Category: General

GEDONG (Sarawak), July 16 (Bernama) — The third series of the Road To MAHA 2022 programme in Gedong today is a promotional programme for the upcoming Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro Tourism Exhibition (MAHA) 2022 that will be held in six other locations nationwide, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) deputy secretary-general (Development) Datuk Badrul Hisham Mohd.

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

“Today in Gedong we can see many promotional activities for MAHA are being held such as the event held by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) to introduce fruits from the Artocarpus family such as jackfruit, cempedak, breadfruit and nangchem (a cross-breed between jackfruit and cempedak).

“We have also selected nine dishes unique to Sarawak such as Sarawak laksa, bihun belacan, ayam pansuh among others and five Sarawak entrepreneurs to participate in the upcoming MAHA 2022,” he said.

He said this to reporters after attending the National Anti-Drug Day celebration and the ‘Jualan Terus Dari Ladang Keluarga Malaysia’ (JTDLKM) programme in Dataran Gedong, today.

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

Badrul Hisham said for Sarawak, MAFI aimed to collect RM400,000 in sales of the state’s agricultural products.

Meanwhile, FAMA deputy director-general (Development) Datuk Mohamad Mustahapa Awang said the JTDLKM programme managed to record a total sales quantity of 588 metric tonnes involving vegetables, fruits and fish from June 1 until July 10.

He said the special sales programme is held in collaboration with agencies under MAFI namely FAMA, Farmers’ Organisation Authority (LPP), Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM), National Farmers’ Organisation (NAFAS) and National Fishermen’s Association (NEKMAT).

“A total of 8,400 entrepreneurs are involved in the programme with a target sale of RM10.5 million,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) — The new look MySejahtera application now comes with new features by providing the latest information on users’ health status.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in a tweet said the new features are seen as assisting users in monitoring and obtaining more details on their health status.

He said health screening records and the immunisation records of children could also be seen via the application and urged the Malaysian Family to update the application to access the latest features today.

In the same post, Khairy also shared several pictures displaying the new features after being updated with the health details of the user such as height, blood pressure, and body weight.

MySejahtera was launched on April 20, 2020 and functioned as a one-stop application to facilitate users in obtaining information and monitoring COVID-19 when the country was affected by the pandemic earlier.

However, since May 1, the scanning of QR code via MySejahtera to enter premises is no longer compulsory as the nation moves towards the endemic phase.

MySejahtera application can be updated now via Google Playstore for android users and Apple App Store (IOS users).

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry (MOH) in a statement today announced the screening records of users under the National Health Screening Initiative at government clinics would be displayed.

“Under this module, information available is on height, body weight, BMI, blood type, health reports, laboratory test results and vaccination records.

“For those undergoing health screening conducted by agencies such as ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn Bhd (PHCorp) via PeKa B40 programme, Social Security Organisation (Socso) via Health Screening Programme (HSP), National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) and others would be shown soon,” said the statement.

MOH clarified that for those who had health screenings on their own or obtain immunisation jabs at private health facilities, the records of the health screening or immunisation could also be uploaded by the centre.

According to the statement, the immunisation records of newborn babies who had been given the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) injection at health facilities under the National Immunisation Programme could also be viewed in the application.

“The immunisation jabs displayed in MySejahtera are tetanus, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenza, diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTAP), measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and COVID-19,” said the statement.

MOH said members of the public can choose to use MySejahtera to keep the vaccination records of their children as well as using the immunisation record book.

The ministry is also planning for MySejahtera to offer various health services such as health trends, health appointments, teleconsultation, self-health screening input, organ donation, prescription or medication and others.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SHAH ALAM, July 16 (Bernama) — The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) will postpone the implementation of development projects as part of its cost-saving measures in line with the Malaysia Treasury Circular – Guidelines on Public Expenditure Savings, issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Its Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar, however, said entrepreneur development programmes would continue to be implemented as they were part of MEDAC’s main agenda to help the group recover in the current economic condition.

“MEDAC is one of the ministries that receive a small amount of allocation because we don’t have many development programmes. We use the existing agencies (under MEDAC) to help entrepreneurs.

“…the ministry will spend the allocation given to help them (entrepreneurs),” he said after officiating the state-level Malaysia Sports League (MSL) 2022 programme here today.

He was commenting on a local media report yesterday that all ministries, departments, agencies, federal statutory bodies and companies limited by guarantee (CLBG) have been instructed to implement internal austerity measures by optimising their spending so that it could be used for the well-being of the people.

The directive, signed by Treasury secretary-general Datuk Seri Asri Hamidon came into force last Wednesday.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, July 16 (Bernama) — The price of unsubsidised cooking oil is expected to come down within the next two weeks, says Special Task Force on Jihad Against Inflation chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

He said the task force had called on all manufacturers involved, as well as the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) on Tuesday (July 12).

“I am not forcing (them to do so), only at this point time, I want the industry to have a sense of responsibility and not let the government get bogged down with problems because ultimately, it is the companies that determine (the price),” he told reporters after conducting a price survey at Pasar Ketereh, here today.

According to Annuar, who is also Communications and Multimedia Minister, the manufacturers involved had hinted that the price reduction of five to 10 per cent would be done in stages.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) — The National Recovery Council (MPN) will hold a meeting on July 26 to hear the latest report on the COVID-19 situation from the Ministry of Health.

MPN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said another report that would be tabled at the meeting was on the country’s economic management.

He said this after launching the Blood Donation Drive 2022 organised by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Charity Golf Foundation (TSMCGF) at Mid Valley Mega Mall here today.

On the increasing trend in new COVID-19 cases, Muhyiddin said he was confident that so far the situation was under control.

“…we have no problem in logistical operations such as hospital beds and the ability to manage (cases). The past two years have given us enough experience in managing COVID-19,” he said.

He said the National Recovery Plan 2.0 which was being completed by the MPN would take into account the holistic measures that should be taken in relation to the economy as the people were currently burdened with inflation, rising prices of goods and various other issues.

On the two-day blood donation drive, Muhyiddin said it was a collaboration between TSMCGF, National Blood Centre and IGB Real Estate Investment Trust.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) — A total of 19 deaths in police custody have been reported since January this year.

Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) secretary, Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said of the total, nine were deaths in lockups, eight cases involved death at the hospital and two died while being taken to hospital.

She said the death cases were being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Unit on Deaths in Custody (USJKT) under the Bukit Aman Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS) that was established earlier this year (Jan 1, 2022).

“Forteen of the those who died were Malays, Chinese and Indian (one death each), while three cases involved foreigners namely from Myanmar (two cases) and Indonesia (one case),” she said in a statement today.

She added that out of the 19 deaths reported, one case had been charged in court under Section 323 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same law involving four suspects.

“One case has been referred to the coroner and 17 cases are still under investigation,” she said.

Noorsiah said yesterday a meeting was held with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) to discuss the progress of the investigation into the death in custody cases.

According to her, Suhakam, EAIC and representatives of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy (Centhra) had also visited the Shah Alam District Police Headquarters centralised lockup to give them a clear view on how it operates.

She said the collaboration with other agencies was part of PDRM’s efforts to address the issue of deaths in police custody.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

GEORGE TOWN, July 15 (Bernama) — Tourism Malaysia aims to sell 500 to 600 Durian Farm Tour Packages from July 1 to Aug 31, said its director-general Datuk Zainuddin Abdul Wahab.

He said the tour packages are available in the northern states and the ministry has targeted returns of over RM100,000 for tour operators participating in the programme.

“Among the packages on offer are the 2 Days 1 Night Package starting from RM290 per person and the 3 Days 2 Nights Package starting from RM388 per person with a minimum booking of four people each package.

“To boost sales, Tourism Malaysia is also offering a 10 per cent discount to buyers,” he told reporters after officiating at the 2022 Durian Tour Package campaign here today.

He said the programme was aimed at reviving marketing and promotion of domestic tourism apart from helping durian orchard operators and it was also seen to be able to contribute to the local economy.

Zainuddin said to make the campaign a success, Tourism Malaysia had collaborated with five tour operators in developing the tour packages that combined elements of ecotourism, agro-tourism, archeotourism and extreme adventure.

He said the five operators are Kurma Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd, Adventure360 Tours Sdn Bhd, Time Free Vacation Sdn Bhd, M.Maha-Izah Transport and Tours Sdn Bhd and Asia Gateway Tours.

More information on the tour packages can be obtained through the Tourism Malaysia website at www.malaysia.travel.

Zainuddin said the ministry hoped that more tour operators from other parts of the country would also offer such packages.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency