Day: March 1, 2023

ISKANDAR PUTERI, March 1 (Bernama) — Four staff of the Johor Fisheries Department who were reported missing yesterday, were found safe on their boat about one nautical mile off Pulau Kepalajerai, near Batam, Indonesia, this afternoon.

Johor State Maritime director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said all of them were in good health when discovered by the Indonesian National Military (TNI) at 1.45 pm.

He said the staff were the Tanjung Sedili Base fisheries assistant Fatimah Razak, 36; and marine assistants Zaharin Baharudin, 33, Abd Halim Sanip, 52 and Mohd Marzuki Jusoh, 53.

“The boat they were on was believed to have suffered battery damage before drifting into the waters of the country (Indonesia) about 13 nautical miles from their last known location.

“We are in the process of bringing the boat home, which is currently being repaired by the TNI. The staff will be accompanied by the TNI during the handover process in Johor Barat waters today,” he told reporters at the Sungai Pulai Maritime Jetty here, today.

Johor Fisheries Director Zainudin Abd Wahab was also present.

Nurul Hizam at the same time expressed his appreciation to all the agencies involved including the TNI, the Indonesian Consulate General and the Singapore Consulate General, who also helped in the search and rescue (SAR) operation.

He said operation codenamed ‘Op Carilamat’ also officially ended at 2pm this afternoon.

Yesterday, the boat that left from Tanjung Pengelih, Pengerang at about 12.45 pm and scheduled to reach Pangkalan Tampoi, in Johor Bahru, at 6.30 pm, loss contact a few hours into the journey.

Earlier today, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said that the search and rescue (SAR) operation spanning 47 nautical miles was carried out using assets of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, and aided by agencies from Singapore and Indonesia.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

JOHOR BAHRU, March 1 (Bernama) — A total of 89 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates in Johor were stranded and could not sit for their examination at 10.30 am this morning due to the flood situation, said Johor Education, Information and Communication Committee chairman Norlizah Noh.

She said all of them were from eight schools, one in Kulai and seven in Segamat.

“In Segamat, those affected by the floods involved 45 students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tenang Stesen; SMK LTP Pemanis (32); SMK Labis (five people) while the rest were from SMK Bandar Putra, SMK Gemereh, SMK Dato’ Bentara Dalam and SMK Tinggi.

“In addition, there was one student affected from SMK Taman Putri, Kulai,” she said in a statement today.

Norlizah said (due to the flood situation) a total of 127 candidates were forced to board at four examination centres involving SMK Laksamana, SMK Tun Habab, SMK Agama and SMK Bandar in Kota Tinggi.

Meanwhile, Norlizah said another 89 other candidates arrived safely at the examination centres with some of them starting late.

They comprise 34 students of SMK Sungai Tiram and SMK Kota Masai (six), Pasir Gudang; SMK Dato Abdul Rahman Yassin (three), SMK Taman Damansara Aliff (one), SMK Majidi Bahru 2 (two) and SMK Taman Sutera (two) in Johor Bahru.

In Kulai, the students were from SMK Bukit Batu (two), SMK Bandar Tenggara (five); while in Kluang there were four at SMK Seri Kota Paloh, SMK Kahang (three), SMK Seri Perdana (two), SMK Paloh (20), and at SMK Yong Peng, Batu Pahat there were five students.

All students involved are scheduled to sit for their science and physics examinations in the morning and home science in the afternoon.

Floods began to hit Johor last night, involving 2,162 flood victims from 581 families in five districts namely Segamat, Kluang, Kota Tinggi, Johor Bahru and Kulai.

Meanwhile, in SARIKEI, Sarawak, three SPM candidates from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Meradong had to seek help from the Bintangor Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) to get to school today when the road in front of their longhouse was flooded.

They had to use the fire department’s rescue boats from their longhouse Rumah Rabong, Ulu Strass to go to the main road at 7.50 am today.

Bintangor BBP chief Nicholas Belulin in a statement here said that these students comprised a male student and two female students.

Before that, the fire and rescue team also evacuated residents from Rumah Michael, also in the Ulu Strass area which was affected by 1.2 m-high flood waters at 5.56 am.

“The displaced victims consisted of 10 men, six women, three boys, six girls, and a baby who were evacuated using a rescue boat to a nearby longhouse located on higher ground,” he also said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 (Bernama) — The Solid Waste Management and Public Cleaning Corporation (SWCorp) has opened two Drive-thru Recycle Centres (DTRC) here.

SWCorp Federal Territory director Ummi Kalthum Shuib said the one in Jalan Tiong Nam is open every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm while the one in Jalan Bunus 6 is open every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm.

She said another DTRC would be opened in Putrajaya on March 7.

“The public can just go to Google Maps and search for DTRC, surely can find it. In Putrajaya, it will be will opened at the Recycling Innovation Facility (FIKS) and we will rebrand it to DTRC on March 7,” she said as a guest on Radio KPKT (Ministry of Local Government Development), which discussed the topic of DTRC and Mega Recycling Collection Programme today.

She said this was to make it easier for people to recycle garbage via drive-through and be paid in cash directly, in addition to educating the public to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfills.

According to her, the public can play their role by separating plastics, papers, aluminium cans and food waste to facilitate the recycling process.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

MELAKA, March 1 (Bernama) — Two of the 179 slope locations identified in Melaka have been classified as critical landslide hazard sites, namely Ayer Keroh in Melaka Tengah and Tebong in Alor Gajah, if there is heavy rainfall for a prolonged period.

Melaka Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) director Abu Bakar Katain said the two locations are among the disaster areas being monitored by the department, after the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) issued a danger-level continuous rain warning for four states, including Melaka, until tomorrow.

“We are always on the alert during the warning period issued by MetMalaysia, and our preparations include logistics and personnel, with 500 firefighters in the state, to respond quickly to any disaster.

“With the onset of rain starting yesterday, there is a possibility of flooding, but thus far the situation is still under control. No temporary relief centres have been opened and no severe flooding has been reported,” he told reporters after the JBPM annual parade ceremony today.

He said a total of 124 flood-prone locations have been identified, namely 59 areas in Melaka Tengah, Jasin (42) and Alor Gajah (23), while Asahan, Jasin was identified as prone to water surge incidents.

He said that all firemen at the 11 fire stations statewide have been directed to conduct patrols in their respective areas from time to time, and report to him about the situation.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, March 1 (Bernama) — The Ministry of Local Government Development (KPKT) has identified 437 sick projects from a total of 3,138 private housing projects as of Jan 31, this year.

In a statement today, the ministry said this was an increase from the 384 housing projects classified as ‘sick” as of Dec 31, last year.

“It is expected that the number of sick private housing projects will increase to 101 projects, bringing the total number of sick projects to 538 projects by Dec 31, 2023,” KPKT said.

KPKT said the number of private housing projects classified as ‘delayed’ is expected to increase by 188 projects this year, bringing the total number to 354 projects.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

JERTIH, March 1 (Bernama) — Work on the construction of power stations that can provide electricity supply for 24 hours in Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Redang is expected to start in April.

The completion of the project will end a 20-year wait for the people living in the islands and those involved in the tourism industry to enjoy electricity supply for 24 hours.

Terengganu TNB general manager Ir Mohamad Mohyddin Mohamed Nor said the electricity utility provider has been busy preparing the necessary requirements to implement the project, including meeting the tourism industry players in both islands.

“Meetings with chalet owners and local councils has been progressing well to ensure the Green Energy Island project will progress smoothly. The power station that will use the green technology concept, (that is to use solar power) through facilities that will be built in the island,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after handing contributions and school items to about 200 students who were affected by floods here, at Dewan Majlis Daerah Besut, Gong Kemuntong, here today.

Mohamad Mohyddin said the construction of the power stations will be carried out through an allocation of RM200 million that was approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, in July last year.

“I can say that once completed, the island will become the first in the world to be equipped with facilities to supply electricity using green technology and that can be used by tourism industry players to attract tourists.

“The project which is expected to be completed fully in 2025 will benefit about 600 domestic users, 70 hotels, resorts and chalets plus 47 commercial users based in both the islands,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PASIR GUDANG, March 1 (Bernama) — An elderly woman who has just returned from performing the umrah two weeks ago, faced anxious moments when her home in Kampung Sentosa Damai, Masai, here, was inundated by floodwaters on Monday.

Selamah Selamat, 64, said the disaster was the first this year, after the village experienced severe flooding two years ago.

She said, fortunately, her family managed to move their important documents and household items including electrical appliances as well as souvenirs from the Holy Land, bought for relatives and friends to a safe place.

“The rain hasn’t stopped for the past two days, causing water in the nearby ditch to rise.

“I also heard a loud noise that sounded like an explosion from the lower part of my house. The water rose very fast, resulting in my bedroom being flooded up to two feet,” she told reporters when met at a relief centre at Dewan Muafakat Kampung Cahaya Baru, here today.

Selamah who returned from the Holy Land on Feb 14, said she and her family who were evacuated to the relief centre yesterday, had been advised by the authorities to wait a few days because the water level in Sungai Kong Kong was still high and the rain has not stopped.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency