External News

KOTA BELUD, Oct 27 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal hopes Budget 2020 allocation for education in Sabah will be channelled early next year.

He said budget allocation would usually come in the second half of the year.

“I think it will be much better if the allocation could reach the ground (schools) sooner, possibly in February, March or April.

“At least we can realise some of the urgent initiatives planned, I mean we are talking about poor schools” he told the media after attending the “Tamu Besar Kota Belud”, here today.

Mohd Shafie said in Sabah, more than 500 poor schools have to share buildings between primary and secondary schools.

Also present at the event were the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and his wife Toh Puan Norlidah R.M. Jasni, and state ministers.

Earlier Mohd Shafie also announced an allocation RM200,000 for next year’s Tamu Besar Kota Belud.

He said the sum would enable facilities in the tamu area to be upgraded to attract more visitors apart from expanding exhibition site.

“We are increasing the allocation as needed by the organisers from RM50,000 previously,” he said. — Bernama

LAHAD DATU: Satu mayat ditemui di Laut Mataking, Semporna, hari ini disyaki seorang daripada tujuh mangsa yang dilaporkan hilang selepas bot dinaiki mereka dipercayai karam pada Khamis lalu.

Komander Pasukan Polis Marin (PPM) Wilayah 4 Sabah, Mohamad Pajeri Ali berkata, mayat yang belum diketahui jantina itu ditemui orang awam yang memaklumkan anggota bertugas Pasukan Gerakan Am (PGA).

“Saya percaya mayat yang ditemui ini ada hubungan atau berkaitan tujuh mangsa hilang itu.

“Kita percaya mayat ini dihanyutkan mengikut arus laut, kalau kita lihat mangsa pertama yang ditemui berada laluan arus tidak menentu,” katanya ketika ditemui di sini, hari ini.

Bagaimanapun, beliau berkata, pihaknya masih cuba mendapatkan status mayat berkenaan.

“Mayat sekarang berada di Pos PGA Mataking dan anggota PPM Semporna serta polis Bahagian Siasatan Jenayah Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Semporna berada di pos berkenaan,” katanya.

Dalam pada itu, Pajeri berkata, radius pencarian akan diperluaskan mengikut keperluan.

“Operasi mencari dan menyelamat (SAR) mangsa hilang dijalankan untuk tempoh seminggu.”

Semalam, media melaporkan seorang lelaki selamat di perairan Merabung, manakala seorang wanita ditemui lemas di perairan Bangingod, Tungku, dekat sini. Tujuh individu yang masih hilang dikhuatiri lemas selepas bot yang dinaiki sembilan warga Fillipina itu dipercayai karam.

SUBANG JAYA: The 20 sen plastic bag charge, which currently applies to most permanent business premises, will be extended to all types of business premises from 2022.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the charge will apply to all permanent business premises by the end of 2021, and extended to all types of business premises from
2022.

She said this was among the key initiatives under the Roadmap Towards Zero Single-Use Plastics 2018-2030, which includes a no-straw-by-default practice that encourages users to drink directly from a cup or a glass.

“The imposition of the plastic bag charge and the no-straw-by-default practice are part of the government’s initiatives to prevent consumers from using single-use plastics.

“At the same time, consumers are encouraged to make more eco-friendly decisions by bringing reusable bags when shopping, and drinking without using a straw,” she said when launching a “Love for Environment” campaign here today.

Wan Azizah commended the effort by the Penang government to use revenue from the plastic bag charge to conserve the environment, saying it should be emulated by other states.

The government had introduced No Plastic Bag Day on every Saturday since Jan 1, 2011.

Several states, such as Selangor, Penang, Melaka, Perlis, Perak, Terengganu, Kelantan and Sarawak have adopted this initiative.

The Federal Territories, Kedah, Penang and Selangor have also implemented the Straws on Request campaign, and from Jan 1 next year, plastic straws will also be banned in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.

LARUT, Oct 26 — Occupants of 50 houses in Kampung Teras, Ijok, Batu Kurau near here are advised to move out to avoid the risk of landslides.

Without divulging the number of villagers involved, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the residential area was experiencing soil movements especially during the current rainy season.

‘‘It is not mandatory (to move out) but they are advised to do so maybe for a week until the safety study is completed to ensure the area is safe from landslides.

‘‘The state government will find ways to help them move out. We may find ways for them to use government facilities if they have no relatives to accommodate them or places to stay,’’ he told reporters today.

He was met after visiting the landslide area in Kampung Teras yesterday which killed a senior citizen after his home was hit by landslide.

In addition, Ahmad Faizal also advised road users not to travel on the Jalan Rantau Panjang-LataTinggi Road in the village which had collapsed yesterday, but to use available alternative routes.

‘‘Road users are urged to comply with the directives of the Public Works Department (PWD), this road is very important to the village residents,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Perak PWD director Roslan Ghani said his department detected soil movement in the area since several days ago due to the incessant rain currently.

‘‘The soil movements have been detected since Thursday. The contractor has entered the area and planned to close the road today when a soil movement occurred for 200 metres resulting in a landslide which hit three houses,’’ he said, adding the process to repair the road was expected to take three months. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — Traffic was reported to be slow moving in almost all stretches of the North-South Expressway as at 1pm today, as people flocked to return to their hometown for a long holiday in conjunction with Deepavali tomorrow.

According to a spokesman for PLUS Malaysia Berhad, the slow traffic was due to the high volume of cars as well as heavy rains at several locations.

He said in the north, traffic was moving slowly from Perai to Seberang Jaya, Bandar Cassia to Bukit Tambun (North), Bandar Cassia to Jawi and Bandar Baharu to Jawi.

“Traffic is also moving slowly from Tapah to Gopeng, Slim River to Sungkai, Rawang (South) to Bukit Beruntung, Lembah Beringin to Tanjung Malim, and Bukit Lanjan to Kota Damansara as well as Southville City to Seremban (South) rest area.

“In the south, traffic is moving slowly from Seremban to Senawang (South) rest area, Ayer Keroh to Jasin, Tangkak to Jasin, Yong Peng (North) to Pagoh, Kulai to Sedenak, Skudai to Senai and Pasir Gudang to Dato’ Onn intersection,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) said traffic was also reported to be slow and congested from Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) to the Gombak Toll Plaza.

However, he added that the traffic flow on the East Coast Expressway (LPT) 1 and LPT 2 was still smooth.

The public can obtain the latest information on the traffic situation by contacting the toll-free PLUSline at 1800-88-0000 or from the Twitter account at www.twitter.com/plustrafik and the LLM line at 1800-88-7752 or Twitter account at www.twitter.com/llminfotrafik. — Bernama