Year: 2021

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is scheduled to deliver his 2022 New Year message over national television at 9 pm today.

According to a poster uploaded on his official Facebook account today, the special address will be aired live on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), Bernama TV, Astro Awani, TV3 and TV AlHijrah.

It will also be streamed live on the prime minister’s official Facebook account.

Ismail Sabri yesterday announced that the 2022 New Year celebrations have been cancelled and will be replaced with “solat sunat hajat” and “doa selamat” as a sign of respect and sympathy for flood victims in several states.

The prime minister said he had instructed the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), Idris Ahmad, Malaysia Islamic Development Department and Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia to organise “solat hajat” and “Malaysia Berzikir Ambang 2022” today at the Putra Mosque in Putrajaya.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Almost 18,000 disaster relief tents have been distributed to flood-prone areas in the state, says the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar.

He said preparations for floods were made every year and updated accordingly by the State Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) chaired by Johor State Secretary Datuk Azmi Rohani.

“Whether the floods occur or not, we are ready to face them every year. Not only tents, other early preparations have also been made so that action can be taken immediately if an area is hit by floods.

“Earlier, at 2 am, the Tunku Mahkota of Johor (Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim) was already in Segamat to review the situation. Assistance is not only required during the floods, but also for people to continue with their lives after the disaster.

“Houses need to be cleaned, damaged equipment needs to be replaced, and so on,” said Sultan Ibrahim in a post uploaded on his official Facebook page here today.

This evening, Sultan Ibrahim visited the SK Kampung Tenang flood relief centre in Labis, Segamat, which houses 272 flood victims from 93 families.

While there, he ordered additional mattresses and pillows for the comfort of the victims.

Accompanying him on the visit were the Tunku Temenggong of Johor, Tunku Idris Iskandar Al-Haj Sultan Ibrahim; Tunku Panglima of Johor, Tunku Abdul Rahman Al-Haj Sultan Ibrahim; and Tunku Putera of Johor, Tunku Abu Bakar Al-Haj Sultan Ibrahim.

“My foundation will try its best to help the flood victims in Johor, but I only have two hands. I can’t do it alone. I hope more parties will also come forward to help out.

“I also call on the people of Johor to perform ‘solat sunat hajat’ (special prayer) and pray for relief from the disaster, as well as for protection,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SHAH ALAM, Dec 31 — A total of RM6 million from the initial allocation of RM10 million has been spent by the Selangor government to manage post-flood waste in the state so far, said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

He said an allocation between RM10 million and RM20 million is needed for the clean-up work and collection of flood waste to be completed.

“A large-scale clean-up work is actively being carried out in Hulu Langat, especially in the Taman Sri Nanding area which has reached 70 per cent.

“We also have to focus on Taman Sri Muda and its surrounding areas where (the clean-up progress) has been slow…today, we added 200 lorries that will be deployed to the areas and I hope the clean-up work can be completed within a week,” he said.

He said this to reporters after handing over aid under the Tabung Ikhtiar Selangor Bangkit initiative to flood victims, here, today.

So far, more than 20,000 tonnes of post-flood waste have been managed by the state government in addition to 7,000 tonnes of domestic waste collected through its subsidiary, KDEB Waste Management.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SEPANG, Dec 31 — At a time when many chose to volunteer to help clean the houses of flood victims, Rumah Prihatin@Grand Seasons has been preparing hot meals and sending them to the volunteers.

Rumah Prihatin@Grand Seasons Administrative and Communication Manager Zaleha Dullah said the non-governmental organisation has taken the initiative to prepare 800 packs of hot meals per day for volunteers involved in the Communications and Multimedia Ministry’s (KKKM) Operasi Bantu Hingga Selesai (Ops BAHIS) in Bukit Canggang here.

She said the meal preparation was being carried out through the Dapur Prihatin initiative involving 30 volunteers.

“We have been preparing the meals for breakfast, lunch and tea every day since Wednesday and will continue until Sunday,” she told Bernama when met at Dataran Sadiman in conjunction with Ops BAHIS here today.

Zaleha, who is also Rumah Prihatin liaison officer in Bukiy Canggang, said world-class cooks were also involved in the meal preparation, courtesy of Pulse Grande Hotel in Putrajaya.

Zaleha said apart from Bukit Changgang, 100 volunteers from Rumah Prihatin also spent their time and energy to help the flood victims in Taman Sri Muda in Shah Alam and Kampung Sungai Lui in Hulu Langat.

Dapur Prihatin is one of the six main components of Rumah Prihatin@Grand Season, besides Prihatin Accommodation, Prihatin Mental Health Service, Prihatin Search Operation Centre, Prihatin Food Bank and Prihatin Toy Bank.

The RumahPrihatin@GrandSeasons programme is an initiative mooted by the Minister of Communications and Multimedia Tan Sri Annuar Musa, with the concept of a welfare hotel for people affected by COVID-19, especially the urban poor and those facing mental health issues.

Meanwhile, Pulse Grande Hotel general manager Wan Mohd Azhar Wan Ahmad Shukry said up to six cooks from the hotel were deployed to three locations involved in Ops BAHIS, namely Bukit Changgang, Taman Sri Muda and Kampung Sungai Lui.

He said apart from cooking the meals, the cooks also helped in coordinating and monitoring the preparations to ensure that the food are safe for consumption throughout the five-day operation.

“We also teach the volunteers how to manage the kitchen, the rooms and the hotel,” said Wan Mohd Azhar, who is also Rumah Prihatin@Grand Season hospitality director.

The Ops BAHIS organised by the KKMM is not only focused on post-flood clean-up operation, but also on providing moral support to the victims to overcome the stress and trauma.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, Dec 31 — Wan Hashim Wan Mahmood, 75, better known as Pak Wan, is setting his sights on creating an eighth cycling record in The Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR), in Perth, Australia next year.

Pak Wan said Perth was his destination of choice due to a previous visit in 2014 where he spent three months there and found the road facilities for cycling very pleasant apart from the tourist-friendly Aussies.

“The mission is expected to be achieved early next year or in mid-year which will take around 60 days, and I also plan to do it with a friend if I can afford a sponsor.

“I will start the cycling mission as soon as I arrive at the airport there,” he told reporters at the Kota Darulnaim Complex here today, after completing his solo cycling tour yesterday covering Peninsular Malaysia over 2,317 km in a month, thus setting his seventh MBOR record.

Pak Wan was welcomed on arrival by State Youth, Sports and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Committee chairman Wan Roslan Wan Hamat and Kelantan Darul Naim Media Club (KEMUDI) president Shahnun Hanif Abdullah Suhaimi.

The father of six also recalled his adventure en route to completing his seventh mission, notably his brush with monkeys as big as bears, as well as the lashing wind and rain of the monsoon season.

Pak Wan set his first MBOR record in 2014 which recognised him as the “Oldest Cyclist to Cycle around Peninsular Malaysia” for cycling solo over 2,200 km.

Meanwhile, Wan Roslan said the state government intended to appoint Wan Hashim as a strategic partner for the 22nd Malaysian Games (Sukma) in 2026 which will be hosted by Kelantan.

“We will propose this matter through the secretariat which will start next year, apart from the state government which has also approved RM2 million for the Sukma secretariat,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Malaysia recorded 3,573 new COVID-19 cases today, bringing the cumulative tally to 2,758,086.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said of the total cases today, only 52 or 1.5 per cent were in categories three, four and five, while 3,521 cases (98.5 per cent) were in categories one and two.

He said the daily tally involved 3,230 cases of local transmission and 343 imported cases.

A total of 3,988 recoveries were recorded, bringing the cumulative total of recoveries to 2,685,378.

“There are 269 cases in the intensive care unit with 163 requiring ventilator support,” he said in his daily statement on the COVID-19 situation today.

He said five new clusters were detected, bringing the number of active clusters to 21, while the infectivity (Rt) rate in the country was recorded at 0.98 as of yesterday.

On the COVID-19 infection among flood victims, Dr Noor Hisham said 15 positive cases were recorded involving evacuees at the temporary relief centres (PPS) as of today, bringing the total of cases involving flood victims to 444.

He said no new cluster was reported involving flood evacuees at any PPS.

However, he said there were four cases of infectious diseases involving flood victims today, three of which involved acute respiratory infection and one case of skin infection.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Another seven landslides were reported by the Department of Minerals and Geoscience (JMG) today, bringing the total of landslide incidents to 133 during the current Northeast Monsoon period.

The National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) said the total number of landslide incidents that occurred in Selangor is 55 cases, Pahang (42), Negeri Sembilan (17), Kuala Lumpur (eight), Sarawak (six), Terengganu (three), with one each in Melaka and Sabah.

It also said that the Public Works Department (PWD)’s disaster operations room (BiGBen) has reported landslide incidents at 52 locations, involving, among others, collapsed slopes and damaged or collapsed bridges.

“During the current Northeast Monsoon, there are 46 landslide incidents nationwide that are being repaired by the PWD,” it said in a statement.

In addition, NADMA also said that, as of yesterday (Dec 30), the Ministry of Housing and Local Government reported that Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) had completed 80.6 per cent of clean-up work in flood-affected areas in five states.

The states involved are Pahang, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, with an estimate of over 7,280 tonnes of garbage disposed of. A total of 2,286 workers with 908 machines were involved in the cleaning work.

Meanwhile, following the continuous rain warning forecast until Jan 3, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), together with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) will provide early notification that is updated from time to time, so that all disaster operations control centres (PKOB) will be ready.

“All state and district PKOBs are requested to be on alert for the warnings issued by MetMalaysia and DID, and always to be prepared for various possibilities including flash floods, especially in the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak,” it said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency