Day: April 7, 2022

KUALA NERUS, April 7 (Bernama) — The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) Terengganu branch detained a tourist vessel suspected of being involved in the illegal transfer of diesel at a private jetty in Kampung Batin here last night.

Its director, Saharuddin Mohd Kia said in the operation at about 11.15 am yesterday, three local men in their 30s who worked on the vessel were also detained.

He said the raid was conducted after the activities were monitored for over three months as a result of public information and his team’s own intelligence.

“We succeeded in seizing 46,000 litres of diesel as well as the tourist ship that had been modified for embezzlement purposes. The estimated value of the total seizure is almost RM400,000.

“During the raid, the three men were in the midst of transferring the diesel from a square tank on the vessel to a skid tank on a private jetty,” he told a media conference at the Kampung Batin private jetty today.

He said the investigation into ascertaining the actual owner of the vessel and source of the diesel will be conducted in detail.

He added that his team welcomes the public’s cooperation with information to help investigate the case.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 (Bernama) — The Constitutional (Amendments) Bill 2022 on Anti-Party Hopping will be tabled, debated and passed in another special parliamentary sitting on a date to be determined later.

However, the special parliamentary sitting scheduled for April 11 and 12 will continue as planned to table and debate the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2022.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Transformation and Political Stability Steering Committee co-chairman Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in a joint statement today informed that the matter was agreed during the committee meeting held this morning.

“Both parties agreed for another special parliamentary sitting to be held to table, debate and approve the related laws soon, on a date to be announced by the Prime Minister in accordance with Regulations 11(3) Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.

“Both parties have expressed their commitment to provide support in voting for the Bill to get a two-thirds majority in the special parliamentary session on April 11 and 12,” the statement read.

Apart from Wan Junaidi and Saifuddin Nasution, other government and opposition bloc representatives who attended the meeting included Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Alor Gajah MP Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook who is also Seremban MP and Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo.

During the meeting, both parties agreed to support the amendment to the Federal Constitution involving the enactment of an enabling clause under Article 10 to allow a new act prohibiting MPs from switching parties

“The preliminary draft of the act will be circulated for scrutiny by members of the Steering Committee on Transformation and Political Stability before the special parliamentary sitting on April 11,” according to the statement.

Earlier, Wan Junaidi reportedly said several proposed constitutional amendments would be tabled during the Dewan Rakyat sitting last March, including the Anti-Party Hopping Bill and limiting the prime minister’s term to two terms.

This would be in line with the Prime Minister’s call for the bill to be expedited after the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Transformation and Political Stability with Pakatan Harapan on Sept 13, 2021.

However, the bill could not be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat sitting last March to obtain the views and input of all parties involved.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

JOHOR BAHRU, April 7 (Bernama) — Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar has ordered for all diving activities in Mersing waters to be stopped temporarily.

This is following yesterday’s incident in which four foreign scuba divers went missing in Pulau Tokong Sanggul, near Pulau Sibu.

“I want all diving activities to be stopped temporarily until we can ascertain what actually happened to them (missing divers). Diving activities cannot continue if there are doubts about safety levels.

“Current diving activity regulations must also be thoroughly reviewed before they are allowed to operate again,” Sultan Ibrahim said in a post on his official Facebook page today.

His Majesty said decisions made from the review must then be announced to restore public confidence as well as among tourists.

The Sultan’s order comes in the wake of yesterday’s incident involving four foreign scuba divers who went missing while diving in Pulau Tokong Sanggol, about nine nautical miles from Tanjung Leman in Mersing.

So far only, diving instructor Kristine Grodem, 35, a Norwegian, has been found safe in Tanjung Sedili waters near Kota Tinggi, about 30 nautical miles from the location of the incident.

Mersing has five main islands namely Pulau Sibu, Pulau Besar, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Aur and Pulau Pemanggil.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SEREMBAN, April 7 (Bernama) — Police found human skeletal remains, believed to be that of a five-year-old girl, in a bush near the water tank in Taman Bukit Zamrud, here this morning.

Seremban district police chief, ACP Nanda Maarof said the 11 am discovery of the skull, molars and bone fragments were believed to be linked to three suspects who were detained in connection with the discovery of an unidentified woman’s body in a ravine at KM14 Jalan Bukit Putus on March 20.

He said the skeletal remains of the child were found scattered on the ground and covered with dry leaves about 10 metres from the original location of the search conducted on March 28 and were found after police took two of the suspects to the location.

“The discovery of the skeleton involved a child who was reported missing prior to this. We believe the bones belong to the victim. Nevertheless, we are still investigating via the forensic and pathological processes to confirm it.

“The victim may have died two to three months before the discovery. However, the body of the woman in the ravine has nothing to do with the child.

“It is believed that the girl and the woman have stayed with the suspects at one time,” he told reporters at the location of the incident here today.

In the meantime, Nanda was confident with the discovery of the child’s skeletal remains, the police would be able to simultaneously solve the woman’s body in the ravine case.

“We will submit the investigation paper to the deputy public prosecutor as soon as possible,” he said.

“The motives of the murders are still being investigated and the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code,” he said.

Prior to this, the media reported that the body of an unidentified woman was found face down at the KM14, Jalan Bukit Putus, by a man out jogging and taking photographs in the area.

Three individuals, namely two men, aged 41 and 44, and a woman, 18, all related, were remanded until April 11 to assist in the investigation.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, April 7 (Bernama) — The Health Ministry (MOH) is planning to introduce the Drinking Water Quality Act (DWQA) soon, as a measure to further fortify protection against health hazards due to unsafe drinking water, said Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“Drinking water is a basic human right,” he said at the virtual celebration of World Health Day 2022 today while pointing out that in reality one in three people globally lack access to safe and adequate drinking water.

He said the MOH has carried out one of the oldest environmental health programmes in the country, the Rural Environmental Sanitation Programme through the Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation Unit (BAKAS) and for over 50 years, the programme has played a major role in providing clean and safe water supply to rural communities and contributed to the near full coverage of clean and safe water supply throughout the country.

Together with the implementation of the National Drinking Water Quality Surveillance Programme (NDWQSP), the MOH has managed to help raise the quality of health by ensuring the safety of drinking water provided to the public and monitoring quality thereby reducing the incidence of water-borne diseases or illnesses associated with poor quality of public water supplies.

“The surveillance programme alerts public health and water work personnel if the quality of drinking water deteriorates and enables them to undertake preventive or remedial measures before the occurrence of any major outbreak of disease or poisoning,” he said.

On another note, Khairy said the MOH will table a new act in Parliament to ban smoking as well as vaping and possession of tobacco products, in July this year.

“There will come a time when the coming generation will no longer know what a cigarette is,” he said.

“According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), more than 27,200 of Malaysian deaths annually were attributed to smoking,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 (Bernama) — Following complaints and grievances from traders, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has decided to remove the fence installed around the Aidilfitri 2022 Bazaar at Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman (TAR).

Following that, DBKL will provide five entry points to the bazaar with enforcement and security control and visitors can enter the bazaar through any of these gates.

“All visitors are also required to scan the MySejahtera QR code at the entry point,” DBKL said in a statement today.

It added that the city council is always ready to face any eventuality, especially on security aspects through the use of closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV), field control by its enforcement team and deployment of staff operations room and maintenance team that is on 24 hours standby.

“Loudspeakers are also provided to ensure that information can be conveyed to all parties in the bazaar. No cooking activities are allowed in the bazaar area to reduce the risk of fire,” read the statement.

DBKL advises and reminds all traders to cooperate fully by complying with all instructions that have been set to ensure the smooth management of the bazaar.

“Traders are expected to be able to do business in a conducive environment while visitors can enjoy the convenience of shopping with peace of mind,” it said.

The Lorong TAR Aidilfitri Bazaar 2022 which starts from the Campbell Complex up to the Masjid India intersection will start operating from April 9 until May 2.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SERDANG, April 7 (Bernama) — Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) is ranked number one in the country in two subjects under the QS World University Rankings (QSWUR) by Subjects 2022.

Its vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Roslan Sulaiman, in a statement, said the two subjects are Veterinary Science and Agriculture and Forestry.

“UPM’s Veterinary Science is ranked the 60th best in the world, making the subject ranked number one in Malaysia for the first time, whereas for Agriculture and Forestry it is ranked the world’s 80th best, and ranked first in the country for the 10th consecutive year,” he said.

“The Veterinary Hospital and the Animal Anatomy Museum are seen among the main contributors towards this achievement,” he added.

The QSWUR by Subjects 2022 evaluation method is based on four indicators, namely Academic Peer Review, Employer Peer Review, Citations and H-Index.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency