TANGKAK: The Johor Education Foundation (YPJ) has launched an aggressive move to attract as many orang asli youth to take up skills training courses next month.

A team, led by Muar and Batu Pahat community college chairman Abdullah Omar, has started making visits and giving talks to a community of Temuan orang asli near Gunung Ledang.

Abdullah said the programme was aimed at providing work skills to orang asli youth who did not have proper education to help them improve themselves.

"The community colleges in Johor have been providing work skills such as electrical wiring, air-conditioning repair, sewing and even tailoring to youth for several years.

"However, we now want to push the programme to the orang asli youth," he said in Kampung Tanah Gembur on Thursday.

Abdullah said the settlement, headed by Tuk Batin Jengking Jani, had about 66 families living in 52 homes located at the foothill of Gunung Ledang near Bekok.

He said initial checks with the community showed many of the youth either worked as contract labourers with daily wages or were self-employed.

He said the community of about 300 residents who owned cars or motorcycles and mostly lived in homes powered by generators could benefit if there was a certified electrical wireman or mechanic among them.

He said besides installing or repairing electrical wires, those with motor mechanical knowledge could repair vehicles while the girls could become tailors and sew dresses.

Civic center ‘beginning to jeopardize park'

The Benton Community Park District has its back to the wall in its efforts to manage the Benton Civic Center.The group has been managing the aging facility for nearly two years. The civic center is in need of a new heat/air-conditioning system and new carpeting. Also, the gravel parking lot is in poor repair and needs to be asphalted.The problem is money - or a lack thereof.

Punjab, Tata Motors to set up driving school

New Delhi: The Punjab government and Tata Motors will set up a driving training institute in Muktsar at a cost of Rs.125 million that will help youngsters secure jobs as skilled drivers.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in the national capital Tuesday in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant.
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Parish hopes to reopen improved office annex

ST. FRANCISVILLE — West Feliciana Parish Police Jury officials said Thursday they hope improvements made in recent weeks would allow them to reopen the parish’s courthouse annex Monday.

A year ago, dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide made workers ill and forced the jury to close the building until the jury sealed an exterior opening in its boiler room wall near the boilers’ exhausts.

Iran-Thailand trade 'up 75 per cent'

Non-oil trade between Iran and grew to $410 million in the first half of this year, up 75 per cent over the comparable 2006 figure of $234.60m, the Iranian ambassador to Thailand said on Saturday.

Mohsen Pakaeen did not provide any figures on Thai oil imports from his country, according to Iranian news agencies.

But he said the so-called "non-oil" trade was heavily in Thailand's favour _ $391 million worth of exports to Iran against just $18.94 million in imports from Teheran.

The ambassador said he has called on Iranian businessmen to visit Thailand more often in order to continue the export growth in both directions, citing improved flights between Teheran and Bangkok which "make the situation proper for the traders," the Iranian news agency Mehr News Agency reported.