Month: May 2022

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Bernama) — The Federal Territory Health Department of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (JKWPKL & P) recommends that nursery/kindergarten operators and babysitters conduct screening at the entrance gate to ensure that only children without symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) are allowed to enter the premises and interact with other children.

Federal Territory Health director Dr Nor ’Aishah Abu Bakar said HFMD symptoms include ulcers in the mouth and rashes or blisters on the hands and feet.

“HFMD is contagious, especially among children if they have contact with children who have been infected, ” she said in a statement today.

Dr Nor’Aishah also advised parents or guardians of children with symptoms of HFMD not to take their children to public places including to nurseries/ kindergartens/ schools to prevent the infection from spreading.

“Take children with HFMD symptoms to the doctor immediately for treatment and advice. Those with symptoms need to use separate drinking and eating utensils and avoid sharing personal items with other children,” she said.

She said the public is also encouraged to continue practicing good personal hygiene by washing their hands with soap and water after going to the toilet, changing baby diapers, being in contact with a HFMD infected child and cleaning their stools.

In addition, she said disposable diapers must be disposed of properly and the floor of the house, especially the toilet, must be cleaned with a chlorine-based disinfectant.

Meanwhile, Dr Nor ‘Aishah said HFMD cases in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya continued to rise from mid-March this year until today and on the last day of the epidemiological week (ME) 20-2022 on May 21, a total of 6,197 HFMD cases were reported to JKWPKL & P .

The development showed a 14-fold increase compared to 403 cases recorded in the same ME in 2021.

She said the number of weekly cases reported in ME 20/22 was 1,163 compared to 1,138 cases in ME 19/2022, which was an increase by 2.2 per cent.

She said until ME 20/2022, a total of 408 outbreaks had been reported in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya compared to 32 recorded in the same ME in 2021, which is a 12-fold increase.

Dr Nor’Aishah said the occurrence of HFMD cases is categorised as an outbreak when two or more cases occur in the same incubation period, and in the same locality.

She said JKWPKL & P is always monitoring the incidence of HFMD in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya in particular and taking control measures to prevent the spread of infections in the community.

The department also hoped that the community would always be on the lookout for symptoms of HFMD and make personal and environmental hygiene a priority.

For more informationn on HFMD cases visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website at https://www.moh.gov.my.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

JOHOR BAHRU, May 23 (Bernama) — Having to endure several hours in long queues since early morning just to get the waiting number is among the challenges faced by the public when obtaining services at the Home Ministry (KDN) Complex, Setia Tropika, here.

Many of them decided to go to the complex early with the hope to beat the crowd and did not have time to have breakfast, only to find many others were already in long queues at the entrance of the complex.

One of them, Nur Hazwan Sharifulazman, 37, said that he came today to inquire about his passport renewal which was done online and although he arrived as early as 7.50 am, people had already queued about 400 metres from the entrance of the complex.

Working in Singapore as a facility manager at a private company for the past six years, Nur Hazwan said people had to get a waiting number from the immigration officer at the entrance, before being allowed to enter the complex and then had to pick up the number again at the counter provided, according to their respective affairs.

“Around 8 am, there was an immigration officer who gave out a waiting number to the people queueing outside the entrance, and I was lucky enough to get the number.

He said that he had to wait for four hours, from 8 am to 12 noon, to get the waiting number again at the counter to deal at the immigration office,” said the father of the two when met at the complex, today.

He also added that the relevant parties need to review the management system in the complex and make improvements, to ensure that such issues do not recur as the long process also involved senior citizens as well as those who brought along their small children.

Mohd Nasiruddin Md Nazim, 31, who was at the complex regarding his passport renewal, said he was thankful that a good samaritan gave him bread and a bottle of drink as he did not have time to have breakfast.

“Although the process to renew the passport was done online, we to pick it up at the counter. I came today to ask for information on whether my passport is ready, as it has not been confirmed yet,” said Mohd Nasiruddin who has been working as a barista in a restaurant in Singapore since 2011.

Earlier, several video clips and photographs were circulating on social media showing people in long queues outside the entrance of the complex.

Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi also went down to the field this morning to check the situation at the complex as he said the public had faced the same problem since May 1 and asked the state Immigration director Baharuddin Tahir to meet him today.

Meanwhile, Baharuddin, when met by reporters at the complex today, said the huge crowd at the complex was due to a large number of people wanting to renew their international passports following the reopening of the country’s borders on April 1.

He said some of them also had various other affairs in other departments such as the National Registration Department which was also housed in the complex.

He added that before the reopening of the borders, an average of 700 copies of international passports were issued by the department daily. The number then increased to 1,000 copies a day in April and in May, up to 1,800 copies of passports were issued daily.

Baharuddin said not only the KDN Complex in Setia Tropika was the focus of the public, but also nine other passport issuance offices statewide, including the office in the Mersing district which only has two to three counters.

Regarding the meeting with Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz this morning, he said all initiatives to improve passport processing implemented by the department were explained during the meeting.

“The Menteri Besar agreed to help in terms of facilitating those who are in long queues, including setting up tents and providing chairs and fans for them,” he said.

Apart from that, the Johor Immigration Department will also assign officers and personnel as early as 4.30 am to distribute the waiting numbers as the feedback received found that the public was queueing that early to get the waiting numbers.

Meanwhile, Onn Hafiz, in a post on his official Facebook page, said one of the solutions was to improve and simplify the process of getting the waiting number and provide a more comfortable waiting area for the public.

He added that the Kota Raya Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) and Pasir Gudang UTC will operate from 8 am to 10 pm daily; other office operations will also continue to be extended until 10 pm throughout Johor, while office operations on Saturdays will be from 8 am to 12.30 pm.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SEREMBAN, May 23 (Bernama) — The issue of home ownership faced by former estate workers for more than 20 years has been resolved through the construction of the Affordable Housing Development Project at Ladang Kirby, Mukim Labu, by the Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan (Incorporated) (MBINS).

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said the construction of the project, on seven lots of land owned by MBINS covering 6.7 hectares (16.57 acres) would be completed in February 2024.

“Through the development project, the state government has solved the housing problem faced by 44 former Sime Darby Plantation estate workers which has lasted for more than 20 years.

“The state government has also agreed to offer each former estate worker a Type A house through ownership or hire purchase with subsidies provided by the state government,” he told reporters at the groundbreaking for the project at Taman Kirby here today.

He said the development project was located next to the Seremban-Labu main road with a distance of about 12 kilometres from Seremban town with public infrastructure facilities such as schools, mosques, temples, commuter stations and others.

“The state government has agreed to reduce the selling price of a subsidised Type A unit which was originally priced at RM45,000 to RM36,000 only to 36 former estate workers after taking into account employees who have spouses.

“An additional house rental subsidy of RM500 per month for a period of 24 months or until the project is completed is given to ease the burden of 13 families of former estate workers who do not have a temporary home to relocate,” he said.

Aminuddin added that the Ladang Kirby Affordable Housing Development Project involved 212 units, consisting of the construction of 100 units of Type A houses with a sale price starting at RM80,000 and 112 units of Type C houses with a sale price starting at RM370,000.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, May 23 (Bernama) — The immigration offices at the Urban Transformation Centres (UTCs) in Peninsular Malaysia will be operating until 10 pm beginning this May 25 to facilitate obtaining of the Malaysia International Passport by the public.

Immigration Director-General, Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the immigration offices at the UTCs in Perlis, Terengganu and Pahang, however, would only be operating until 6 pm due to the still low demand for this passport.

He advised the public to always refer to the latest information on the Immigration Department’s official portal and social media so as to avoid congestion at the passport counters, especially in the morning.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Bernama) — Infinity Channel Sdn Bhd (IC) and its partner Revenue Monster Sdn Bhd (RM) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with three associations to identify potential graduates and workforce for the fields of digital technology and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The three associations are OKU Sentral, Pertubuhan Usahawan Generasi Muda Berjaya (GMB) Malaysia and Himpunan Siswazah Kelantan (HIMSAK).

Melaka Deputy State Assembly Speaker Datuk Khaidhirah Abu Zahar said the cooperation was established for the Young Tech Talent Programme focusing on improving skills in the field of technology, namely programming and coding, which are in high demand in the current job market.

She said the programme’s early measures would involve the selection process of 30 Computer Science graduates for employment, besides also being given on-the-job training in the relevant fields to increase their marketability.

“The 30 selected participants will undergo placement and training for a minimum of one year and will be based at the iSpace Porto Historia, Melaka,” she said when launching the programme here today.

Khaidhirah, who is also the patron of the programme, said the programme would be able to help reduce the issue of unemployment among youths.

The programme targets a total of 100 workers to be recruited this year as permanent staff, with a basic monthly salary of between RM2,100 and RM3,000 offered to the new eligible graduates.

OKU Sentral chairman Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi, when met at the function, said she would ensure that the targeted group under their management would get the detailed information so that they could follow the programme.

“I am very grateful because, when they drafted and prepared this programme, they did not forget about us and, for this, I wish to say thank you. We can see that there are many persons with disabilities (PwDs) in Melaka who need support to upskill themselves.

“We want to prepare them for the future, so this programme will be able to benefit them by providing more opportunities for them to work in this field,” she said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA KINABALU, May 23 (Bernama) — Overloaded lorries, especially in the rural areas, and the expired service life of the roads are among the factors roads in the state are easily damaged, says Sabah Public Works Department (PWD) director, Ali Ahmad Hamid.

He said the department had detected vehicles overloaded with oil palm fruits and timber using these roads, resulting in the roads being subjected to excessive pressure and subsequently, damaged fast.

He said those involved in the activity were very cunning in avoiding enforcement by, among others, opting to use the roads at 1 am and had radio communication facilities to detect the movements of the authorities.

“Much of the strength of a road depends on the structure comprising stone layers, namely, the sub base or road base.

“The structure does not have soil (between the layers) but becomes compacted and soil entered it when an overloaded vehicle passes over. Subsequently, the thickness of the road becomes less and the road structure is weakened.

“Undeniably, sometimes the quality of the road construction is also an issue as the construction was not supervised well.

“As such, the road is easily damaged but the most critical issue to fast road damage is overloaded vehicles,” he said when commenting on the issue of damaged Sabah PWD roads in an online interview today.

Ali Ahmad said all parties including the Road Transport Department, Royal Malaysia Police, PWD, oil palm entrepreneurs and the local populace must work as a team to curb overloading of vehicles which damaged roads in the state.

In addition, he said every road built had a certain service life and the department found that most of the federal roads, especially on the Pan Borneo route, had expired service lives.

After the roads had exceeded their service lives, he said rebuilding them would be the best solution as the roads could be easily damaged and maintenance work could not be done effectively.

“This does not mean that no road maintenance is done. It is done but the problem is that we also have allocation constraints,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

BANGI, May 23 (Bernama) — Malaysia is still waiting for the Saudi Arabian government’s decision on the country’s appeal for an additional quota of 5,000 pilgrims to perform the 2022 haj season, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), Datuk Idris Ahmad.

“Thus far, there is no answer yet. We pray to Allah to ease the process,” he told the media after attending the Aidilfitri celebration with the chief executive officers of Malaysian companies and the permanent representative of the Corporate Dakwah Secretariat (SDK) of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) here today.

On May 16, Idris was reported to have said that the government had submitted the appeal while attending the World Muslim Communities Council Conference in Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia has set a pilgrimage quota of one million haj pilgrims for the 2022 season, with 85 per cent allocated to foreign pilgrims, and Malaysia has been given a quota of 14,306 for this season, a mere 45 per cent of the usual annual quota received, with the same percentage applying to all countries.

The first flight of Malaysian haj pilgrims to Makkah is scheduled for May 31.

Asked about the offer letter for the second group of haj pilgrims for the 2022 season, Idris said the Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) had issued the offer letters on May 10 and the prospective pilgrims were given 10 days to respond.

He said thus far he had not received information on how many had accepted the haj offer.

In another development, Idris said until today, Jakim had not been contacted by an informant who made disclosure of alleged violations of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for food safety, hygiene and halal standards at an abattoir in Australia.

“Investigations are ongoing and we are looking for more evidence. If there is information on other abattoirs please do alert us and we will take action,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at the event today, Idris said the dakwah approach today must be simple, concise, factual and interactive, in line with the current trend.

He said dakwah bodies must adapt to the current environment, including in their dakwah work, while the method of dakwah must always be fresh, interactive and relevant, because sometimes the approach of the past five years is no longer relevant to the context of dakwah today.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency