Day: September 22, 2021

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — The proposal to impose action against civil servants who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is not for punishment, but to raise awareness of the importance of the vaccine in bringing the country out of the pandemic.

Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) president Adnan Mat said 98 per cent of civil servants had been vaccinated and the remaining two per cent should not decline the vaccine because they were the executors of government policies.

“In terms of vaccination, Cuepacs is of the view that the government needs to take more steps forward based on the current existing regulations to ensure that all civil servants take vaccines.

“All efforts and awareness campaigns for the COVID-19 vaccination have been done by the government and it should be clearly understood,” he said in a statement here today.

Yesterday, the Public Service Department (JPA) said it will submit to the National Security Council (MKN) a proposal on action that can be taken against civil servants who refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

JPA in a statement said several options of action and measures would be proposed to MKN, including a directive to make it compulsory for all civil servants to take the vaccine except those who have strong reasons to be exempted on health grounds.

Meanwhile, National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Aminuddin Awang said the proposal would give confidence to parents and young people about the reopening of schools.

Currently, there are 480,000 teachers in service and the number of those unvaccinated is not available yet as the vaccination process is still ongoing, he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — The construction of new telecommunication towers for broadband and 4G services will be implemented immediately, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

He said tenders for the projects would be issued within four weeks from now.

“In my and the government’s views, the issue of connectivity and the internet is considered as a human right. We want to see all Malaysians, whether in the interior or wherever they are, they need to get this access, not only connectivity but with high quality,” he said this when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s royal address, in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said this in his response to the interjection of Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PAS-Pasir Mas) on the slow implementation of the construction of telecommunication towers, despite already being in the planning of the National Digital Network (JENDELA) initiative.

Annuar said among the locations where telecommunication towers will be built in stages were Hulu Rajang (59 towers), Julau (47), Betong (40), Beaufort (26) and Pasir Mas (two).

He added that his ministry also targeted the transition of coverage from 3G to 4G to be fully achieved by the end of this year.

In the meantime, Annuar urged MPs whose constituencies have telecommunication coverage problems and need the construction of towers, to inform him, so that a study for the construction of the infrastructure can be carried out immediately.

He also said that the ministry, through the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), has been implementing various programmes to provide opportunities to target groups, including young people, to reap the benefits and opportunities in the digital world.

He added that the programmes included the Global Online Workforce (Glow) under PENJANA, which was introduced in September last year to help 10,000 individuals from three target groups, namely, individuals who lost their jobs, affected income sources (salary cuts of more than 50 per cent) and unemployed graduates.

He said until June 30, a total of 10,200 participants were trained and mentored, and managed to generate accumulated income amounting to RM15.29 million.

In addition, there are also the MyDigitalWorkforce Work in Tech (MYWIT) initiative to improve employee skills; Premier Digital Tech Institutions (PDTI), in an effort to produce high-quality graduates who meet the needs of the industry; as well as an e-commerce campaign aimed at encouraging small, medium and micro enterprises to use the platform and e-commerce applications to expand the market.

On the Malaysian Emergency Response Services 999 (MERS 999), Annuar said that it would be improved in the future, to be able to display more accurate location information automatically for incoming calls to the MERS 999 call centre.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA KRAI, Sept 22 — A former used car dealer was forced to close down his one-year-old business after his income was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not wanting to give up on life after his business went bankrupt, 49-year-old Rohaimin Yusoff made a bold move of venturing into fish cage farming in Sungai Kelantan as a living.

“Previously, I used to earn up to five figures as a used car dealer, but due to the pandemic, in a blink of an eye, I lost my source of income. I also faced several constraints to continue the business, including obtaining used car dealership supplies.

“To take care of my household expenses, I started fish cage farming with various types of fishes since January and with my savings of almost RM10,000, I built seven fish cages as a start,” he said when met by reporters in Kampung Lada here today.

The father of 13 children, aged between three months and 26, said he only started cage farming with 2.500 Ikan patin (silver catfish) fries obtained from Kuala Krai Fisheries Department.

However in his first attempt, all the fish died before reaching maturity, which is usually around five to six months depending on the situation.

“My first attempt failed because I ventured into the field without any knowledge and skills before I attempted again in March. This time I learned the techniques from YouTube and my experienced friends.

“My second attempt was with 10,000 catfish fries from a capital of RM900 and, thankfully, my efforts finally paid off,” he added.

Rohaimin said he is now able to sell around 50 kilogrammes of catfish to middlemen and restaurant owners in the district at about RM7 per kg and was able to reap a lucrative income of RM10,000 per month.

Due to the great potential of catfish breeding, he started to diversify to other types of fish including tilapia, baung, lampan and catfish.

“Alhamdulillah, now I have more than 100,000 fish placed in 35 fish cages where each cage can accommodate 1,000 to 3,000 fish.

“However, for now, I focus on selling catfish because it only takes three months to reach maturity compared to other types of fish, which take about six to seven months,” he said.

On his next move, Rohaimin said he plans to add another 100,000 different fish fries with an additional 20 fish cages.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SHAH ALAM, Sept 22 — The Selangor Religious Department (JAIS) is expected to present the list of individuals refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under its special vaccination programme to the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah this Friday.

JAIS director, Datuk Mohd Shahzihan Ahmad said this followed the continued refusal of the Quran and Fardu Ain (KAFA) class teachers, mosque officials and committee members, and the department’s assistant registrar of marriages to be vaccinated against the disease although a vaccinaton programme had been specially created for them

“I was ordered by His Royal Highness yesterday to report all the facts on the programme today, especially on those who did not turn up or refused to be vaccinated for the Sultan to study it and discuss the next course of action to be taken.”

He said this at a news conference at the JAIS special vaccination programme which was also attended by Selangor Health director, Datuk Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman.

Mohd Shahzihan said out of the 146 individuals who were present up to 11 am today, only 20 per cent of them agreed to receive the first dose of the vaccine.

He said the actual number of those ordered to be present at the programme held in collaboration with the Selangor Health Department was 872 from among the KAFA teachers, mosque officials and committee members, and marriage assistant registrars.

Meanwhile, Dr Sha’ari said the individuals who refused to get vaccinated today should be open to getting the vaccine jabs eventually and they could go to the 53 health clinics and 10 hospitals listed in Selangor for walk-in vaccination.

He said the State Health Department had agreed to holding the special vaccination programme with JAIS today if a big number was willing to receive the vaccine jabs.

On Sept 3, JAIS announced the holding of the special vaccination programme for the targeted groups following the Selangor Sultan reminding those who were still stubborn and refusing to receive the vaccine that they might not be allowed to carry on with their duties.

On another development, Mohd Shahzihan advised cosmetics entrepreneur Muhammad Sajjad Kamarul Zaman, better known as Nur Sajat, to return to Malaysia to face the charges made against him.

He said if Muhammad Sajjad was afraid to return to Malaysia following alleged death threats from any parties, he could lodge a police report for an investigation be conducted on the matter.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

IPOH, Sept 22 — The Perak government is seeking approval from the Energy Commission to build a natural gas pipeline network from Bidor to Tanjung Malim to serve Proton City and the nearby industrial areas.

Menteri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad said today the 62-km-long pipeline will be built at a cost of RM105 million from Kampung Kuala Bikam in Bidor to Proton City in Tanjung Malim.

The pipeline will be a boost for growth of the automotive industry in Tanjung Malim as well as at least eight industrial areas nearby besides having the potential to draw new investment there, he told a press conference after a meeting of the State Executive Council at Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan here.

“Gas Malaysia Berhad, with the cooperation of Invest Perak, local authorities and the District and Land Office, is identifying industrial clusters in the area that can be prospective consumers (of natural gas),” he said.

He said the proposed natural gas pipeline network will be the sixth in the state, after those in Parit Buntar (of eight kilometres), Taiping (46 km), Sitiawan (38 km), Teluk Intan (27 km) and Kinta Valley (140 km).

Saarani said today’s state executive council meeting also decided to defer the sale by open tender of Istana Raja Muda in Jalan Syed Abu Bakar, Teluk Intan, after taking into account public opinion on the matter.

He said the decision on the sale was made after the proposed revocation of palace reserve land of 2.092 hectares was approved at a state executive council meeting in July last year and gazetted in March this year.

He also explained that no public objection had been registered when an investigation was made on Jan 21 this year into the objection period, thus prompting the Hilir Perak District and Land Office to go ahead with the sale by tender for commercial and mixed development.

On another matter, Saarani advised Perak residents aged 18 years and above who have yet to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to do so by walking in to any of the 22 vaccination centres that will be open until Oct 31.

He said that as of Monday (Sept 20), up to 1.55 million or 83.57 per cent of Perak residents aged 18 and above had taken their first dose of the vaccine while 1.15 million or 61.94 per cent had taken both doses.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency