Day: August 3, 2022

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) — The upgrading and repair work for the Parliament building, which was supposed to take only six years, will now take 14 years to complete, taking into account phase 2C(ii) which is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

According to the Auditor General’s Report 2021 Series 1 released today, the performance outcome of the project that started in 2011 also cannot be evaluated as phase 2C(ii), involving the main building and the provision of parking lots, is still in the implementation phase.

“Overall, the management of the project is satisfactory with six phases have been completed and one phase under construction,” it said.

The Audit also found that many changes to the job scope following customer and technical requests had contributed to the increase in the project’s cost ceiling by RM106.10 million (20.4 per cent), from RM520 million to RM626.10 million.

The project’s financial performance also showed that expenses up to Dec 31, 2021, amounted to RM468.45 million (74.8 per cent), compared to the latest allocation of RM626.10 million.

Besides that, several weaknesses in terms of project management, such as value management, procurement and contract management, and governance of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system development in the contract, require attention from the management for improvement actions.

To overcome the weaknesses and ensure no recurrence in the future, the Auditor-General recommended that the Public Works Department (JKR) ensure comprehensive governance and effective monitoring so that the project achieved the set objectives.

In addition, the Parliament and JKR need to ensure the management of ICT system development is referred to the authorised agencies to maintain the need, interest and security of the public sector ICT.

“The Parliament needs to ensure that assets procured are optimally used and are fully utilised,” the report added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUDAT, Aug 3 (Bernama) — The Karakit police station in Pulau Banggi, off Kudat and situated in the northern region of Sabah needs to be upgraded to provide a more conducive working environment for police personnel stationed on the island and to beef up security in and around the island.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said 38 police personnel stationed in Karakit and headed by an Assistant Superintendant of Police (ASP), were finding it difficult to carry out their duties well, due to a lack of facilities.

The building is old and lacks space for the contingent members to carry out their daily duties.

He said since the island had a vast potential to develop into a tourist destination, there was an urgent need to upgrade facilities related to security in and around the island.

“The police quarters especially can only accommodate 12 personnel and that certainly does not provide a conducive environment for the police personnel…furthermore there is a lack of houses that can be rented since most people live in their own property.

“I came to (Pulau Banggi) today to carry out the Outreach Community Policing programme and finalise a working paper to be submitted to the government for the upgrading process,” said Acryl Sani who was accompanied by Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah.

It takes about two hours by boat from Kudat to reach Pulau Banggi which is situated about 185km from Kota Kinabalu.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SHAH ALAM, Aug 3 (Bernama) — The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP) will create a special scheme to help the online entrepreneurial community further stimulate and expand their businesses.

Its Minister, Tan Sri Noh Omar, said the special scheme to be proposed to the government under the upcoming budget would also assist the youth community, in particular, who seemingly tend to gravitate towards online business.

“Based on record (data) from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) during the period from March 1 till Oct 31, 2020, a total of 373,213 entities registered their business with SSM for the online business category.

“Online business is extraordinary and flexible so much so that one can work from home, with government servants capable of achieving income more than their salary. Hence, KUSKOP has aksed all its agencies to provide a special scheme to help online entrepreneurs,” he told reporters after officiating the closing ceremony of the Selangor small traders and hawkers strengthening programme (PPPPK) here, today.

Noh said the special scheme plan would provide the maximum allocation allowed according to the respective agencies under the ministry.

“Priority will be given to more than 2,000 participants who have attended the (PPPPK) programme to become the first batch of recipients for this scheme under the ministry’s agencies,” he said.

The programme which successfully gathered 2,836 hawkers and traders is held over 10 series nationwide and Selangor was selected as the final destination for the event.

Meanwhile, he said, in order to make the ministry’s digital platform, MyMall, as the leading e-commerce provider that is capable of competing with existing platforms, four e-commerce platforms, namely ODELA by SME Bank, Pybli by Pernas, Angsana Virtual Mall by UDA Holdings and WarongKu had merged and were put under MyMall.

He said the ministry acknowledged that to compete with the existing e-commerce platforms is not an easy task, however, he hoped MyMall is able to be on par with them in the future.

“Currently, the response is very encouraging and (the ministry) will strive to attract more online entrepreneurs to join the platform,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

IPOH, Aug 3 (Bernama) – A lorry carrying a load of canned sardines overturned across southbound lanes of the North-South Expressway (PLUS) at KM265.9 around 12.43 today closing the road temporarily to traffic from the Menora Tunnel to Ipoh.

PLUS Malaysia Bhd (PLUS) said on Twitter that traffic was backed up for three kilometres and that travellers heading south were being diverted to the Kuala Kangsar exit.

“A contraflow lane was started from KM267.0 to KM265.1 northbound and traffic is slow,” PLUS said.

Bernama saw ruptured cans of sardines in tomato sauce littering the road which had turned it red and that work to remove the overturned lorry was continuing.

Kuala Kangsar district police chief, ACP Omar Bakhtiar Yaacob, said the road will be reopened after the clean-up and removal is done.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) — The working paper on the living allowance of students sponsored by Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) will be presented to the Cabinet at the end of this month, said Rural Development Minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.

He said the study not only involved the rate of living allowance for students in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan, but also involved students in the country.

He added that the study was considering that many students were affected by the cost of living in the countries concerned, involving electricity, water, gas, public transport and house rental costs.

“In the past, one person could rent a place for (around) £80 (RM433.88) to £120 (RM650.83) a week, (but) now you can’t get that price,” he said when met by reporters after closing the Career in Engineering and Technology Seminar and Exhibition, here today.

In another development, he said the marketability of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates and professionals produced by MARA has reached 94 per cent, thus proving that graduates of the MARA educational institutions (IPMA) have holistic characteristics and high basic skills that meet the needs of industry.

Meanwhile, regarding today’s programme, Mahdzir said more than 1,500 job opportunities in the field of engineering and technology were offered by 10 companies to MARA graduates, with a total of 1,200 graduates having been matched with careers.

He said about 3,000 MARA students and graduates attended the two-day programme to find their career matches.

MARA’s career matching initiative is part of the Keluarga Malaysia Agenda, under the JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia, which focuses on a few main programmes including Malaysia Short-term Employment Programme (MySTEP), and upskilling and re-skilling programmes (Upskill Malaysia).

“The organisation of a programme like this is in line with the government’s efforts to reduce the unemployment rate of Bumiputera graduates, by reducing the problem of mismatch between fields of study and scope of work in industry.

“The government is always committed to providing employment opportunities for graduates, and I believe that MARA’s continuous efforts will ensure that Bumiputera graduates do not drop out, and secure jobs according to their qualifications,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency