Day: July 27, 2022

MELAKA, July 27 (Bernama) — The working paper on establishing the Melaka Youth Legislative Assembly is still at the fine-tuning stage and expected to be brought to the State Executive Council meeting in seeking an allocation and approval this August.

State executive councillor for Youth Development, Sports and Non-Governmental Organisations, V.P. Shanmugam said the setting up of this assembly was a comprehensive plan to produce wholesome youths from the spiritual, physical, intellectual, knowledge and cultural aspects, and who would be self-reliant and with a spirit of voluntarism based on the Rukun Negara.

“The Melaka Youth Legislative Assembly will apply the Malaysia Youth Parliament practices combined with the best features of the other Youth Legislative Assemblies in the states that have established these assemblies,” he said at the Melaka State Legislative Assembly sitting, here, today.

He was responding to Datuk Khaidhirah Abu Zahar (BN-Rim) who wanted to know the latest status of the Melaka Youth Legislative Assembly.

To an additional question from Khaidhirah on the selection process until its implementation, Shanmugam said the planning for this assembly was made in the second week of March this year.

He said it started with forming a pre-council and then the Melaka Youth Legislative Assembly Main Committee for nomination and selection, then the coordination meeting with the main committee.

“The main committee coordination workshop will also be held before the nomination process, campaign and the election.

“We have two selection methods….voting or interviews. Voting means we will set up a special website for youths to register themselves.

“If through interviews, the list of the eligible youth candidates and chosen by the youth associations will be given to the main committee to be shortlisted before being interviewed.

“A special workshop on the Melaka Youth Legislative Assembly will be held to ensure a smooth process of the youth assembly sitting,” he said.

To an additional question from Fairul Nizam Roslan (BN-Asahan) on the criteria for the candidates, Shanmugam said ..they must be 18 to 35 years old, must be a member of an active youth association and had the support of youths in their respective constituencies.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) — The electricity supply disruption that occurred in several areas in Peninsular Malaysia since 12.39 this afternoon, was caused by the damage of an equipment at Yong Peng North main intake substation (PMU) in Yong Peng, Johor.

TNB in a statement today said the damage resulted in a load loss of 2.2 gigawatts (GW) which is 10 per cent of the total supply demand in Peninsular Malaysia.

According to TNB, the electricity supply in the affected areas was fully restored at 3:02 pm, with most of the affected areas restored in stages as early as 20 minutes after the interruption occurred, as a result of the continuous efforts of the utility company’s technical team.

“We apologise for any inconvenience experienced by users during this supply disruption. For any queries regarding power disruptions, consumers can call TNB Careline at 15454,” said the statement.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, July 27 (Bernama) — The Kelantan government today announced a plan to reuse the old Kuala Krai Hospital building to meet the increased demand for beds in all hospitals in the state.

State Local Government, Housing and Health Committee chairman Dr Izani Husin said it had yet to be decided whether the building would be used to house ordinary patients or those suffering from influenza.

The State Health Department came up with the idea of using the building following a rise lately in the number of hospital admissions in the state, partly also due to influenza cases which had exceeded 31,000, he said.

Izani spoke to reporters after launching a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme to clean and beautify Pantai Kundor here. Also present was Federal Department of Town and Country Planning deputy director-general Hassan Yaakob.

Izani advised the people of Kelantan to adopt preventive measures against influenza such as maintaining good personal hygiene and practising a healthy lifestyle.

He also said that the state government would build a road from Kuala Besar to Pantai Kundor to facilitate visitor travel to the beach.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) — On July 26, ahead of the Tenth NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Review Conference that will open on Aug 1, Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Daisaku Ikeda has called on the five nuclear-weapon states to declare that they will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict: the principle of “No First Use”.

Ikeda urges the five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT to give substance to a joint statement made by their leaders on Jan 3, 2022, that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”, by declaring policies of No First Use.

According to a statement, he has proposed three points included in the Final Document of the Review Conference.

The point include that the five nuclear-weapon states pledge to continue to abide by their January Joint Statement, immediately pursuing measures to reduce the risks posed by nuclear weapons in accord with their Article VI nuclear disarmament commitments.

Ikeda, a passionate campaigner for nuclear abolition for over 60 years, also argues that commitment to No First Use would also free resources to protect people from shared threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

During the NPT Review Conference on Aug 4, the SGI will hold a side event promoting No First Use together with other like-minded organisations.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) — The retail price of RON97 will drop by 10 sen from RM4.65 to RM4.55 per litre, while those of RON95 petrol and diesel will remain unchanged for the week from July 28 to Aug 3.

The Finance Ministry in a statement today said the price of RON95 petrol and diesel will remain at RM2.05 per litre and RM2.15 per litre respectively albeit the real market price of the two products had risen beyond the current ceiling price to protect consumers from the global oil price hike.

The ministry added the prices were set based on the weekly retail prices of petroleum products in accordance with the Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM) formula.

“The government will continue to monitor the trends of global crude oil prices and take appropriate measures to ensure the continued welfare and well-being of the people,” it said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) — The Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022 which provides for, among others, the prohibition of smoking, buying or possessing tobacco products or smoking devices by individuals, born in 2007 onwards, was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat today.

According to Section 17 of the proposed act, no person who was born on Jan 1, 2007 onwards shall smoke any tobacco product or substitute tobacco product; use any smoking device; or possess any tobacco product, smoking substance, substitute tobacco product or smoking device.

“Any person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding RM5,000,” it reads.

Individuals born on Jan 1, 2007 onwards who purchase tobacco products, smoking substance and substitute tobacco products or smoking devices may face a fine not exceeding RM5,000, if convicted.

The bill also proposes a ban on the sale of tobacco products, smoking substance or artificial substitute tobacco products to individuals born on Jan 1, 2007 and onwards as well as prohibiting the products from being given as a gift or prize.

Those found guilty of selling any tobacco product, smoking substance, substitute tobacco product or smoking device to individuals who were born before Jan 1, 2007 and are yet to reach 18 years old on the date the act comes into force, are liable to a fine not exceeding RM10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both, upon conviction.

Any person who was born before Jan 1, 2007 and has not reached 18 years old years old on the date the act is enforced, is not allowed to purchase tobacco products, smoking substance, substitute tobacco products or smoking devices.

Those found guilty of committing the offence shall, upon conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding RM1,000.

On the control of the sale of the product, the bill provides for a fine of not more than RM20,000 or imprisonment not more than a year or both against individuals who sell or display tobacco products, smoking substance, substitute tobacco products or smoking devices to those born on Jan 1, 2007 onwards.

Individuals found to have committed a second and subsequent offence of selling and displaying tobacco products to individuals born on Jan 1, 2007 onwards may face a maximum fine of RM30,000 or a jail term of not more than two years or both.

For corporate bodies that commit the offence for the first time, they can be fined not less than RM20,000 and not more than RM100,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years or both.

For the second and subsequent offences, they can be fined not less than RM50,000 and not more than RM300,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years or both.

For enforcement purposes, authorised officers are allowed to open any baggage, package, or any other container and examine tobacco products, smoking substance, substitute tobacco products, smoking devices or their imitations contain therein.

According to the bill, an authorised officer may search and seize without a warrant if he has reasonable grounds to believe that a delay in obtaining a search warrant will adversely affect the investigation.

The bill was tabled by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin who said that the second reading will be done in this current meeting.

Also tabled for first reading in the Dewan Rakyat today was Food (Amendment) Bill 2022.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) — Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) assures that the electricity supply in this country is reliable and stable because supply disruptions can be restored quickly.

TNB president and chief executive officer Datuk Baharin Din said the assurance was proven when power in several areas in Peninsular Malaysia this afternoon was quickly restored by TNB’s technical team following a blackout.

Apart from that, he said the national grid itself has smart features that facilitate the work of tracing and restoring supply.

“We have been able to solve the problem of disruption in a reasonable period, and there are even areas that recovered within 20 minutes after the supply was cut off.

“The restoration of supply could be implemented efficiently as a result of TNB’s continuous investment in modernising the grid including digitising it so that the supply network is more stable, flexible and consistent,” he said in a statement today.

TNB said the electricity supply disruption which occurred in several areas in Peninsular Malaysia from 12.39 pm this afternoon was caused by an equipment failure at Yong Peng North main input substation (PMU) in Yong Peng, Johor.

Referring to the incident, Baharin said the PMU breakdown was an isolated case and did not involve any damage and was fully operational.

“Our ability to restore supply today is due to TNB’s large and continuous investment to upgrade the system with the support of the Energy Commission (ST) and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources,” he said.

Baharin also apologised to all users involved in the supply disruption and said he will conduct a detailed investigation with ST to take preventive measures and improvement efforts.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency