IPOH, Oct 20 — The number of flood victims in Perak has gone down to 219 people at noon compared to 241 this morning.

According to a Perak Disaster Management Secretariat spokesman, all the victims from 61 families were still housed at the temporary relief centre (PPS) at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Changkat Jong in Teluk Intan at noon today.

“Meanwhile the PPS in Hulu Perak at Kampung Pengkalan Ikan community hall in Lenggong with four villagers from one family was closed at 9am,” he said in a statement here today.

He said the PPS at Kampung Sungai Klah Baru community hall in Batang Padang district which was sheltering 18 residents from four families from Kampung Sungai Klah Baru, Sungkai was also closed down at noon. — Bernama

SEPANG, Oct 19 ― With the completion of the first third party maintenance job for Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) aircraft, Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) is confident of making its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business great again as it re-enters the market after a hiatus of almost four years.

The national carrier, then widely known as MAS, ceased the MRO operations in 2015, and is now hoping to seize opportunities inherent in the sector and race to be the leading MRO service provider in this region.

Speaking to Bernama recently, Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail said the decision to re-involve in the MRO sector was due to ample opportunities and prospects inherent in the airline industry.

This, he said, was in line with the Malaysia Aerospace Industry Blueprint 2030, in which the government had identified the aerospace industry as one of the strategic sectors with very high growth potential.

“We were very heavily involved in MRO services in the old company, which is MAS. It was a decision made then that we stopped all MRO operations but I felt very strongly that two years ago, this is a very important service that Malaysia Airlines could participate in.

“(This is) especially so in a growing Asia-Pacific region where there’s a lot of aircraft that are being ordered and 40 per cent of the world’s aircraft order is coming to the Asia-Pacific region. This is an opportunity that Malaysia Airlines should take advantage of,” he said.

Izham said for the last two years, Malaysia Airlines’ engineering division had been working very hard to get approval from the regulatory body in order for the team to prepare and be ready to service foreign aircraft.

Sharing the success story on how the team managed to deliver their MRO service for the first foreign aircraft, namely SIA’s jumbo jet A380, Izham said it was a testament to the team’s capabilities.

“The 380 maintenance programme that we have embarked on and been certified is a testament to the trust given to us by SIA and I thanked them for giving us this opportunity. MAG is so happy, we just completed our first foreign aircraft maintenance and repair job on third party airline,” he said.

Izham said the team was in contact with many other airlines for them to bring their aircraft to Malaysia Airlines’ MRO facilities.

Although reluctant to open up on the potential customers, Izham said: “It is in the negotiations stage…domestic and international (airlines). We are positive of (being able) to seal contracts with other foreign aircraft.”

He said the airline industry was very competitive and it was very important for airlines to collaborate not only in code sharing but also in maintenance and repair jobs as well.

“MRO is actually a very high-cost intensive activity. So airlines all over the world look at the best and most efficient way to manage and maintain the planes and Malaysia Airlines’ engineering is one of the engineering facilities in this region that can service the 380 aircraft.

“We, ourselves have done heavy maintenance for our own 380 fleet. We have been doing this for the last six years,” he said, adding the group has two hangars at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) which maintains the airline’s 112 aircraft.

On whether the group has enough space at its hangar to offer third party maintenance services, Izham said the utilisation of the hangar space was taken into account during the planning.

“At the two hangars that we have in KLIA, the total capacity that we are using is probably 60 per cent, so we have about 40 per cent capacity available to do foreign airlines,” he said, adding the MRO service for third party was an opportunity for the group to drive non-passenger revenue.

Malaysia Airlines was once a formidable player in the MRO market, serving more than 100 airline customers at the peak of its operations with several certifications, including from the Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency. ― Bernama

JEJU: Defending champion Brooks Koepka withdrew from the CJ Cup in South Korea before the third round on Saturday citing a knee injury.

“During the course of Friday’s round, I slipped on wet concrete aggravating a previous injury to my left knee,” said the world number one in a statement.

Koepka last month had stem cells injected into a partially torn tendon in his left patella, a knee injury that had been troubling him for months.

“After consulting with my doctor, I have been advised to withdraw from the CJ Cup and head home for further tests,” he said.

“I appreciate everyone’s concerns and support. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more.”

In Friday’s second round, Koepka shot a three-over par 75 to blow his chances of repeating his win of last year at the US PGA Tour’s US$9.75 million tournament in South Korea.

Justin Thomas, the 2017 winner here, led on 13-under par after two rounds with Koepka, on even par, back in a tie for 51st place in the 78-player field.

In his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, Koepka had said there were no issues with his knee following the treatment in early September.

“My knee’s fine, it feels good. It bugged me since March maybe, but everything’s fine now,” Koepka said.

“Did my rehab, my recovery and there shouldn’t be any issues. There might be one more round of stem cells maybe before the end of the year during some off time.

“But other than that, I feel great. My knee feels good. It’s the first time it’s been feeling consistently good in a while.”

The withdrawal of the major drawcard and 2018 winner before the weekend rounds at Nine Bridges Golf Club on the picturesque Jeju Island will come as a blow to the tournament.

McIlroy rivalry 

Koepka is not entered for next week’s inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan, but the injury setback will now cast doubts on his participation in the prestigious WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai the week after, where he was due to lock horns again with world number two Rory McIlroy.

Koepka caused a storm earlier this week when said he did not regard McIlroy as a rival, even though the Northern Irishman won the season-long FedEx Cup and the US PGA Tour Player of the year accolade.

“I’ve been out here for, what, five years. Rory hasn’t won a major since I’ve been on the PGA Tour. So I just don’t view it as a rivalry,” Koepka, who like McIlroy has won four majors, told AFP.

McIlroy’s last major victory came at the 2014 US PGA Championship, while Koepka was still playing on the European Tour.

“I’m not looking at anybody behind me,” said Koepka.

“I’m number one in the world. I’ve got open road in front of me I’m not looking in the rearview mirror, so I don’t see it as a rivalry.”

IPOH, Oct 19 ― The Perak state government is looking at ways to tackle the flood problem in some areas in the state, said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

He said a well-maintained drainage system would help alleviate floods in the state.

“Garbage clogging the drains would make it easier for floods to occur,” he told a press conference after launching the state-level National Environment Day celebration which was participated by about 2,000 people here today.

He said the state government would give higher environment allocation next year. ― Bernama

NANCHANG: Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said on Saturday that China will work with the United States to address each other’s core concerns on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and that stopping the trade war would be good for both sides and the world.

“The two sides have made substantial progress in many fields, laying an important foundation for the signing of a phased agreement,” Liu, also the chief negotiator in the trade talks, told a virtual reality conference in Nanchang, the capital of southeastern Jiangxi province.

“Stopping the escalation of the trade war benefits China, the US and the whole world. It’s what producers and consumers alike are hoping for,” Liu said in a rare public speech about the trade war.

China and the United States reached a limited deal last week toward ending the trade war that has roiled global markets and hammered world growth. Both sides are working toward a written agreement.

China’s third-quarter economic growth slowed to an annual 6.0%, its weakest pace in almost three decades as the bruising trade war hit factory production and investment sentiment.

Liu said on Saturday that China will step up investment in core technologies to accelerate economic restructuring, adding economic prospects remain “very bright”.

“We’re not worried about short-term economic volatility. We have every confidence in our ability to meet macroeconomic targets for the year,” he said.

Liu said improved relations between China and the United States benefited the world.

“Growth in Sino-US economic and trade cooperation is connected to peace, stability and prosperity of the whole world,” he said.

“China and the US can meet each other halfway, based on equality and mutual respect, addressing each other’s core concerns, striving to create a good environment and achieving both sides’ common goals.”

The International Monetary Fund estimated that a tentative trade deal reached by Washington and Beijing last week could reduce the harm done by tit-for-tat tariffs imposed by both countries over the past 15 months.

Instead of dragging global growth down by 0.8%, the impact might be limited to 0.6%, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.