Day: July 13, 2022

ALOR SETAR, July 13 (Bernama) — The Kedah Tithe Board (LZNK) will help rebuild houses belonging to the poor which were destroyed by the floods and water surge phenomenon in Baling last July 4.

Its chief executive officer Datuk Syeikh Zakaria Othman said the board was in the process of getting the list of the eligible victims for the aid from the Baling Land and District Office.

He said the houses would be build on a 0.809 hectare site in Kampung Sadek, Kupang, as was announced by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

“The house cleaning phase has been completed and now the phase is to rebuild the lives of the affected victims, whether repair or building houses, or buying the necessary equipment.

“We will provide the allocation after the actual number of those eligible for the assistance is obtained from the Baling District and Land Office,” he said when met at the Aidiladha sacrificial programme here today.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, July 13 (Bernama) — Members of the public are invited to enliven the exhibition and expo held in conjunction with the 8th Infantry Brigade’s Golden Jubilee celebration at Desa Pahlawan Camp in Kok Lanas here from today to Friday.

Commander of the Malaysian 8th Infantry Brigade, Brig-Gen Abu Hasan Assha’ari Kamis @ Shaffiee said various military-style interactive segments, including small arms and light weapon exhibitions, survival show, radio speech procedures and handling of signal equipment demonstrations.

“During the three-day celebration, there will also be an exhibition of combat ration packs and territorial army recruitment campaign.

“There would also be a sales programme by Perwira Niaga Malaysia (Pernama) which offers goods at reasonable prices, including sofas, branded tableware and electrical appliances,” he told Bernama after officiating the exhibition and exp, at the camp today.

Commenting further, Abu Hasan said apart from military exhibitions, agencies such as BHP Petrol, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) would also have their respective booths at the expo.

“On Saturday, the celebration will also be further enlivened with a stage event starting at 8 pm at Padang Pavilion 16 of the Royal Malay Regiment (RAMD) with special appearances by Datuk Jamal Abdillah, DJ Dave and other local artistes,” he said.

He said a fun-ride cycling event would also be held on July 28 starting from Pengkalan Chepa Camp to Desa Pahlawan Camp in conjunction with the celebration.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, July 13 (Bernama) — The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) has intensified its promotions for the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism International Show (MAHA) 2022 by launching the MAHA Tour in an effort to reach a target of 1.1 million physical visitors during its 11-day show next month.

Its deputy secretary-general (Development), Datuk Badrul Hisham Mohd said among the activities to be implemented are the Vespa motorcycle convoy with the media in Pontian, Johor on July 22, “Street Attack MAHA 2022” in Sabah on July 24, and a media tour at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) on July 31.

“MAHA 2022 has been eagerly awaited after an absence of four years mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he told reporters after attending the MAHA 2022@MAEPS Run here today.

MAHA 2022, with the theme ‘Food Security for the Future’ will be held from Aug 4 to 14 at MAEPS in Serdang.

The platform for business matching activities, exhibitions of the latest technologies and innovations in the field of agriculture is expected to generate more than RM250 million in potential sales value.

About 1,500 exhibition booths have been prepared for exhibitors to promote their products according to their respective segments.

Badrul Hisham gave an assurance that MAFI would emphasise the prevention of COVID-19 transmission in the transition to the endemic phase during the organisation of MAHA 2022.

“If required, the committee would create a special standard operating procedure (SOP) to be adhered to by MAHA visitors and exhibitors,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

BALING, July 13 (Bernama) — The data collection on the losses suffered by the residents during the floods and water surge phenomenon in the district is expected to be completed this month for aid disbursement.

Baling Disaster Management Committee chairman Mohd Shahadan Abdullah said the report on the losses would be completed as soon as possible before being handed over to the State Disaster Management Committee and the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA).

“We are targeting to complete our report, so the authorities will be able to channel financial assistance to the affected residents as soon as possible,” he told a press conference after accompanying Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon to visit the disaster area in Kampung Iboi near here today.

Meanwhile, Mohd Shahadan, who is also the Baling District Officer, said the victims from 16 houses that were badly damaged had already gotten their respective rental premises.

“We (the state government) will pay the house rent for six months,” he said.

In the July 4 flood incident, a total of 41 areas were affected and three people were killed, including a 23-year-old pregnant mother.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

GEORGE TOWN, July 13 (Bernama) — MCA has proposed to the Penang government to replace the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project in the state with the Bus Rail Transit (BRT) system as it is cheaper.

Penang MCA secretary Yeoh Chin Kah said this was because the BRT system would take shorter period, of only a year, to build and more suitable for residents in the city centre.

“If the state government invests about RM4.4 billion for the BRT project, the government can build up to 426 kilometres (km) of BRT bus lanes, while for the LRT it can only build 40 km and only 14 kilometres for the multi-level MRT.

“The construction of the BRT system will also provide wider coverage than the LRT. In fact, it can encourage walking and cycling activities in the city which is very suitable for Penang,” he told a press conference here today.

He was commenting on a news report which quoted the State Infrastructure and Transport Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari as saying that the Bayan Lepas LRT project had received approval from key technical agencies such as the Department of Environment and the Department of Town and Country Planning (PLAN Malaysia).

Yeoh said BRT can also be built with LRT functions, such as having multi-storey car parks, and can also equipped with a system to track the number of people waiting at each station to adjust the frequency of the bus service.

He said the state government can also bear the cost of the project without depending on the federal government.

“Many cities in China have efficient transit systems using bus service such as Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, carrying 4.3 million passengers a day and this helps to solve the problem of urban congestion,” he said.

He said minibuses could also be used to transport passengers from the BRT station to their respective residential areas.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Bernama) — Procurement methods through privatisation, such as build-lease-maintain-transfer (BLMT) or land swap, will be considered so that most of the goals of the Defence Ministry’s Housing Blueprint 3.0 (BP3.0) can be achieved, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Prime Minister said this was because the government was aware of the financial burden to be borne for the implementation of BP3.0, which would focus on providing the remaining 12,733 units of Rumah Keluarga Malaysia Angkatan Tentera (RKMAT) homes nationwide via five phases, from 2023 to 2030.

“BP3.0 is a long-term housing project of the Defence Ministry that focuses on the welfare of its personnel, with its large and extensive planning will not only demand high commitment but also requires close cooperation from all parties involved.

“The goal is to ensure more RKMATs are built and maintained, more affordable homes are built and more Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) veterans are given new homes and the existing homes improved,” he said when officiating the Defence Ministry’s BP3.0 at here today.

Ismail Sabri said the government, through the Defence Ministry, always gave priority to, and did not compromise on the implementation of, the housing agenda for MAF personnel and its civilian staff.

He said apart from RKMAT, various initiatives had been implemented, including the One Member One House (SASaR) programme, affordable housing by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), as well as the maintenance and construction of MAF veterans’ housing programme.

He added that as a result of the implementation of the Housing Blueprint 1.0 and 2.0, a total of 4,200 new RKMAT units have been completed and occupied, while 552 RKMATs are expected to be completed and can be occupied by the end of this year, while 1,474 RKMATs have been maintained.

“Under the maintenance and upgrade programme, the target of 80 per cent of the existing 7,292 RKMAT units will be upgraded, including renovation works, from two units to one unit. At the same time, old damaged furniture will be replaced with new sets.

“As for the MAF veterans housing initiative, a total of 1,700 units will be built for the welfare of military veterans nationwide,” he said.

At the same time, the Prime Minister said more houses would be maintained with a target ratio of one new unit built with four units being upgraded.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said that five RKMAT housing projects had been approved under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), proving that the government was committed to making the Defence Ministry’s housing agenda a priority in national development planning.

He said since Jan 1, five RKMAT projects, involving 672 units of various classes, have been completed, namely Segamat Camp RKMAT in Johor; Oran Camp RKMAT in Perlis; Pakit Camp RKMAT and Sri Miri Camp in Sarawak, while Tok Jalai Camp RKMAT in Kedah will be occupied in the near future.

He added that RKMAT in Bera Camp and Tumbi Camp will be completed in the near future.

Also present at the launch were Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, Army chief General Tan Sri Zambrose Mohd Zain and Public Service Department director-general Datuk Seri Mohd Syafiq Abdullah.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KAPAR, July 13 (Bernama) — The Selangor Zakat Board (LZS) is conducting a study to increase the kifayah limit rate, which is the minimum rate of basic requirements of the cost of living of an individual or a family, to suit the current economic situation.

Its chief executive officer, Mohd Sabirin Mohd Sarbini, said that the board would look into the matter as a whole, and for now, the distribution of aid to asnaf (those eligible to receive zakat or tithe) was still using the existing rate.

He said although around 2,000 families had been successfully removed from the asnaf category every year, the number of applications for becoming asnaf was higher.

“As of now, about 65,000 asnaf families are being assisted by LZS and it is estimated that there is about a six per cent increase in the number of asnaf every year,” he told the media after the ‘Korban Perdana’ programme at the LZS Bait Al-Hasanah Complex today.

Mohd Sabirin was commenting on reporters’ inquiries on whether LZS would increase tithe assistance to asnaf, similar to what has been implemented by the Melaka Islamic Religious Council to about 9,000 recipients in the state starting in May.

Meanwhile, Mohd Sabirin said LZS is now on track to achieve the tithe collection target of RM1.05 billion this year, and he hoped that more existing and new zakat payers would start paying their tithes in compliance with one of the five pillars of Islam, in line with the Zakat Assessment Month campaign launched on June 23.

“LZS would like to invite zakat payers in Selangor to participate in the campaign, which is from June 15 to July 31, with the aim of raising awareness of paying zakat through salary deduction,” he said.

Earlier, Mohd Sabirin said a total of 13 cattle and four goats had been sacrificed through the sacrificial rites programme in conjunction with the Aidiladha celebration, and the meat would be distributed to 300 poor and needy people around Klang, Petaling and Kuala Langat districts.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency