SERDANG, June 1 – A researcher from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Design and Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Prof. Ts. Dr. Rahinah Ibrahim, has been selected to be one of the founders and members of the global innovator community admired and recognised by the GIST Oceans Series (GIST Ocean Series) through the innovation of an Independent Sewerage Treatment Plant (ISTP).
ISTP is a sewage treatment technology marketed through OceaNori, a start-up company in Malaysia to support marine economic development activities.
Lead researcher, Prof. Rahinah, said the ISTP is unique because it is easy to install by wrapping it around a pole. Its small size makes it easy for the tank to be transported, installed and maintained without affecting the treated sewage that meets Standard A of the National Water Services Commission (SPAN).
"I appreciate how researchers from UPM and UMS collaborated with NGO representatives to ensure the integration of technological aspects with local socio-cultural aspects," she said.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had channelled funds to the NGO Action Caring Team (M) Berhad in collaboration with UPM and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) researchers to implement the installation of 10 ISTP tanks in Pulau Gaya, Sabah, and train ten fishermen in tank handling.
In addition, Prof. Rahinah is the Head of the Implementation Committee, UNEP Global Sewage Waste Initiative Programme, which gives her the opportunity to share project experiences on the UNEP stage.
UPM is proud of the ISTP's impact contribution to the Water Settlement Sanitation Project in Sabah, which was recognised as an SDG Best Practice Project by the United Nations in July 2021.
The Mayor of Kota Kinabalu had listed the sanitation programme in water settlements as a project under the “Luv KK” Initiative launched by the YAB Chief Minister of Sabah in April 2022. Kota Kinabalu City Hall will collaborate in developing a specific sanitation management guideline for water settlements.
The guidelines are expected to meet UNEP’s goal of developing a community in line with biodiversity conservation at sea. On the part of UPM, the project results are expected to increase the scale of ISTP to succeed in expansion on the international stage. The involvement of the ISTP will help the United Nations achieve the “one house, one toilet” target, which had to be postponed from 2030 to 2070 due to the constraints of a sanitation system appropriate to the challenging geography.
The GIST Ocean Series was launched under the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Programme and focused on developing a fair, sustainable and attractive vision for new global ocean innovations. The GIST Ocean Series aims to highlight innovators through programs and initiatives around the world to empower the development of the younger generation of entrepreneurs by creating a global Blue Economy.
Since 2011, GIST has partnered with over 27 million members of the innovation community from various private sectors worldwide. GIST catalyses early-stage solutions by start-up companies by addressing financial and development challenges through networking, skills building, mentoring and access to funding. To date, GIST has trained over 15,000 startups that have generated over $250 million in revenue. OceaNori is the winner of the 2018 GIST-APEC Startup Companies Competition in Brisbane, Australia. - UPM
