Day: October 12, 2021

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) will increase the frequency of its Electric Train Service (ETS) and KTM Intercity from Oct 14 following the government’s announcement to allow interstate travel starting yesterday.

KTMB chief operating officer Mohd Zain Mat Taha in a statement today said ticket sales commenced at 3 pm today for train travel till December and discounts of RM5 would be offered to 10,000 early-bird commuters who buy tickets exceeding RM40 by using the promo code ‘BOLEHRENTAS’ from Oct 14-24.

“The ETS service will be operational with 12 trips daily compared to only two now. The route covers the sectors of Gemas-Padang Besar, KL Sentral-Ipoh, Gemas-Butterworth and vice versa.

“Four Ekspres Selatan services in the Gemas-Johor Bahru Sentral sector and two Ekspres Rakyat Timuran trips in the Tumpat-Johor Bahru Sentral sector will be operational daily, following its suspension since the onset of MCO (Movement Control Order) 3.0,” he said.

He said the Shuttle Timuran in the Kuala Lipis-to-Tumpat sector remained operational with 10 services.

Meanwhile, in compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs), he said KTMB would only allow fully vaccinated passengers to board the train by showing their digital certification via the MySejahtera mobile app or a COVID-19 vaccination card as proof.

He advised passengers to arrive at the station at least one hour ahead of departure and to purchase tickets via KTMB Mobile (KITS) app or from the KTMB website to limit interactions.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — The government is reviewing the proposal submitted by the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) to upgrade several routes on the East Coast Expressway Phase 1 (LPT1) as a long-term action to resolve flood woes.

Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said it was to determine the best implementation method by considering all aspects, including technical and financial.

“LLM has submitted a detailed report and applied for allocation under the second Rolling Plan of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) for the proposed upgrading of LPT1 road level at several flood-prone locations such as at kilometre (KM) 84.6 to KM 84.7, KM 113, KM 115 and KM 126.3,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to a question from Datuk Mohd Anuar Mohd Tahir (PH-Temerloh) on the government’s measures to ensure that the main connection between the east and west coasts would not be disrupted due to floods.

Fadillah said several short-term actions had been implemented when floods hit the expressway in January including continuous traffic management to convey correct information to users plying the affected routes.

In addition, he said, cleaning work to clear the affected stretches from the debris was done as soon as floodwaters receded before they were reopened to ensure safe and smooth journeys for its users, apart from using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to monitor the condition of the catchment area near the expressway.

Fadillah said that the change in weather and developments around the catchment area could have contributed to frequent floods in LPT1.

In January, several districts in Pahang were affected by floods that caused several routes on the expressway to be cut off to all vehicles.

Fadillah also said the government had also discussed with LPT1 concessionaire to find short-term and long-term solutions to resolve the matter and adapt to uncertain weather conditions.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had to stop for a while after being emotionally overwhelmed while talking about hardcore poverty when tabling the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) at the Dewan Negara sitting today.

The Prime Minister who often appeared calm during Parliament sittings was seen overcome with emotion and had to pause and calm himself down before resuming his speech.

“The issue of poverty is very close to my heart. I was born and raised in a rubber tapper family, I truly understand the hardships and difficulties faced by the poor,” he said in regard to the fifth focus of the 12MP on Eradicating Hardcore Poverty and Closing the Income Gap.

Ismail Sabri said the government is committed to ensuring the success of the fifth focus and would adopt the whole-of-nation approach in tackling the issues of poverty in the country, including by setting up the Poverty Unit under the Economic Planning Unit.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the poverty rate, affect individual and household income, and push our family into poverty,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — The First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the 14th Parliament which sat for 17 days, came to a close today.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun when conducting the afternoon session said the meeting was adjourned sine die.

The Dewan Rakyat session this time saw the tabling of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) – the national development plan for the years 2021-2025 – approved after being debated over four days from Sept 28 by 106 MPs, followed by the winding-up sessions by the 27 ministries involved.

The 12MP was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Sept 27 with the aim of restoring the momentum of economic growth and achieving the country’s long-term development goals, as it faces the bitter challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, the Dewan Rakyat approved the motion of thanks on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s Royal Address when opening the Fourth Session of the 14th Parliament on Sept 13, after 91 MPs took part in the debate.

The meeting this time also saw the passing of three Bills, the first being the Temporary Measures for Government Financing [Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)] (Amendment) Bill 2021 to fund four aid and stimulus packages announced by the government since the beginning of the year.

Also passed were the National Trust Fund (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the Windfall Profit Levy (Amendment) Bill 2020, as well as two motions relating to the provisions under paragraph 4(b) of the Government Funding Act 1983 (Act 275).

At the beginning of today’s sitting, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar informed that the motion to debate and approve the resolution pursuant to Clause (3) of Article 150 of the Federal Constitution to repeal the Emergency Ordinances would be brought to the next meeting.

Wan Junaidi in a separate statement said the decision was made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob following a request from the Opposition leader to postpone the tabling of the motion.

According to him, the application was filed to give more time for the motion to be debated by MPs before it was approved.

According to Parliament’s official website, the 32-day Second Meeting of the Parliament will begin on Oct 25, with the focus being the tabling of the Supply Bill (Budget) 2022 on Oct 29, the first budget under the Ismail Sabri-led government.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SERDANG, Oct 12 — An anti-obesity drink made from terung asam (sour eggplant) and a vegetable-based anti-inflammatory skin cream were among four new products launched by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) today.

The terung asam is rich in hydroxycinnamic acid (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial), the ‘maman’ (Cleome gynandra)-based cream is also anti-inflammatory while the other two new products are the carbonated young coconut drink and low-calorie coconut ice cream.

The four products were launched by Agriculture and Food Industries Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee and MARDI director-general, Datuk Dr Mohamad Zabawi Abdul Ghani in conjunction with MARDI Innovation Day 2021.

“Hopefully, these products can be commercialised such as the carbonated young coconut drink and low-calorie coconut ice cream, hence indirectly encouraging growing of coconuts in the country,” said Ronald.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Zabawi said MARDI was having discussions with interested companies on using its technology to enable them to make and market such products.

MARDI’s principal research officer, Dr Zuraida Ab Rahman said the terung asam-based drink, the result of her team’s research work, took three years to materialise.

Extracted from the sour fruit, it was developed for managing body or fighting obesity.

“From our research, this product could reduce the feeling of hunger, break down fat and is rich in fibre and could repair damaged intestines.

“The terung asam originates from Sarawak and often used in cooking but when the juice is extracted from the fruit through a certain process, it has a high nutritional value in managing body weight,” said Zuraida.

MARDI’s Strategic Centre director, Dr Sanimah Simoh said the anti-inflammatory cream created by her team was formulated from the combination of maman vegetable extract and virgin coconut oil for the skin.

“Maman is usually pickled or used in making rendang but our research found it to be rich in natural phytochemical and the product considered safe and potentially anti-inflammatory,” she added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency