Day: May 6, 2022

KOTA BHARU, May 6 (Bernama) — Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said that thus far no state reported having exceeded the Annual Felling Ration (CTT) set by the government and issued new licences for forest plantation projects.

He said this was due to the government’s proactive action which always focused on protecting the country’s natural resources.

“Although forest is under the state government, in terms of administration and management, it is under the state forestry departments and the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia at the federal level which controls each production licence.

“There is denying the fact that there is also illegal encroachment on forests but monitoring and enforcements are often carried out against these illegal loggers,” he said.

He said this after visiting the former Kelantan FA coach who is also the country’s prolific striker of the 90s, Hashim Mustapha, at his residence near Kampung Guchil Bayam, here today.

Takiyuddin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Kota Bharu, also said that there were no new forest plantations were detected being licensed by any state following the implementation of a 15-year moratorium on approvals for new forest plantations in permanent forest reserves in the peninsula recently.

“The state government may allow a company to replant a forest plantation and it can cut down an area and the company has to replant the new trees.

“Now, I can confirm that there are no more new forest plantations licences issued. When there are no new licences issued, means there is no more forest exploration,” he said.

Meanwhile, in another development, Takiyuddin said a total of 27 million trees of various species were planted nationwide last year under the 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign 2021-2025.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Bernama) –Traffic flow to the Klang Valley from the north and east is still congested as at noon as more city folks return home after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.

A spokesman of the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) said sluggish movements from the north heading to the Klang Valley were detected in Bertam heading to the Sungai Dua toll plaza, from Permatang Pauh to Seberang Jaya and Juru to Juru toll plaza.

“Apart from that, the massive traffic volume was also reported at Bukit Tambun heading to Bandar Cassia, Alor Pongsu to Bukit Merah, Changkat Jering to Bukit Berapit. Kuala Kangsar to Sungai Perak Rest Area until the Menora Tunnel, Ipoh to Gopeng and Bidor to Slim River,” he told Bernama.

According to the spokesperson, traffic flow from the east saw congestion in Bentong heading to Bentong toll plaza and after Bentong toll plaza to Bukit Tinggi.

However, he said the traffic flow from the south to Klang Valley was under control with congestion occurring at Sedenak heading to Simpang Renggam.

“MHA expects the situation to persist until late night and motorists are advised to plan their journey ,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUANTAN, May 6 (Bernama) — The concessionaire of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway (KLK) and the East Coast Expressway Phase 1 (LPT1), ANIH Berhad, has advised motorists to continue to follow the travel time advisory (TTA) issued for their return journey to the Klang Valley after celebrating the Aidilfitri holidays.

Its senior general manager, Radzimah Mohd Radzi said the number of vehicles on both routes has begun to increase and the TTA issued is aimed at ensuring a comfortable and smooth return journey.

From April 29 to yesterday (May 5) evening, a total of 1.15 million vehicles were recorded on the KLK Expressway whereas the LPT1 recorded a total of 570,393 vehicles, however, rest and service (R&R) areas along both routes were under control.

“Motorists’ compliance with the TTA issued has increased to almost 74 per cent from only 55 per cent since it was first announced last week. This has helped highway management operations especially in ensuring user comfort at R&Rs and lay-bys,” she said in a statement here today.

Based on the TTA issued for tomorrow and on Sunday, road users from Pahang are advised to enter the highways from 6 am to 10 am or 7 pm to 10 pm; Terengganu (8 am to 11 am or 8 am to 10 pm); and Kelantan (6 am to 8 pm or 10 pm to midnight).

Radzimah also reminded road users to tap the Touch ‘n Go card on the tracking device at the toll lanes for the purpose of verifying highway entry and exit even though no toll fee is being charged at certain times as previously announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Motorists can also refer to the official social sites of the Malaysian Highway Authority or ANIH Berhad on Twitter @LLMTrafik @LPTTrafik or Facebook @Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia and @Lebuhraya Pantai Timur or call the LLM hotline at 1800-88-7752 and LPT-Line at 1-700-818-700 for more information.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Bernama) — Medical practitioners in government and private health clinics are urged to refer children aged one month to under 18 years, with symptoms of jaundice and other acute hepatitis to hospitals for further case management.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the other symptoms of acute hepatitis are loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue or dark-coloured urine.

“The Ministry of Health (MOH) has intensified surveillance for acute hepatitis in all public health clinics and hospitals by using case definitions agreed upon by clinicians and public health experts.

“The ministry is also developing case referral and management protocols for acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology,” he said in a statement today.

According to Khairy, parents or guardians of children who experience symptoms related to acute hepatitis as mentioned are advised to immediately seek treatment at a nearby health facility.

MOH will continue to monitor the situation of Acute Hepatitis of Unknown Aetiology among children and would inform the latest development from time to time, he added.

He said that based on the monitoring carried out at this time, there was an 11-year-old boy with symptoms of acute hepatitis who sought treatment from a hospital in Sabah last month.

“The boy had symptoms of jaundice, fever, lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting. It was reported that the boy received a liver transplant on March 30 at a hospital in Klang Valley after this condition deteriorated.

“He was discharged in good health on April 21,” Khairy said.

He said that on April 23, the World Health Organisation (WHO), through the WHO Event Information Site (EIS) reported at least 169 acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology cases among children aged between one month and 16 years, from 21 countries, as of April 21

“The United Kingdom reported the highest cases at 114. Other countries are Spain, Israel, the United States, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Holland, France, Norway, Belgium and Romania. So far, only one death was reported,” Khairy said.

He added the common viruses that cause acute viral hepatitis (hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D and E) have not been detected through laboratory tests in any of these cases.

Apart from that, WHO also reported 169 cases of Adenovirus positive have been detected in at least 74 cases and 20 cases detected with SARS-CoV-2. However, the cause of acute hepatitis has not been confirmed and is still under investigation.

Khairy said it was estimated about 10 per cent of the 169 cases reported required a liver transplant.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUCHING, May 6 (Bernama) — Premier of Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg will deliver a keynote address at the World Hydrogen 2022 Summit and Exhibition hosted by the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands from May 9 to 11.

The Office of the Premier of Sarawak, in a statement today said the Premier will be joining some 3,500 government and industry leaders from all over the world to explore and familiarise themselves with the latest hydrogen technologies, applications and solutions.

Abang Johari and his delegation which includes Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas will depart for Rotterdam tomorrow.

“In a 20-minute slot on Monday (May 9) at the start of the summit, the Premier’s address as a second speaker will be based on the theme ‘Accelerating the Global Hydrogen Economy: The Sarawakian Way’ primarily to highlight Sarawak as a rising tiger in the renewable energy arena, and that it is hydrogen ready.

“Later in the afternoon, the Premier and members of his delegation are scheduled to visit Shell’s office in the Hague, where he will be briefed by senior Shell executives, among others, on the future of Shell in Sarawak,” according to the statement here, today.

On May 10, the Premier’s delegation is scheduled to meet with the Port of Rotterdam’s CEO, and later in the afternoon, they will be taken on a study tour of Shell’s technology centre in Amsterdam that is showcasing the multinational company’s hydrogen technology and various other new innovations.

Sarawak is a pioneer in exploring the hydrogen economy that saw the setting up of its first hydrogen production facility in Kuching and trial runs of two units of hydrogen-powered buses on the streets of the capital city.

Meanwhile, according to the statement, the delegation will fly to Oslo, Norway on May 11 to gain insight into the operationalisation of Norway’s sovereign wealth funds.

“The Premier has indicated that (Norway’s sovereign wealth funds) will be a model for a similar fund to be set up by the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government in order to bring more returns to excess funds that Sarawak might accumulate in the future,” it added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Bernama) — CureApp Inc was notified by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on April 26, 2022 that the company had received the medical device regulatory approval of a digital therapeutic app for Hypertension.

This marks the first time a standalone software app supporting doctors and patients has received medical device regulatory approval in Japan, and is the first app addressing hypertension to be approved in the world.

Preparations are now underway to receive reimbursement and launch the app in 2022, according to a statement.

Kohta Satake, M.D. and Representative Director and CEO of CureApp Inc said: “Hypertension is a disease that many suffer from in silence. It is a notoriously difficult disease to manage and treat, and one that requires fundamental lifestyle changes.

“The app acts as an adjunctive therapy in providing guidance during physicians consultations, and assists patients outside of consultations in approaching lifestyle changes in the correct way to get to the root cause.

“The app also provides physicians with a way to catch up on measures implemented during gaps in the patient’s treatment and their lifestyle habits, and makes it possible to provide better quality healthcare that is better tailored to the needs of the individual patient.”

Lifestyle modification is a vitally important part of treating essential hypertension, regardless of blood pressure classification. However, lifestyle modifications are dependent on the patient’s mindset and motivation, and workplace and home environment, and are difficult to maintain.

This app provides direct treatment guidance that has been tailored to each individual patient, including advice on diet, exercise, sleep, and other aspects of their lifestyle, and information intended to encourage behavioural improvements based on information entered by the patient, via their smartphone.

The version of the app available to physicians allows physicians to check a patient’s daily progress toward implementing lifestyle changes, and is intended to contribute in a meaningful way toward improving the quality of medical care provided within a limited time frame.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PASIR MAS, May 6 (Bernama) — The reopening of the three Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) complexes on the Malaysia-Thai border in the state, has provided much-needed relief to average traders in the Rantau Panjang Duty-Free Zone, here.

After almost two years of being reduced to a ghost town due to the COVID-19 pandemic, without the presence of regular customers, now these traders can welcome visitors, especially from the neighbouring country, Thailand.

Clothes trader Siti Noraima Mohd Noor, 45, said she could not wait to meet her customers from Thailand as she had not seen them for a long time since the border gates between the two countries were closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“One of the things I miss the most is meeting my friends from Thailand again. Despite the special conditions for entering and leaving the two countries, I hope they can stop by at my shop again to buy the clothes they like,” she said when met by Bernama, here today.

Siti Noraima who has been doing business here for 10 years said after the government announced the transition to the endemic phase on April 1, people started coming to shop in the area.

Meanwhile, snack seller Mariam Abdullah, 40, said the government’s decision to reopen the borders was welcomed as it helped traders restore business, besides allowing family members and friends from neighbouring countries who had not seen each other for more than two years to finally meet up.

“There are traders here who have family ties with those in Thailand, hence, the reopening of the borders will help reunite family members who have been separated for almost two years.

“Even before this, some of us often helped each other to increase sales because we did not want to depend on the local community alone,” she said.

Yesterday, Bernama reported that the three ICQS complexes in Kelantan, namely Rantau Panjang, Bukit Bunga and Pengkalan Kubor, were reopened for commercial and social visit purposes with individuals wishing to enter Thailand and Malaysia having to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the two countries.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency