Author: malaysiang

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Feb 10 (Bernama) — Penang Zakat (ZPP) has recorded RM150.14 million in zakat or tithe collection last year, compared with RM147.23 million in 2021, an increase of 1.97 per cent.

The Penang Islamic Religious Council (MAINPP) president Datuk Ir Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman said the total amount included the property and personal tithes collection.

“ZPP recorded a good performance in managing the collection and distribution of zakat in 2022. A total of RM155.18 million was distributed throughout last year, which is an increase of 9.11 per cent compared with the distribution in 2021, which is RM142.22 million.

“The amount of distribution last year actually exceeded the collection of this ZPP, because the surplus from 2021 was carried over to last year and distributed to the needy. I would like to thank all the zakat payers in Penang for their support,” he said at a press conference, here today, which was also attended by ZPP chief executive officer Datuk Amran Azali.

Ahmad Zakiyuddin said that property tithe collection last year was RM143.55 million, a 2.76 per cent increase, compared with 141.21 million in 2021, while personal tithe collection last year was RM6.6 million, compared with RM6.02 million in 2021, an increase of 9.5 per cent.

Ahmad Zakiyuddin, who is also Deputy Chief Minister I, said starting in January, ZPP also improved three zakat distribution schemes through a new adjustment of the consolation amount rate, which is between RM100 and RM700, according to the schemes.

Meanwhile, he said MAINPP, through the ZPP Humanitarian Aid Fund, will contribute RM250,000 to help earthquake victims in Turkiye.

He said that a special donation collection fund will also be launched for the same purpose in all mosques statewide for two Fridays, on Feb 17 and 24.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KAMPAR, Feb 10 (Bernama) — Several residents of Taman Chenderong Jaya, Batu Gajah who were forced to leave their homes due to a landslide risk said they heard earth movement sounds from a nearby hill before being instructed to evacuate.

Senior citizen, Latifa Ahmad, 66, said it was the first time such an incident had occurred after four years of living in the area, and she feared for the residents’ safety.

“Before this, there were minor incidents, and the authorities had installed retaining walls. However, the latest incident was quite bad because the movement was from the top,” she told Bernama when met at the temporary relief centre in Dewan Serbaguna Tanjung Tualang here.

Her neighbour, Kamarullah Ramli, 39, who has been living there for over 10 years, said the housing area was often hit by flash floods, but this was the first time it faced a landslide risk.

“I was working when I was informed by my neighbours about this landslide risk yesterday. This area is prone to flash floods, and I think the landslide risk was also caused by incessant heavy rain last night,” he said.

The three are among 28 residents from six families evacuated to the relief centre, which was opened at 10.40 pm yesterday.

The relevant agencies are monitoring the location, and no casualties have been reported so far.

A Bernama check in the area found that the authorities have cordoned off the affected area, and an investigation is underway to identify the cause of the incident.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

JAKARTA, Feb 10 (Bernama) — Malaysia’s joint mission with Indonesia to the European Union (EU) to deal with the bloc’s restrictions on the entry of various commodity products will be carried out in May, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Fadillah who is also the Plantation and Commodities Minister said Malaysia will inform the EU about the reforestation programme and Malaysia’s Forestry Policy which includes sustainable forest management, conservation and biodiversity protection.

“In Malaysia we already have a policy not to open new forests other than what has been designated,” he told the media after holding a meeting with Indonesia’s Trade Minister Dr Zulkifli Hasan here.

He said the replanting of forest species in the ‘community farming’ programme in Malaysia is actively under way.

Both also discussed the role of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) to bring the issue of discriminatory trade barriers against palm oil and rubber producing countries to the Asean level.

Reportedly, seven commodities namely palm oil, cattle, wood, soy, cocoa, coffee, and rubber, that were cultivated or reared on land that was subject to deforestation or forest degradation will be prohibited from entering the EU market once the legislation is approved by the European Parliament.

Other matters discussed included increasing cooperation in research and development (R&D) and marketing Malaysian products such as seismic rubber bearing technology for use in areas that are often hit by earthquakes as well as the threat of defoliation disease on rubber trees (pestalotiopsis).

Fadillah was also informed by Zulkifli about the ‘Border Trade Agreement’ and ‘Border Crossing Agreement’ between Indonesia and Malaysia which will be concluded soon.

He believes the agreement will facilitate cross-border trade between Indonesia and Malaysia, especially Sabah and Sarawak, as well as facilitate the entry of human resources from Indonesia in the oil palm sector in Sarawak.

Sarawak now exports electricity generated from hydroelectric dams to West Kalimantan and has been given the opportunity to build a hydroelectric dam in East Kalimantan, he said.

Meanwhile, Fadillah said Malaysia will host the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) Ministerial Meeting in June.

The meeting involving the main natural rubber producing countries — Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand — will be preceded by technical committee level discussions in February, he said.

The CPOPC ministerial meeting will be held in May, of which Malaysia is the chairman this year.

Fadillah and his delegation are in Jakarta in conjunction with a three-day working visit ending today.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) — Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is accelerating its responsible energy transition (ET) agenda through three proposed collaborations with major energy players in Thailand to capitalise on regional demand and potential for greener power in Asean.

Through the partnerships, TNB aspires to strengthen Asean power interconnections and enable the various partners to leverage each other’s resources and develop the related regional infrastructure for renewable energy (RE), the electricity provider said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

TNB said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to set up a joint working committee to study the feasibility of a proposed enhancement of the interconnection capacity between Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand.

Additionally, its two subsidiaries, namely TNB Renewables Sdn Bhd (TRe) and TNB Power Generation Sdn Bhd (Genco) have signed MoUs respectively with Planet Utility Co Ltd (PU) and B.Grimm Power Public Co Ltd (B.Grimm).

The utility giant said the TRe-PU MoU is for exploring potential RE and power generation technologies opportunities in Thailand while the Genco-B.Grimm MoU is for exploring any opportunities for collaborations, participation and development of RE power projects in the Southeast Asia Region.

It said the MoU with PU entails evaluating strategic options for potential RE investment in floating solar, solar rooftop and ground-mounted solar projects in Thailand, which will contribute positively to TRe business growth and market expansion.

“The partnership is intended to capitalise on both parties’ strengths in RE project investment and development as well as explore other opportunities within the region,” it added.

As for the MoU with B.Grimm, Genco among others intends to collaborate, co-develop and invest in mutually selected sustainable greenfield and brownfield power projects of B.Grimm Power within the Southeast Asian region, TNB said.

“Embarking on these projects will support Genco’s growth and environmental, social and governance target in line with TNB’s aspirations to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050,” it said.

TNB president and chief executive officer Datuk Baharin Din said these collaborations are strategic steps to realise key milestones in the company’s responsible ET plan and overall sustainability pathway commitment.

“With the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) projection of more than 60 per cent of installed generation in 2050 for Asean countries coming from RE, this translates to at least 1,500 gigawatts of generation capacity, in which TNB hopes to extend our participation,” he added.

The three TNB MoUs were signed and exchanged in the presence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was on a two-day official visit to Thailand.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PAPAR, Feb 10 (Bernama) — The Kampung Kogopon Phase 2 water treatment plant upgrade is expected to begin in the second quarter this year, Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said.

The Papar MP said that the project was currently in the last stage of assessment for tender, involves an allocation of RM379 million and will boost the plant’s production from 40 million litres a day to 80 million.

The completion of the plant will resolve water issues around Papar, especially in the Kinarut area, which has been plagued by serious water disruptions.

“The tender assessment will be sent to the tender board at the Sabah Finance Ministry level in the near future and it is a project with allocation via federal loans.

“Therefore, we hope all processes, up till the selection of contractor, can be implemented smoothly,” he told reporters after visiting the water treatment plan and listening to a briefing here today.

Armizan said the project is expected to be completed in 2026 if everything goes as scheduled, adding that the district officer has also been informed to include the project schedule in the district action council agenda so that it could be monitored till completion.

“What we want is for this project to be really completed by 2026….we don’t want the people to be burdened because of this issue,” he said, and he expressed his hope that the government would make this project an example in the implementation of projects.

“Actually, this project has been approved in 2012, but the pre-implementation took more than 10 years, causing several problems to occur. The first problem was a small problem that grew bigger and the people were forced to wait a long time for things to be resolved.

“The second issue is allocation. Actually the project’s allocation is only RM312 million, but it had to be raised by 25 per cent, an additional RM67 million. I don’t blame any party, but this matter has to be a reference for other projects,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency