures. We hope that doing so will help lend greater visibility to the project among communities,” said Rizal.
The UNIMAS’ Green Team’s pitch revolves around the idea of developing a simple solution using BioChar, in a plug-and-clean filter to be used at wet markets situated at Sungai Kerayong. This is to reduce the amount of untreated effluents associated with high Chemical Oxygen Demand and nutrients going into the river.
The team of four, under the guidance of Professor Madya Dr. Shanti Faridah Salleh, Director of the Centre for Academic Assurance and Academic Development for UNIMAS, said the solution was inspired by the question of how to help the Sungai Kerayong community.
The first runner-up of the Eco-Biz Dream Project 3 was Team Monash Green Lab from Monash University, who won RM5,000 cash, followed by Team Aqua Plethora from University Putra Malaysia (UPM), who took home RM3,000 for their efforts.
The consolation prizes, RM1,000 cash prize each, went to Team Sungai Savers from Xiamen University Malaysia and Team Adiwangsa from University Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Alliance Islamic Bank Eco-Biz Dream Project 3 is carried out in collaboration with EcoKnights, Malaysian Greentech Corporation, and Asia School of Business.
