Year: 2021

SEPANG, Dec 30 — Almost 100 volunteers from the Information Department (Japen) have been mobilised to assist the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) in its ‘Operasi Bantu Hingga Selesai’ (Ops BAHIS) activities which are ongoing until this Sunday.

Japen director-general Datuk Mohd Sukari Ab Hamid said all the volunteers are giving their time and energy to help flood victims in Taman Sri Muda in Shah Alam, Bukit Changgang in Kuala Langat and Kampung Sungai Lui in Hulu Langat.

“Japen workers believe in making a positive contribution for the happiness of others and are committed to helping the affected victims through the post-flood clean-up activities,” he said when met by Bernama after participating in a BAHIS operation in Kampung Labohan Dagang here today.

He said apart from Japen, the Malaysian Family squad volunteers from the local community also joined BAHIS in clearing garbage at Kampung Bukit Changgang today.

Mohd Sukari was seen together with KKMM secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Mentek. cleaning up the house of KKMM assistant administrative officer Zaity Aznura Deris.

Meanwhile, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) editor-in-chief Khairdzir Md Yunus said Bernama remained committed to helping those affected on Day Two of Ops BAHIS at Kampung Labohan Dagang with the help of 30 volunteers.

He said some of the staff from Bernama, including the agency’s top management personnel had sacrificed their leave to participate in Ops BAHIS.

“Apart from clearing and cleaning the houses, the volunteers also help to remove the accumulated rubbish and donate basic necessities to victims,” he said.

Among those who participated in the operation at Bukit Changgang were Bernama chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Mokhtar Hussain, deputy editor-in-chief (Business and Finance Services) Roslan Ariffin, deputy editor-in-chief (International News Service) Jamaluddin Muhammad and acting deputy-in-chief (News) Harlina Samson.

A total of 680 volunteers are involved in Ops BAHIS in Kampung Bukit Changgang while 540 others are in Kampung Sungai Lui, Hulu Langat and Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam.

Ops BAHIS organised by KKMM, not only focuses on clean-up work with priority given to families who apply for operational assistance, but also provides encouragement and moral support to help minimise traumatic stress, anxiety and hopelessness among victims, following the flood disaster.

With the target to clean up 300 houses over five days, the operation was the brainchild of Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa. Using the adoptive family concept, at least five volunteers would be assigned to clean the house and the surrounding area together with their new family.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUCHING, Dec 30 — The performance and effectiveness of the new Sarawak Cabinet would be evaluated by the first quarter of 2022, said Chief Minister Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

“This approach will provide a prognosis from which necessary actions and steps will be developed for the coming years towards effective service delivery.”

He said this after announcing the new Cabinet line-up comprising 10 Ministers and 26 Assistant Ministers at Wisma Bapa Malaysia, here, today.

“The foundation of this new Cabinet line-up is based on the state’s Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030 that will develop Sarawak into a high-income economy by 2030.

“The new line-up is also committed to implementing all 34 points from the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) election manifesto for the next five years.

“My experienced Cabinet members and I will mentor and nurture the young Sarawakian leaders in administration and policy formulation.

“We are bringing in new blood and importantly, the Cabinet is well represented throughout the state to deliver the best and most efficient level of services to the people,” he said.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) which is led by Abang Johari, won 76 out of 82 seats in the recently concluded 12th Sarawak State Election.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SHAH ALAM, Dec 30 — KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd (KDEBWM) needs another week to complete the post-flood cleansing work in Taman Sri Muda, Section 25, here, with the progress at 35 per cent now.

Its managing director, Ramli Mohd Tahir said that Taman Sri Muda was being focused on by KDEBWM in view of the area being the worst affected, besides having a high population density.

“Taman Sri Muda is a large area with 9,071 houses and 179 factories and we estimate that each house requires one roll on roll off (RORO) bin to remove the post-flood garbage, so I hope the residents will be patient,” he told reporters at this housing area, today.

Ramli said KDEWM started the cleaning-up work after the flood waters subsided and the roads reopened which enabled the lorries to collect the garbage since Dec 25 until now, with about 5,000 tonnes of garbage removed from the flood-hit homes in Taman Sri Muda.

He said over 400 workers toiled from early morning to midnight and the cleansing work also involved the use of 90 garbage lorries and a number of excavators to speed up the process.

According to him, the other critical areas being focused on by the company included Padang Jawa in Shah Alam, Taman Sri Nanding and Sungai Lui in Hulu Langat, Kampung Bukit Lanchong in Subang Jaya and Bukit Changgang in Kuala Langat.

He said that over 22,000 tonnes of post-flood garbage had been collected so far by KDEBWM throughout Selangor.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

TEMERLOH, Dec 30 — The Temerloh Area Farmers Organisation (PPK) has incurred loses of more than RM120,000 due to the flooding in the district.

Its corporate project manager, Nur Azmi Mat Zain, 29, said about thousands of crops in the orchards in Kampung Semantan here were destroyed, after the area was submerged in 0.6 metres of water starting on Dec 18.

He said that this was the first time the site had been hit by floods since it was started in 2017.

“The floods caused us not to be able to harvest a total of 2,000 cucumbers; we only managed to harvest three tonnes of eggplants, apart from the eight days old cucumber plants were also damaged,” he told Bernama when met at the vegetable farm today.

Nur Azmi had earlier received a visit from Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries, Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah, who came to inspect the destruction of the project due to the floods, and to provide assistance to the affected members.

Apart from the vegetable planting project, Nur Azmi said the flood also caused losses of about 1,800 kilogrammes of farmed catfish in Kampung Bangau here, after three cages were damaged and broken by wood carried by strong currents.

According to him, the vegetables and catfish are for the market around Temerloh and Selayang Wholesale Market in Selangor, with a price of around RM13 per kilogramme for catfish, eggplant (RM6), chili (RM15) and cucumber (RM2).

Meanwhile, Ahmad, when met by reporters, said 400 members of PPK Temerloh who were affected by the floods received food aid, which included basic necessities such as rice, flour, biscuits, milk, oil and eggs.

Apart from that, he said that assistance related to crop fertigation farming, such as polybags, fertilisers and seeds, would be channelled to those affected. For fish farming, the assistance given would not exceed 50 per cent of the loss assessment, or other appropriate assistance to be given to the affected parties.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has issued a red alert or dangerous level of continuous heavy rain warning across 11 districts in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang until tomorrow.

The red alert issued at 3.50 am today involved the districts of Jeli, Kuala Krai and Gua Musang in Kelantan; Kemaman, Besut, Dungun and Hulu Terengganu in Terengganu; and Kuantan, Jerantut, Maran and Pekan in Pahang.

An orange alert or severe level of continuous heavy rain was also issued for Tumpat, Pasir Mas, Kota Bharu, Tanah Merah, Bachok, Machang and Pasir Puteh in Kelantan, as well as Setiu, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu and Marang in Terengganu.

The same alert was also issued for Cameron Highlands, Bera, Lipis, Temerloh and Rompin in Pahang.

Meanwhile, MetMalaysia is also forecasting continuous rain over the states of Perlis and Johor; Hulu Perak (Perak); Raub and Bentong (Pahang); and Kubang Pasu, Pokok Sena, Padang Terap, Pendang, Sik and Baling in Kedah until Saturday (Jan 1).

Continuous rain is also expected to occur over the states of Sabah: West Coast (Ranau), Tawau (Lahad Datu), Sandakan (Telupid, Kinabatangan, Beluran and Sandakan) and Kudat until Sunday (Jan 2).

In a separate statement, MetMalaysia director-general Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said the monsoon surge which is expected to persist until Jan 3 would also cause the states of Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka to experience thunderstorms in the evening and night.

“Strong winds and rough seas in the east coast waters of the peninsula, east Johor, as well as in the waters of Sabah and Sarawak are expected to also persist until Jan 2,” he said.

Yesterday, the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (PRABN) issued an early flood forecast for Kelantan and Terengganu starting today while the floods are expected to start in Pahang and Johor on Jan 1.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — Residents of Taman Sri Gombak, here, that was hit by a landslide on Dec 18, have urged the authorities to take immediate action to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.

A Bernama check found that, apart from the badly-hit area on Jalan 7/3, which has been covered with canvas sheets, there were also small-scale landslides in the nearby area, namely on Jalan 7/4, which was only cordoned off with tape.

S. Suresh Rao, 44, who expressed worry about his family’s safety, told Bernama that this was the second time such an incident had occurred.

In fact, he said the residents had brought the issue up with the relevant authorities several times, but no effective action had been taken so far.

“The landslide that occurred on Dec 18 had caused several trees to be uprooted and brought down mud from the hillslope that nearly hit my house.

“I lodged a report last month (November) after detecting early signs of slope failure in the area but no action was taken,” said Suresh who decided to stay at a rented house as he was still traumatised by the incident.

Another resident, who wanted to be known only as Wan Harliyah, 50, said the recent landslide had left many residents to live in fear, especially during this rainy season.

“Most of the residents here are senior citizens and if a similar incident happens again, how do they want to save themselves? Do we have to wait until there is a casualty for the authorities to take appropriate action,” she said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

TAWAU, Dec 30 — A weak earthquake with a magnitude of 4.3 on the Richter Scale that hit Tarakan in Indonesia at 2.09 am today caused some panic when tremors were felt in Tawau.

A shaken resident of Kampung Titingan Block 5, Yusri Yahya, 49, said his entire family of 10 were woken up from sleep after his house suddenly shook for a few seconds.

“My family and I rushed out of the house out of fear, and even the neighbours ran out of their homes, all shocked by the tremor, but after feeling safe, we all went back in,” he told Bernama.

Yusri said the tremor was experienced for the first time and he felt it to be so strong that the house shook but thankfully, no items were damaged and the family was safe.

Meanwhile, a resident of Rancangan Kampung Ranggu, Aminah Parok, 57, said she too felt a tremor that lasted five seconds while watching television in the living room of her house.

“I am used to going to bed late, and at 2.10 this morning while watching TV, I suddenly felt a small tremor and the zinc roof rattled like it was being ripped, but at that time I thought nothing of it and I just switched off the TV and went into the room to sleep.

“This morning when looking at Facebook, I saw information on a weak earthquake that occurred in Tarakan, Indonesia, early this morning,” she said.

Meanwhile, a resident of Sungai Pancang, Sebatik, Umar, 50, who was jolted awake from sleep, was shocked when he felt the tremor and his house shook and made a noise.

“The tremor was felt only once, and only for a moment. After realising it, I was still lying in bed, nothing was damaged and thankfully, nothing bad happened,” he added.

A spokesman for the Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department in Tawau, when contacted, said it had not received any emergency calls about the quake-related tremor.

The Meteorological Department in a statement said the epicentre was located at 3.8 degrees north and 117.6 degrees east, which is 79 km southwest of Tawau in Sabah and that a tremor was felt in Tawau.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency