Day: January 14, 2022

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) will intensify efforts to increase the export potential of cave swiftlet birds’ nests to China in the near future, said its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.

He said that it was to ensure that the country’s premium bird’s nest products can be marketed directly to China, with a real value that could reach up to RM20,000 per kilogramme (kg) if they met the quality level that was safe to eat and had traceability.

“The production of birds’ nests from caves is 40 to 60 metric tonnes a year. The potential of cave swiftlet birds’ nests is high because the price of raw unclean edible bird’s nests (RUC EBN) is around RM8,000 per kg.

“China is the largest cave birds’ nests user country in the world, with a demand of 80 metric tonnes a year. Currently, export of cave RUC EBN is only to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam,” he said in a statement issued by MAFI today.

MAFI, in the same statement, also explained that China is the main importer as it imports 80 per cent of Malaysia’s total bird’s nest exports.

It also said that to fulfil the birds’ nests export protocol to China, the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) has accredited and given a Veterinary Health Mark (VHM) certification to 30 processing plants, and Good Veterinary Hygiene Practice (GVHP) certification to 44 processing plants.

Until last year, a total of 41 bird’s nest plants in Malaysia have been approved by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), namely 38 raw clean edible bird’s nests (RC EBN) and three RUC EBN plants.

“The very high demand and nutritional value of the bird’s nests result in high market value, with the total exports of this industry in 2020 being 5,654 metric tonnes, worth RM1.2 billion, and exports of this commodity remain strong while the country is still addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As of 2021, there are 16,731 swiftlet houses and five swiftlet caves that have been registered. The caves are Gomantong Cave and Madai Cave in Sabah, Silabur Cave and Niah Cave in Sarawak and caves in Pulau Dangli, Langkawi, Kedah,” read the statement.

MAFI, through DVS, also took various measures to further increase the production of edible bird’s nest (EBN), involving activities in all value chains in the industry namely production, collection, processing and marketing.

Yesterday, Ronald launched Beho Birdnest Sdn Bhd’s cave bird’s nest products, and reviewed the operations at the company’s processing plant, which is one of the active EBN operators in Malaysia and registered with the GACC.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 14 — The Supplementary Electoral Rolls for December 2021 (DPT BLN12/2021) is open for review for six months from today to July 13 after being certified and gazetted today.

Election Commission (EC) secretary Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak said the electoral rolls contained the names of 5,718,760 Malaysian citizens, aged 18 and above, until Dec 31, 2021 who were automatically registered as new voters.

The rolls also contained 25,220 registered voters who changed their constituencies and 9,293 individuals who changed their voter status or category, he said in a statement here, today.

“The EC calls on citizens, aged 18 and above, until Dec 31, 2021, and any registered voters who had applied for a change in voting constituency or status to check their names in the DPT BLN12/2021.

“If their names are not listed in the DPT BLN12/2021, they can fill out Form C online at the link https://myspr.spr.gov.my or come personally to the nearest State Election office,” he said.

Ikmalrudin said the EC had prepared four methods of review for the electoral rolls namely the EC portal at https://www.spr.gov.my or https://mysprsemak.spr.gov.my; MySPR Semak mobile application; the official portal of the State Election offices at the link http://ppn.spr.gov.my and the EC hotline at 03-88927018.

He also said that any registered voter in a constituency who makes a review and wishes to object to the entry of the name of a voter who made a change to his constituency can do so by filling in Form D and presenting it at the relevant State Election office.

He said Form C and Form D can also be downloaded from the State Election office portal at the link http://ppn.spr.gov.my and must be submitted to the relevant State Election director during office hours on any working day during the DPT BLN12/2021 review period.

For any inquiries on the DPT BLN12/2021 review, the public can browse the EC’s official portal at https://www.spr.gov.my or call the EC hotline at 03-88927018 or any State Election office.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

JAKARTA, Jan 14 — A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook the island of Java, Indonesia at 4.05 pm (Western Indonesia Time) on Friday, but no tsunami alert was issued.

The tremor was recorded at a depth of 10 kilometres underwater.

According to Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the quake was 52 km from Southwest Sumur-Banten and 197 km from Southwest Jakarta.

The epicentre was determined to be at coordinates 7.01 degree south latitude and 105.26 degrees east longitude.

Tremors were felt in Banten, Jakarta, West Java and Lampung at the southern tip of Sumatra Island, causing many people to flee their homes and buildings in panic.

An admin clerk, Herning Rini, was taken by surprise when the quake occured while she was doing her works at home in Depok City, West Java.

“I shut off my personal computer’s power at the control box and get into the open, away from the house. I try to maintain a rational state of mind and praying silently,” she said.

Hours later, BMKG lowered the quake magnitude to 6.6. It also generated a series of aftershocks at a magnitude of 3.7 and 3.5.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said there were no immediate reports of any loss of life.

Preliminary assessments were still in early stages but several homes were damaged in Pandeglang, Banten, BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency