Category: Legal

SHAH ALAM, Aug 1 (Bernama) — The Selangor Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) will conduct further investigations to identify the cause of death and parties responsible for the fatal accident of a male worker who was hit by an iron billet that was lifted by an overhead travelling crane (OTC) last Friday.

In a statement today, Selangor DOSH said the accident involving the 51-year-old local worker happened at about 10 am, at a metal manufacturing factory located in Jalan Waja Bukit Raja Industrial Estate in Klang.

The department said a team of investigating officers was ordered to conduct an investigation, immediately after receiving news about the incident.

“From the preliminary investigation carried out, Selangor DOSH found that the victim was carrying out tundish (valve) maintenance work located on the OTC route in the scrap section.

“However, after placing the iron billet in the scrap section that was lifted from the loading area, the OTC operator then realised that the victim was lying in the area,” he said.

According to the department, when discovered, the victim was seriously injured and was confirmed dead at the scene by medical personnel.

Following that, Selangor DOSH issued a Prohibition of Disturbance at the incident scene to the employer and an Immediate Prohibition Notice was also issued to stop lifting works using OTC as well as a Repair Notice to conduct safe work procedures for machinery maintenance.

“Selangor DOSH will take legal action against the responsible party if there is a violation under the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, July 7 (Bernama) — Federal Territory of Labuan-born Senator Datuk Bashir Alias has been appointed as Labuan Corporation chairman for a period of two years, effective July 1, 2022.

He takes over from Datuk Seri Amir Hussien, whose term ended last June 30 and he was then appointed as Labuan Corporation Advisory Council chairman for the same period.

With his wide experience and leadership qualities, Bashir will be able to improve Labuan’s economic ecosystem so that the island’s existing industries will continue to grow and remain competitive,” said Federal Territories Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim at the handing-out of Bashir and Amir’s appointment letters at Menara Seri Wilayah, here, today.

Shahidan believes that Amir will be able to advise Labuan Corporation to ensure an improved service delivery system for the people as a local authority.

The appointment was made under Section 5 (1) (a) of the Labuan Corporation Act 2001 (Act 609). Labuan Corporation was the result of combining two main agencies, namely, Labuan Development Authority and Labuan Municipal Council. It was established on July 1, 2001.

At a separate ceremony, Shahidan handed over a contribution of RM314,000 from Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) including for the purchase of 52 cows for distribution to 13 parliamentary constituencies in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidiladha Korban Perdana Programme.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

ANKARA, July 7 (Bernama) — Malaysian and Turkish officials from both the government and private sectors Thursday signed seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in various fields in the presence of the two countries’ leaders.

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his host President Recep Tayyip Erdogan witnessed the signing at the Presidential Palace here, paving the way for further cooperation and sharing of knowledge in the fields of science, defence, technology and academy.

The MoUs were signed in conjunction with the official visit by Ismail Sabri, who arrived in the republic Tuesday.

Among the signatories were the Health Ministries of both countries; Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Multimedia with the Directorate of Communications of Turkiye; Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) with the Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkiye (Tübitak).

MIGHT also signed an MoU with the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), followed by SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd with TÜYAR Mikroelektronik A.S; MA Analytics Sdn Bhd with Makina Kimya Endustrisi Kurumu (MKE) and NS Corporation with TAI.

TAI and MIGHT are in collaboration to facilitate the transfer of relevant aerospace technology, knowledge and know-how to Malaysia, capitalising on Turkiye and TAI’s 50 years’ experience in the aerospace industry.

The technology transfer will assist Malaysia to migrate from Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul activity into a full production capacity with the aim of making Malaysia an OEM country emulating the technology evolution process that Turkey has successfully gone through.

In a similar field, TAI and NS Corporation will collaborate on the development of NS Aerospace Valley (NSAV) and Unmanned Vehicle Valley (UVV) in Negeri Sembilan.

The UVV will house the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) manufacturing plant.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) — The media have an important role to play in ensuring that any news with potential to spark tensions is presented in the right context, said Shahril Sufian Hamdan, the Economic Director in the Prime Minister’s Office.

He said organisations like the Malaysian-Indonesian Journalists’ Association (Iswami) are in a special position to strengthen this task by serving as a channel of diplomacy for the people and media of the two countries.

“I believe it is with this realisation that our Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) last month announced the approval of a RM1 million allocation to ensure Iswami (Malaysia) can implement activities to strengthen the long-established ties between the media of Malaysia and Indonesia as well as other neighbouring countries.

“The allocation given is seen as capable of helping Iswami in planning cooperation programmes for the media of the two countries. The special cooperation between Malaysia and Indonesia must be constantly strengthened to a level that can truly realise its potential and keep it relevant to current challenges,” he said.

He was speaking at a dinner held by the Economic Director of the Prime Minister’s Office for an Indonesian media delegation here tonight.

Also present were Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) acting chief executive officer Roslan Ariffin, Iswami advisor Datuk Zakaria Abdul Wahab and Iswami Malaysia president Datuk Mokhtar Hussain.

Meanwhile, in his welcoming speech, Roslan said Bernama will continue to organise the National Journalists Day (HAWANA) celebration on May 29, 2023 with the support of other media, adding that media friends from Indonesia were definitely on the guest list.

He said the invitation was on the basis of solidarity and it was only appropriate that this comradeship be celebrated as all journalists take on a similar role.

“The most important role is for our motherland, which means Indonesian journalists take care of Indonesia, Malaysian journalists take care of Malaysia.

“In actual fact, many conflicts, issues can be resolved at the negotiating table by both nations, not on leaders’ or ministers’ tables but on the media table itself as sometimes these conflicts can be petty but get amplified by the media for sensationalism,” he said.

The Indonesian media delegation is in Malaysia as part of a four-day programme organised by Iswami Malaysia beginning June 28.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) — The Organisational Anti-Corruption Plan (OACP) 2022-2024 launched by the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) today is a guide for the agency to support efforts to strengthen governance, integrity and anti-corruption measures, its chief executive Ahmad Dasuki Abdul Majid said.

He said the anti-corruption plan, which outlined three priority areas, featured five strategic objectives and 12 action plans in total.

“Each action plan set has taken into account the need to enhance integrity, strengthen governance and empower anti-corruption efforts.

“The plan is also drafted comprehensively by looking at the issues and challenges faced by PTPTN,” he said in a statement here today.

The launch of the PTPTN OACP 2022-2024, which is the main anti-corruption policy document at the organisational level, was officiated by Ahmad Dasuki at Menara PTPTN here.

The event was also attended by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Assistant Commissioner (Inspection and Consultancy Division) Mohd Syahrul Ridzuan Yahaya.

PTPTN’s OACP was launched in line with Initiative 2.1.5. of the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023 under the 2nd Strategy, namely strengthening service delivery efficiency, by requiring the public sector to develop an anti-corruption plan at their respective organisations.

Ahmad Dasuki said as an agency under the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE), PTPTN was always committed to supporting the government’s aspiration to create an environment that is always free from corruption and abuse of power that can jeopardise the organisation’s image.

He said the launch of PTPTN’s OACP is also a continuation of the launch of MOHE’s OACP by ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Abdul Razak Jaafar on June 1.

To ensure the plan’s success, he said the monitoring and evaluation aspects will be implemented by the PTPTN OACP Implementation and Monitoring Committee to oversee its performance until 2024.

Ahmad Dasuki said improvements in human resource management, administration, finance, comprehensive use of technology systems, monitoring and strengthening of work processes will continue to be given serious attention.

“PTPTN hopes that the OACP to be developed over a period of three years can be appreciated and used as a comprehensive and inclusive reference for all PTPTN employees.

“In turn, it will further increase integrity, efficiency and further enhance trust and confidence of clients for the services provided by PTPTN,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, June 27 (Bernama) — The government is willing to bear the projected huge subsidy totalling RM77.3 billion for this year towards stabilising the prices of goods and avoiding high inflation rates of up to 11.4 per cent, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said the government had a choice of removing subsidies and strengthening the country’s finances to a better level, but it chose to bear the subsidies instead for the welfare and well-being of the people.

Mustapa said the announcement on June 24 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob of no increase in the water and electricity tariffs, and the chicken price not being floated showed the government’s caring side and commitment to maintaining the subsidies.

Referring to the projected consumer subsidy expenditure amounting to RM77.3 billion for 2022, he said RM51 billion of it made up the biggest component of fuel, cooking oil, electricity, water, chicken and egg subsidies whereby the government played an important role in stabilising the prices of goods in the market.

“Without these subsidies (RM51 billion), the inflation rate of 2.8 per cent in May 2022 could have been 11.4 per cent. This shows the role of the subsidies given by the government in stabilising prices in this country,” he told the media after launching the Statistics Data Warehouse (StatsDW) 2.0, here, today.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Aziz had on June 25, said the total subsidies of RM77.3 billion included for petrol, diesel and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) amounting to RM37.3 billion and cooking oil (RM4 billion) and various forms of aid including the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) (RM11.7 billion), as well as other subsidies (RM14.6 billion).

“Without subsidies, surely the government’s financial position is better but the government has taken into consideration the needs of the people, hence it spends on subsidies for the people’s well-being and to help lessen their burden,” said Mustapa.

Meanwhile, he did not dismiss the possibility of the biggest sum of subsidy ever given having an impact on the country’s fiscal deficit and the government needed to look into cost-saving measures as well.

“Certainly, subsidies will put pressure on national expenditure, hence the government should look into cost-saving measures with regard to management and development expenditure to ensure that the government’s financial position remains strong,” he said.

Asked whether the government would postpone the implementation of mega projects to save costs, Mustapa said although there was no final decision on this yet, there was the emphasis on saving expenditure following the global economic crisis.

“The government has not decided yet on whether to postpone the implementation of mega projects in view of the situation being rather dynamic and changing from time to time,” he said in reference to the high oil market price and the uncertain Ukraine-Russia geopolitical crisis.

The management expenditure is the government’s current or repetitive expenditure in managing and administering the country while the development expenditure is for spurring the country’s socioeconomic growth such as building schools and other infrastructure.

Earlier, in his speech, Mustapa said the need to store data in a single warehouse had become increasingly important in facing global issues such as food security and inflation rates, with the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) having a role of translating and presenting the related statistics.

“With the provision of various statistics in the StatsDW DOSM, data analyses can be done accurately and efficiently,” he added at the event with the chief statistician, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin also present.

StatsDW 2.0 is a continuation and improvement of StatsDW that was launched in 2016, a solution for data overflow from various sources, besides encouraging the sharing of data among the various agencies in the public sector.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, The government agreed to re-establish the Syariah Courts Empowerment Committee (JKMMS) and appoint 12 eminent figures as members of the committee.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Datuk Idris Ahmad said the move was taken to empower and uphold the syariah judicial system holistically in line with the position of Islam in the Federal Constitution.

He said Tan Sri Othman Mustapha, former director-general of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim), was appointed as the chairman of the committee, which was first established in 2017.

“The government is very confident that his vast experience in the administration of Islamic affairs will help the government’s efforts to strengthen the syariah judicial institution,” he said in a statement today.

Other eminent figures include Solicitor-General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, Director-General of Public Service Datuk Seri Mohd Shafiq Abdullah, Director-General of the Syariah Judiciary Department Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar and incumbent of the Institution of Malay Rulers Chair at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Prof Datuk Dr Shamrahayu Ab Aziz.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency