Day: January 10, 2022

Posted on

Govt committed in efforts to conserve endangered Harimau Malaya – PM Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — The government is serious in tackling the issue of a depleting Harimau Malaya population as there are now fewer than 150 of the iconic tiger in the country’s forests, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The prime minister said if immediate action was not taken, Malaysia faced the risk of seeing the Harimau Malaya, known by its scientific name Panthera Tigris Jacksoni, going extinct.

“More worrying is the fact that this iconic species of the country may be lost forever,” he said in a statement after chairing the first meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Task Force (MyTTF) in Putarajaya today.

The Harimau Malaya is a symbol of the coat of arms of Malaysia and features in the crest of states, government ministries, departments and agencies.

The meeting was attended by Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun; Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail; Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and state executive council members representing the menteris besar of Kelantan, Terengganu, Johor, Kedah and Perak.

At the federal level, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and representatives of the relevant ministries, departments and agencies were also present.

Ismail Sabri said the dwindling Harimau Malaya population was due to loss of habitat and food sources resulting from land use changes, hunting and illegal trade in animals, as well as the spread of the canine distemper virus.

He said today’s meeting agreed with the Strategic Actions for Conservation of Harimau Malaya for a 10-year period beginning this year, through the implementation of six approaches including boots on the ground joint operations involving the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and the Orang Asli community.

He said the MyTTF also agreed to preserve and strengthen habitat through sustainable land use management and to stop any activities of encroachment and illegal hunting.

“Another measure agreed to is to increase the forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia from 43.41 per cent now to 50 per cent by 2040, in line with the Fourth National Physical Plan.

“(It also calls for) empowering effective governance through the establishment of the Harimau Malaya Conservation Unit under Perhilitan, Wildlife Crimes Bureau under PDRM and strengthening the National Wildlife Forensics Laboratory as a centre of excellence for ex-situ conservation of Harimau Malaya,” he added.

Ismail Sabri said MyTTF also agreed to the use of innovative financial instruments to supplement the existing Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation financial incentive and implementation of the Harimau Malaya habitat accreditation scheme, apart from holding Save Harimau Malaya campaigns to boost awareness and involvement of strategic partners.

He said efforts already undertaken to protect the Malayan tiger included amendments to the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 which were passed by Parliament on Dec 21 last year to provide for more effective enforcement of wildlife conservation laws.

Under the amendments, the maximum fine was raised from RM500,000 to RM1 million and the maximum jail term was increased from 10 years to 15 years for perpetrators of wild life crimes.

“Apart from this, there are new provisions for action to be taken against individuals who advertise the sale of wildlife online,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Posted on

Empower sports industry secretariat to link NSA with sponsors – Radhakrisnan

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) has been urged to empower the Sports Industry Secretariat to help coordinate between the national sports associations NSA) and the corporate sector, especially companies in sports-related businesses.

National Sports and Fitness Association (NaSFA) president Datuk V. Radhakrishnan said it will help the NSAs to attract sponsorships by ensuring a proper approach and return for the sponsors.

“The secretariat can play the role as the bridge between NSAs and the industry players by collecting the needs, key performance indicators and targets from NSAs and link them with the suitable sponsors. This is to increase the confidence towards sponsoring NSAs because some of them did not have proper accounts and development plans.

“The previous Rakan Sukan programme initiated by former Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman started off well, but after that some NSAs failed to deliver and did not have a proper plan, so the corporate firms started to pull out,” he told Bernama.

Radhakrishnan, the former Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) vice-president said if the current fund cut for the National Sports Council (NSC) is not addressed properly, it will be a “recipe for disaster” as the nation is preparing to face three major multi-sports Games – the SEA, Asian and Commonwealth Games – this year.

“NSAs and athletes are in a very crucial phase of preparations for the major Games, slashing funds now will affect their performance. I hope KBS and NSC will relook into the matter because unless a white knight comes, it will be difficult to save the sports sector because it is not easy to secure sponsorship in the current situation in such a short time,” he added.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Canoe Association (Masca) president Datuk Michael Wong Meng San said the NSAs should be more creative in securing funds to manage their athletes and development programmes amid the current challenging situations, rather than being over depending on government funding.

“Like Masca, all this while we are not under NSC (National Sports Council) programme, but we still managed to send athletes for tournaments. Even though our athletes are not paid monthly allowances, they still train on their own for their patriotism and love for the country.

“Some are even taking part-time jobs, like Khairul Naim Zainal, who worked as food delivery personnel and still managed to break national records this year. And though we are not under NSC programme, NSC still provides a lot of support for us,” he said.

Michael said it’s not fair to criticise the NSC for the fund cuts when the current economic situation is very challenging and the priority for the government is to recover from the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Posted on

Jelebu students cut off by collapsed bridge take boat ride to school

JELEBU, Jan 10 — It was beyond ordinary first day of school experience for students from Kampung Bemban, near here, when they went to their respective schools today by boarding a Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) combat boat.

The main road to the schools located in Kampung Jerang was cut off when the bridge linking the two villages was swept away by the recent floods.

As early as 6.30 am, the MAF boat was ready to ferry about 20 students to school crossing Sungai Triang.

The 12-foot combat boat is equipped with life jackets for the use of students from Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Durian Tipus, SK Simpang Durian, SK Sungai Buloh and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Triang Hilir.

Nur Syuhada Zainal, 10, said she was elated and excited to attend her first day of face-to-face lessons today.

“Even though it was less than five minutes journey, it was my first boat ride…prior to this, my mother would drive me to school,” she said.

SK Durian headmaster Tipus Masrawati Mat Ali said several teachers and officers from the Jempol and Jelebu District Education Office worked together to ensure that the students arrived at school and returned home safely.

Parents were also seen waiting on the other side of the river before their children finished school to bring them home.

Meanwhile, a Bernama check found that works for the construction of a new bridge were being carried out by the Public Works Department.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Posted on

School reopening: Bus operators facing difficulties, urge gov’t to intervene

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — The government has been urged to pay attention to the problems faced by bus operators across the country during the schooling session amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federation of Malaysian School Bus Associations president Amali Munif Rahmat said the main problem faced by bus operators at the moment was related to fees that were either refused to be paid in full by parents, or not paid at all.

He said more than 50 per cent of parents did not want to pay school bus service fees because of the rotation system used by the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the attendance of pupils in schools.

According to Amali Munif, this was quite burdensome for school bus operators as the fee collection did not even reach half of the previous amount to cover the cost of providing the service.

“We have to pay the driver’s salary in full for a month, not to mention the installments. Financial institutions have already started asking when are we going to pay them. Schools have only begun opening today and they have started asking us to pay,” he told Bernama here today.

Amali Munif said before the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented by the government in March 2020, there were about 16,000 school buses operating nationwide, but now only about 8,000 were still in operation.

According to him, there are also bus operators who currently operating illegally to avoid incurring the high costs of operating with a licence.

“This is because (as) a legal operator, you have to (pay) for the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom), insurance and others which make the overheads much higher. The number of illegal operators is increasing because many have been laid off.

“So that’s why some operators have raised fares because they need to cover their overheads. When we cannot cover our overheads, we will incur a loss, how many times should we incur losses, as we have already made a loss during the MCO previously,” he said.

He suggested for the government to include the operation of school buses as a necessary service to enable the group to be given priority when it came to providing assistance.

“In the 2022 Budget, there is no mention of assistance for school buses, that’s our main regret. It means the government does not consider us a necessary service, when in reality, if we do not operate, many government agencies will be in disarray because there will not be enough staff when parents themselves send and pick up their children from school,” said Amali Munif.

The MOE on Dec 31 informed that the operation of secondary schools for the third term of the 2021/2022 schooling session involving students of transition classes, Forms 4 to 6, pre-university, International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and equivalent international examination, must attend class face to face without any rotation if the vaccination rate among them had reached 90 per cent or more.

However, according to the MOE, educational institutions under the ministry for the term that had not reached the 90 per cent threshold of vaccination would remain operating on a rotation basis.

On Dec 24, the MOE announced that the third term of the schooling session would begin on Jan 9 for group A, namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, and Jan 10 for group B, namely Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.

Meanwhile, Coalition of Malaysian School Bus Associations (GPBSM) president Mohd Rofik Mohd Yusof said the demand for school bus service was not very encouraging at present, while operators also faced difficulty paying maintenance costs as well as renewing their insurance.

According to Mohd Rofik, the action of parents who were hesitant to pay fees due to the rotation system implemented by the MOE also did not help.

“We pay insurance, road tax, Puspakom for a year. They (parents) should at least pay a full months’ fees, because, for the school bus operators, it’s their only source of income.

“We request the government to provide school bus operators nationwide with subsidised diesel at RM1 per litre. In the current situation, the demand is also not there, as many seem to be scared (of COVID-19),” he said.

Mohd Rofik said it was understood that on average, there were less than 10 pupils and students per bus using the service, making it more difficult for them to continue operating.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Posted on

No expired vaccines supplied to PSV, PPV

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) is constantly monitoring the supply and expiry date of COVID-19 vaccines received by vaccine storage centres (PSV) and vaccination centres (PPV).

MOH’s senior director of pharmaceutical services Norhaliza A. Halim said the monitoring was done by using the Vaccine Management System (VMS) as well as the existing inventory system available at the facilities involved with the implementation of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).

“Based on checks, no expired vaccine stocks have been supplied to PSV or PPV,” she said in response to viral social media posts claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine given had passed its expiry date.

Norhaliza explained that the shelf life of pharmaceutical products including COVID-19 vaccines was determined based on the real-time stability test conducted by the manufacturers for a specific storage temperature.

She said a vaccine’s shelf life would differ if there was a change in its storage temperature.

A new vaccine expiry date would be given based on the shelf life extension application submitted by the manufacturer to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) for evaluation, she added.

“The shelf life extension of the vaccine product will only be approved after the evaluation results confirm that it meets the regulatory requirements. This also applies to all other registered pharmaceutical products,” she said.

Norhaliza said the NPRA had approved the shelf life extension for the Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine from six to nine months, CoronaVac (Sinovac) vaccine manufactured in China (from nine to 12 months) and the CoronaVac (Sinovac) vaccine manufactured by Pharmaniaga Lifescience, Malaysia (from six to 12 months).

She said the NPRA also approved the shelf life extension for the Convidecia vaccine from six to 12 months on Dec 17 last year.

“The ministry is committed to ensuring that all pharmaceutical products, including the COVID-19 vaccines, have been evaluated in terms of quality, safety and effectiveness by the NPRA and approved by the Drug Control Authority.

“The assessment of benefits and risks of the COVID-19 vaccines that have been granted conditional registration approval is carried out on an ongoing basis based on the latest data from time to time,” she said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Posted on

Kelantan Perhilitan captures male elephant in Jeli

JELI, Jan 10 — The Kelantan Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has captured a male elephant in Kampung Salor, here last Friday (Jan 7).

Its director Mohamad Hafid Rohani said the elephant was captured by the Elephant Capture Unit (UTG) following several complaints received by the department since August last year.

He said the disturbance of wild elephants occurred around Kampung Salor, Kampung Batu Melintang, Kampung Jerek, Kampung Lawar and Kampung Pendok.

“This relocation operation is a follow-up measure to prevent more losses to the locals and ensure the safety of the wild elephants from being threatened by poachers.

The male elephant, believed to be a part of the Gunung Basor elephant herd with an estimated population of more than 30 and was suspected to have come out of the Gunung Basor Permanent Forest Reserve in search of food sources, he said in a statement today.

Mohamad Hafid said the wild elephant relocation process to the Taman Negara would be carried out today, in collaboration with the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre (PKGK), Lanchang Pahang.

He added that the department had implemented several steps such as providing advice to the locals, monitoring and control in conflict areas and driving the wild elephants back to the nearby forest reserve.

Operations to capture wild elephants were not a long-term solution, especially in orchards or smallholdings close to forest reserves, he said.

“Elephant electric fencing system (SPEG) is one of the most effective mitigation methods to prevent wild elephants from entering crop areas.

“Villagers are also advised to always clean the crop areas and gardens to reduce the risk of human-wildlife conflict in the area,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Posted on

Paradigm Mall Johor Baru kicks off CNY do by unveiling Chupa Chups oriental garden

JOHOR BAHRU, Jan 10 — Paradigm Mall Johor Bahru kicked off its Chinese New Year celebrations today by unveiling its Chupa Chups lollipop oriental garden featuring cherry blossom trees and beautiful lanterns in a bid to liven up the festive season.

Many activities have been lined up by the mall to usher in the Year of the Tiger in the spirit of “abundance, sweetness and prosperity”, especially since last year’s festivities were badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paradigm Mall senior marketing manager Daphne Tan said that this year, the mall decided to offer an exclusive experience for shoppers, with many activities lined up, including Lion Dance performances, Chinese calligraphy competition as well as talks on zodiac while enjoying hues of red and gold at the mall’s atrium that has been transformed into a Chupa Chups oriental garden.

Apart from that, the mall also launched an exclusive “sales channel” to Singapore as it is aware that families and loved ones from both countries are still unable to see each other freely due to the pandemic, she told reporters here at the Chinese New Year decoration media preview here today.

She said those who wished to send Chinese New Year cookies to their family members and loved ones across the straits would be able to do so via the mall.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency