Day: April 8, 2022

MERSING, April 8 (Bernama) — Scuba-diving, snorkelling and island-hopping activities in the waters off Mersing which were suspended yesterday will only be allowed to resume after a risk assessment has been made, Mersing District Officer Mohammed Shakib Ali said.

He said this decision was taken after a second case of a boat captain working under the influence of drugs was detected.

Mohammed Shakib said such incidents should not have happened as they could create doubts among tourists who wish to visit the area.

“Tourism activities such as island hopping and the like will resume only after we have made a risk reassessment of activities at sea given that this is the second incident of a boat tekong being found positive for drugs.

“Therefore, I think there is a need for us to join forces with boat owners and associations to monitor employees handling activities at sea,” he said at a press conference at the Mersing District Council public jetty here today.

Mohammed Shakib also said the council is in the process of enforcing the rules of water activities under the Trade, Business and Industry By-laws.

He said under the rules, diving centres will need to be licensed, apart from reporting their every activity and imposing reasonable charges for the activities offered.

On Wednesday, four foreign divers went missing while diving in the waters off Pulau Tokong Sanggol here.

Following that the boat tekong made a report about the missing divers.

He was, however, detained at 11.30 pm on the same day when he tested positive for drugs after having his statement recorded.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) — Those celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri may have been making plans to return to their respective hometowns to spend the festive season with their loved ones.

At the same time, the country’s public transportation providers are making preparations to receive a high number of passengers and ensure safe travels during the festive rush with the relaxation of some standard operating procedures (SOP) enforced to curb the COVID-19 outbreak following the country’s transition to endemic phase.

AirAsia chief executive officer Riad Asmat said in anticipation of the Aidilfitri celebrations, AirAsia is expected to fly about 75,000 guests and operate 988 flights across all of its five hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, and Johor Bahru.

“Since April 1, we have seen an increase of 20 per cent for AirAsia Malaysia flights for both domestic and international destinations and we are ready to welcome our guests onboard and serve air travellers around the region during this festive period.

“Our domestic services across the group have grown by 156 per cent in recent months due to significant consumer demand, and we expect to return to 100 per cent or more of pre-Covid domestic flights by the end of this year,” he said when contacted by Bernama recently.

He added that in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, for the past two years, the company has been carrying out efforts to further improve and revamp its flight procedures and contactless travel processes.

“We have successfully migrated 95 per cent of our guests to contactless self-check-in via the AirAsia Super App and the website, an integral initiative that was initiated at the height of the pandemic last year and will continue to be an integral part of the effort to further strengthen our COVID-19 mitigation plan through contactless operations.

“This was achieved through the enhancements made to our systems and our guests embracing them accordingly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) chief executive officer Mohd Rani Hisham Samsudin said they are ready to receive passengers that have been increasing every month.

“We are selling a total of 109,891 tickets for the ETS and KTM Intercity services for the travel period between April 23 and May 8. As of April 4, we have sold a total of 35,000 tickets.

“If ticket sales show an encouraging trend, we will also consider adding more trains,” he added.

Mohd Rani also said tickets for the travel period between April 29 and May 1 for the KL Sentral-Padang Besar route are sold out, adding that he advised passengers to purchase their tickets early to enjoy savings and avoid frustrations when tickets are sold out.

“We encourage passengers to purchase their tickets online using the KTMB Mobile (KITS) to reduce human interactions. It is easier, faster and more efficient,” he said.

KwokPing Express Sdn Bhd operations director Sam Sze Wei said they are currently repairing all buses that had not moved for a long time as they expected demands to soar during the upcoming Aidilfitri festive season.

“From what I see, the response is getting better as even people from the Chinese community have started to use our services to return home to celebrate the Qing Ming festival, so I expect the demand for our services ahead of Hari Raya will also be high.

“After the reopening of the borders, many Malaysians returned to Johor and their hometowns,” he said adding that the company provides bus services from Johor to Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA KINABALU, April 8 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is currently carrying out repair works on a telecommunication tower that was reported to have caught fire in Telupid on March 25.

In a statement today, the MCMC said together with the telecommunication service providers, efforts will be made to complete the repair works in stages.

The MCMC said it took note and sympathised with the plight of a student who had to travel between 10 to 15 kilometres just to secure Internet coverage and revise lessons in the car itself after the telecommunication tower fire incident.

“As of now, DIGI’s services have been restored and are operating as usual, while Celcom and Maxis services are expected to be restored and operate within the next two weeks,” MCMC said.

MCMC also advised students and locals to always prioritise personal safety, and as a temporary measure, they can visit the Keluarga Malaysia Digital Economy Centre (PEDi) in Telupid town.

“This is to ensure that they get Internet coverage in a safer and more comfortable place until the repair process is completed and the telecommunication tower operates as usual soon,” MCMC said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

IPOH, April 8 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Perak is gathering evidence and statements in its investigation into the alleged sale of land for the building of an international airport in Seri Iskandar, over 30 km from here.

State MACC director, Datuk Mohd Fauzi Mohamad said it had received the documents regarding the sale of the 188-hectare land owned by the Perak State Development Corporation.

“We are studying these documents obtained from a number of relevant departments and the investigation is being conducted under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009,” he said when contacted by Bernama, here, today.

He, however, declined to reveal more on the documents, other than saying that no one had been detained or called yet to give their statements over the case.

Earlier, Mohd Fauzi was reported to have said that the investigation was conducted upon receiving an official complaint on the matter from the state assemblyman for Manjoi, Datuk Asmuni Awi last April 5.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad reportedly said that the piece of land had been sold to a private company during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state government administration but under the Barisan National (BN) state government, it was reserved for PKNP for the construction of an international airport.

The assemblyman for Aulong, Nga Kor Ming had during the State Legislative Assembly sitting, claimed that the land had been sold without the approval of the state government and said that it was a serious case of misconduct and those involved should be taken to court.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency