Gunung Jerai hit by bush fires

Gunung Jerai hit by bush fires

Gunung Jerai hit by bush fires

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:01 AM PDT

24 March 2014| last updated at 12:16AM

The latest blaze occurred yesterday morning and affected some 15ha near the mountain peak.

Guar Chempedak Fire and Rescue Department chief Abdul Muin Ayob said a team of firemen was dispatched to the scene after being alerted at 8.30am.

"Seven firemen took more than seven hours to control the fire," he said yesterday.

Abdul Muin said firefighters had to use the fire beater technique to put out the fire as water supply could not reach the spot.

He said firemen were in the midst of containing the fire and preventing it from spreading to other areas.

In Perak, the surrounding areas of Gua Tempurung in Gopeng was given a good clean-up by local celebrities in conjunction with "Perak Hijau dan Bersih Bersama Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian (ABPBH) 2013" programme yesterday.

The presence of 14 celebrities and finalists of ABPBH 2013 added a star- studded feel to the programme which was part of Berita Harian's corporate social responsibility programme.

A fireman putting out the bush fire near the peak of Gunung Jerai in Gurun yesterday. Pic courtesy of Fire and Rescue Department

IGP: More strategies to fight crime

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: AS challenges in policing run parallel with time, it is pertinent for the police to come up with strategies to enhance its effectiveness in ensuring the nation's security and public order.

Based on its vast experiences, the force, which is celebrating its 207th anniversary tomorrow, has identified three areas to ensure optimum policing.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, in a special interview in conjunction with the celebration, said the three areas of focus were maintaining public order, combat against crimes and enhancing the force's integrity.

Khalid said they wanted to give better and more effective services to ensure safety and security as well as to gain the public's confidence on the force's commitment.

"We will continue to protect the nation's security through planned initiatives, including community policing programmes, meet-and- greet sessions, as well as 'Kempen 1Aman: Go To Safety Point'.

"These efforts are under our five-year strategic plans, which were formulated based on public security enhancement, and socio-economic and social stability programmes."

The plans to combat crime cases are divided into three areas -- crime prevention and eradication, war against drug abuse problems, and curbing commercial crime cases.

Khalid, who took the helm as the country's top cop last May, said they aimed to further curtail the number of crime cases as well as reducing the people's fear of crime by continuing their successful Op Cantas Khas and mobilisation of special task force on organised crime (Stafoc).

"Op Cantas Khas, launched on Aug 17 last year, has shown great success in curbing triads and gangsterism activities, and it will gain more bite when the newly-passed Crime Prevention Act is gazetted," he said, adding that their new Crime Prevention Department would also continue to plan and execute more crime prevention programmes.

Among Other initiaitves to be continued include the National Blue Ocean Strategy which saw its collaboration with the Armed Forces, Petron petrol station ('Go To Safety Points' programme in all hot spots area), Amanita and meet-and-greet by its motorcycle patrol units.

Khalid said the elite Special Tactical Intelligence Narcotics Group (Sting) had shown great success, seizing about 2,400kg of drugs worth RM118 million and busting three drug labs in Selangor and Penang barely five months after its inception last October.

"We have laid out strategies to better curtail commercial crime cases, following a rise in the number of victims as well as the amount of losses suffered last year compared with the figures in 2012.

"These plans include the introduction of an integrated database system, enhancement of our Cyber Investigation Response Centre (PCIRC), which was recently introduced, as well as an all-out war against Ah Long (loansharks) and credit card counterfeiting syndicates."

He said the new integrated database, established by the force's innovation and creative group, was introduced to aid commercial crime investigators in improving their investigation papers.

The PCIRC, which was set up to investigate and track cyber crime perpetrators, will be enhanced with better equipment as well as training for its officers.

Khalid said integrity was another aspect that played great importance in a policing body, adding that this year would see a bigger wave in the police's all-out campaign against corruption, in collaboration with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Integrity Institute of Malaysia (IIM).

"We have introduced the Integrity and Standard Compliance Department and will soon launch 'Kempen Tolak Rasuah', which will be conducted together with the MACC and IIM. We will collaborate with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to identify and address social disorder problems in the country."

RM28m for export-grade fruit trees

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

24 March 2014| last updated at 12:14AM
By M. HAMZAH JAMALUDIN | hamzah@nst.com.my

RAUB: THE government  has allocated RM28 million to help villagers replant  fruit trees with high-quality saplings that can give high returns.

Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the replanting programme would reduce the fruit trading deficit registered by Malaysia, which was more than RM1 billion annually.

In 2012, he said Malaysia imported RM1.8 billion of fruits while export touched only RM615 million.

"It's quite difficult to achieve a balanced trade as we have to import various types of fruits that cannot be grown locally. We may reduce the deficit by increasing the export to RM1 billion in 2020," he said when launching the national-level replanting aid for selected fruits in Kampung Pamah Rawas in Ulu Dong here yesterday.

Ismail Sabri said 6,000 villagers were expected to benefit from the three-year programme which focused on several types of fruits, including durian and mangosteen. Only the best varieties will be promoted under the scheme, such as "musang king" and D24 for durians, and GA2 or mesta for mangosteens.

Participants with fewere than 5ha of orchards can get between RM1,000 and RM6,000 worth of aid for every hectare, including fertiliser, tools, and basic infrastructure like dirt road and drainage system.

Villagers, who only plant fruit trees around their houses, can get assistance in using the "budding" technique, where a bud from a good variety will be grafted on the existing tree.

They will be given aid from the ministry while waiting for the new buds to grow and bear fruits

Ismail Sabri said a nationwide campaign would be launched soon.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (second from right) getting a taste of Raub's traditional delicacy after launching the programme in Ulu Dong yesterday. Pic by Wan Kemat

Three nations spot debris in Indian Ocean site

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

24 March 2014| last updated at 12:52AM

KUALA LUMPUR: ANOTHER  lead emerged yesterday in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, with French satellite images showing possible debris from the missing Boeing 777 aircraft in the southern Indian Ocean.

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the images were immediately relayed to the Australian rescue co-ordination centre.

The country is leading the search-and-rescue operation (SAR) in the southern Indian Ocean, which is now in its third week.

AFP reported that the French Foreign Ministry said radar echoes from a satellite put the new debris finding about 2,300km from Perth, without giving a direction or a date.

However, it could not be determined whether the images were the same as reported, also by AFP, which said a wooden cargo pallet, along with belts or straps, were spotted on Saturday in a remote stretch of the southern Indian Ocean.

That was recorded as the first visual sighting of debris likely linked to the missing aircraft, which vanished en route to Beijing with 12 crew members and 227 passengers two weeks ago.

As of now, the multinational SAR effort spearheaded by Malaysia had mobilised more assets, including two Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft, two Japanese P3 Orion jets and an Australian defence vessel "Ocean Shield".

"(But) a number of other sorties from Subang airport to the southern corridor were cancelled today due to bad weather caused by tropical cyclone Gillian (in the Indian Ocean)," Hishammuddin said in a statement yesterday.

So far, three countries have detected potential objects in the southern corridor.

"Australia, China and France have now released satellite images that show potential objects, which may be related to MH370, in the vicinity of the southern corridor.

"All this information has been forwarded to Australia, as the lead country in the area of concern."

Chinese satellite images had showed a large floating object -- measuring 22.5m by 13m -- some 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott nevertheless did not place high optimism on the latest finding concerning the wooden cargo pallet, saying that "it was too early to be definite."

Two Chinese Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft which are expected to join the search for MH370 at the Royal Australian Air Force Pearce base in Bullsbrook, near Perth, yesterday. Reuters pic

A Japanese P3-C Orion taking off from the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang yesterday to join the search-and-rescue operation in Australia. Pic by Yazit Razali

Flock of ducks hit aircraft windshield

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

24 March 2014| last updated at 12:50AM

The impact left the southern tip of Runway 02 strewn with broken glass, Nepal's news portal, kantipuronline.com., quoted airport authorities as saying on Saturday.

There was no report of injury on board the Kathmandu-bound MH-144 aircraft from Kuala Lumpur in the incident which occurred at 10.45pm.

The airline's cockpit crew, however, did not immediately inform the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) of the incident.

The flight captain later confirmed "suspected bird-hit", but only after a Jet Airways crew reported it to the airport authority, said the report.

It is understood the MAS pilots might face action for failing to report the incident on time.

"A Jet Airways pilot, who landed minutes after MAS, informed us of sighting pieces of glass on the runway," said an ATC official.

TIA officials found at least 10 dead ducks and pieces of glass on the runway. The debris was cleared and the airport resumed normal operations after 30 minutes.

"It's the first time that we have seen so many ducks in the airport area," said an official, adding that they could be migrating birds.

The airline cancelled a return flight to Kuala Lumpur that was scheduled at 11pm on Friday.

All passengers who were booked on the flight were subsequently transferred to the Soaltee, Annapurna and Hyatt Regency hotels.

The plane took off for the Malaysian capital at 3.30pm on Saturday after necessary repairs.

Meanwhile, the ATC official said the TIA general manager had been notified of the incident, recommending action against the MAS pilots for failing to report the incident on time.

"The pilots should have informed the airport authorities immediately to prevent any untoward incident," said the official.

More than 75 bird strike incidents have occurred at the TIA since 1990. Three resulted in major damage to aircraft.

While a Thai Airways Airbus A300 in 1996 and a Bangladesh Biman DC-10 in 2010 escaped accident, 19 people were killed when Sita Air Dornier crashed in September 2012. Bernama

'Orangutan safe in Sarawak havens'

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

24 March 2014| last updated at 12:33AM

The state's Second Resource Planning and Environment Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said the two orangutan habitats in the state, in Batang Ai in the Sri Aman Division and Sebuyau, had been turned into totally protected areas (TPA).

"Logging and agricultural activities are disallowed in these TPA, and this is totally controlled. In fact, we have even expanded the areas for the orangutan in the TPA.

"As such, any criticism of the orangutan being under any threat is based purely on assumption,"

Awang Tengah said logging and oil palm plantations were confined to areas outside its habitats.

"Under the Sarawak land utilisation policy, the state government had allocated one million hectares as TPA, which included national parks, and six million hectares as permanent forest reserve.

"Altogether, seven million hectares have been allocated for forestry, which is almost 60 per cent of the 12.4 million-hectare acreage of Sarawak." Bernama