Diesel worth RM58m seized

Diesel worth RM58m seized

Diesel worth RM58m seized

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 09:01 AM PDT

09 June 2014| last updated at 12:53AM
By A. AZIM IDRIS | news@nst.com.my

 PUTRAJAYA: THE Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry seized  9.1 million litres of diesel worth RM58 million since mounting "Operasi Diesel Selatan" in the southern states.

Its minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek said 12 vessels were impounded, adding that smuggling activities were rampant in the Sungai Rengit, Kota Tinggi and Pasir Gudang waters.

"There has been a spike in the diesel seized. We have intensified operations to focus on industrial and border areas," he said after the ministry's Family Day at Putrajaya Equestrian club, here, yesterday.

He said the raids last month were conducted in a joint operation involving the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, police, a special taskforce from the Attorney-General's Chambers and others.

Hasan said between Wednesday and Friday last week, three ships -- two locally registered and the other Mongolian registered -- were seized in two separate raids.

On Wednesday, the Mongolian ship, containing 76,800 litres of diesel, was impounded with the assistance of the Lombong Pasir Modus jetty marine police in Sungai Kota Tinggi, Johor.

The two other ships, containing 238,610 litres and 310,000 litres of diesel respectively, were seized at Kuala Sungai Kong Kong, Pasir Gudang. Six lorries and a truck, valued at RM3.2 million, were impounded in the three cases.

Hasan said the checks by the enforcement officers found that syndicates transferred subsidised fuel at private jetties using small tankers which then transferred the fuel to tankers in the southern waters.

Enforcement officers checking a tank with 2.1 million litres of smuggled fuel on a ship seized in waters off Johor last month. Pic by Roslan Khamis

Bestselling contraband

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 09:01 AM PDT

09 June 2014| last updated at 12:22AM
By ELVINA FERNANDEZ | elvina@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: THE Health Ministry has warned that smoking illicit clove cigarettes, or kretek,    is   an offence for a number of reasons, besides being  dangerous to one's health.

Possessing illicit cigarettes alone is an offence, but owning contraband kretek is especially so, as they also come in packs of less than 20 sticks, which is illegal in Malaysia.

Smuggled kretek pose a danger because there are no controls over their contents, which are subject to regulation in the country.

Thus, they can have higher levels of tar and nicotine, besides other chemicals normally found in cigarettes and those not usually found in tobacco products.

Contraband kretek may also be contaminated by other chemicals or non-tobacco products, which may have been smuggled in with them, said the ministry's Disease Control Division director, Dr Chong Chee Keong.

He said illicit kretek had unregulated substances and those who smoked it could be fined.

"It is an offence for anyone to sell, offer, buy or have in his possession any illicit cigarette," he told the New Straits Times.

Dr Chong said this was a new regulation that came into force under regulation 15(4A) of the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004.

"Illicit kretek do not comply with the minimum price per pack and minimum number of sticks allowed to be sold in a pack, which is 20 sticks."

Among the most popular contraband cigarettes are kretek from brands like Gudang Garam, Surya and Nusantara, which are smuggled into the country regularly.

These illicit kretek have a tar level that go through the roof at 40mg per stick, which is way above the ministry's recommended tar-level ceiling of 15mg per stick.

The packs have no pictorial health warnings on them and do not comply with the law, as they are sold in packs of 12 or 16 sticks.

It is said that the higher tar and nicotine levels in illicit kretek make them more addictive, making it difficult for those who smoke them to kick the habit.

Some of the illicit kretek and cigarettes seized in Pekan Nenas, Johor, under Op Outlet recently. Pic by Zulkarnain Ahmad Tajuddin

KHAZANAH WINS INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARD

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT

Team Blitz from Khazanah Nasional Berhad's corporate and support services division, was one of the two Malaysian finalists of the competition, which held during the ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement (WCQI) in Dallas, Texas, the United States, from May 5 to 7. The WCQI is a global competition that recognises the best quality improvement teams worldwide and is the only event of its kind in the world.

Thirty-eight teams from various organisations worldwide had vied for the gold, silver and bronze awards.

Team Blitz, which submitted an entry on at ways of improving its internal payment processing cycle, won the only silver award this year.

Previous silver award winners were Boeing, Telefonica and Allegheny Energy Inc.

This year, Dubai Aluminium from the United Arab Emirates and Tgestiona from Argentina bagged the gold title.

This was the first time Malaysia participated at the WCQI, with four teams submitting their projects in the preliminary round last year.

Two of them made it to the final with each having to present their project during a 45-minute live presentation before a panel of judges.

The other Malaysian finalist was Team Katwalk, also from Khazanah Nasional.

Division director Jamilah Hashim said the win proved that Malaysian companies and innovations could do well in international competitions.

It was also an endorsement of sort for Malaysian ideas and ingenuity.

"We feel fantastic and thrilled over the win. It shows that we have the talent and capacity to win awards in world-class competitions."

Jamilah said the award provided the division with a good platform to help other organisations wishing to introduce the same process in their companies.

The division, which has made the culture of continuous improvement as one of its key practices, provides internal corporate development services for Khazanah Nasional and its stakeholders.

The staff are trained to practise work simplification consistent with Khazanah Nasional's vision to be a world-class organisation and aligned to the GLCT (government-linked company transformation) Yellow Book.

Every week, they present projects designed to simplify any process, be it simple or complicated, while staff involvement in three projects a year formed part of their Key Performance Index.

The practice, said Jamilah, had borne fruit as the division had won gold awards at the national-level Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) Innovative and Creative Circle Award.

She said Khazanah Nasional's participation in the WCQI competition started with MPC's invitation to her to attend the ASQ World Conference last year.

She felt the best way to raise the bar for the staff was to participate in a world-class level competition, such as WCQI.

"We decided to take part in this year's competition. We went through all of our projects and selected two of our best for submission."

Elaborating on Team Blitz's winning entry, Jamilah said the existing invoice processing system used at its remote offices had clocked up to 20-odd hours per invoice processing cycle.

"A new version of application system, which complied with new financial standards, was introduced in 2011, but this pushed up the payment processing cycle to 36-odd hours.

"From zero complaint, we began logging on 50 complaints per month, and staff began working overtime as a result."

The team got together to look into the problem and came up with four possible options, ranging from an increase in bandwidth, which would cost RM100,000, a new application, a reversion to the old system and the final option was virtualisation — an innovative way of configuring a virtual application server at its KLCC office.

Using tools used in Worksimp, Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, the team demonstrated a reduction in processing time from 36 to 15 hours per invoice cycle which translated into a cost benefit of more than RM181,000.

Jamilah said other benefits were a reduction in the payment processing from eight to two steps.

Meanwhile, Team Katwalk's submission used quality tools found in Lean and Six Sigma to design an innovative mobile application that automates the maintenance process in the office to enable systematic recording, tracking, reporting and, most importantly, the effective and efficient closures on findings/defects. This led to 99.6 per cent reduction in processing time and costefficiency savings.

The WCQ1 is an avenue for organisations to showcase their outstanding projects and processes.

It is the only international team recognition process of its kind in the world.

Since 1985, more than 1,000 teams from the United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany, Guatemala, India, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates have participated in this competition.

The teams which made it to the finals of the International Team Excellence Award competition being feted at an appreciation dinner recently. With them is Khazanah Nasional managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar (centre).

Malaysian finalists Team Blitz and Team Katwalk, both from Khazanah Nasional.

'It's wrong as sultan still has a say'

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT

09 June 2014| last updated at 12:53AM
By SYED UMAR ARIFF | news@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: THE proposed amendments to the Johor Housing and Property Board Bill 2014 to replace the word "ruler" with "state authority" in all but one clause will not make any difference in terms of upholding the doctrine of separation of powers between the monarch and the executive.

Former Malaysian Syariah Lawyers' Association president Datuk Mohamad Burok said even by limiting the powers of the Johor ruler to only appointing members of the board on the advice of the menteri besar, the monarch was still involved in executive duties.

"What difference will it make? There is no clear separation of powers if you still have the sultan of Johor involved in appointing members to the board, even if he is to be advised by the menteri besar on the matter. Such appointments should be made by the executive and not the ruler.

"By logic, the sultan is still there to make decisions. That is wrong," he said yesterday.

Mohamad said while the amendment clearly did not absolve the bill from contravening the Federal Constitution, one must realise the importance of establishing a separation of powers.

"What is happening in Johor is a bad precedent and has never taken place anywhere else.

"I just want to know whose idea it was (to involve the sultan in executive duties)?

"In a democratic country, the separation of powers brings forth check and balances. But what is happening now is a transgression of the Constitution."

Another law expert, Universiti Malaya's Professor Gurdial Singh Nijar, said the Federal Constitution stated unequivocally that the ruler, in exercising his functions under the constitution of a state, must act in accordance with the advice of the state executive councillor.

"He (the ruler) is allowed to function in his absolute discretion only in a very limited number of situations, such as head of the Islamic religion or matters relating to Malay customs and in the choice of menteri besar, which is limited, in turn, by constitutional conventions.

"Of course, he is entitled to 'any information concerning the government of the state which is available to the executive council'. But no more than that."

However, constitutional expert Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun said if the amendments were kept in line with the spirit of constitutional monarchy, then it was within the permitted laws.

"If the menteri besar advises the names to be included on the board, the sultan must make the necessary appointments. It is not the other way around.

"Honestly, it should model other states' enactment to the fullest, but not mere cosmetic changes (as lip service)."

 

Kedah rubber tappers to get aid

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT

09 June 2014| last updated at 12:22AM

The aid would be disbursed to 100,000 people affected, Mukhriz said, adding that the RM500 payment would be made before Hari Raya Aidilfitri late next month.

Mukhriz said the one-off payment would be given out in stages to alleviate the burden of those who had suffered a drop in earnings, especially in view of the coming festivities.

The amount is part of a RM130 million allocation from the Federal Government to be distributed to rubber smallholders with less than 2.4ha of land.

Mukhriz said the allocation would also involve rubber tappers without any land.

"The government is mindful of the problems faced by the smallholders and will continue with initiatives to lighten their burden," he said at the launch of the district-level Mesra Rakyat Fiesta programme at Dataran Bandar Baru Beris Jaya here yesterday.

Present were state Information, Rural Development and Poverty Eradication Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah and Jeneri state assemblyman Mahadzir Abd Hamid.

Najib begins visit to Turkmenistan

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT

ASHGABAT (Turkmenistan): MALAYSIA and Turkmenistan will  strengthen  bilateral ties with a slew of  agreements in various economic sectors.

Both countries will establish links in the areas of culture, education, tourism and the halal market, as well as enhancing collaboration in the oil and gas (O&G) sector.

The agreements will be signed during Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's official two-day visit to this Central Asian nation beginning today.

Malaysian ambassador to Turkmenistan Norman Muhamad said Najib was scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the Presidential Palace here.

This will be followed by the witnessing of document signings between both countries.

Norman said the agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) would strengthen cultural and education cooperation, while a joint trade committee between Malaysia and Turkmenistan would be set up by both nations.

"There are 144 Turkmen students taking technical courses at Universiti Malaysia Petronas, and hospitality and tourism courses at a private college.

"We hope that the number will increase following the collaboration in the education and tourism fields.

"A total of 940 Turkmen visited Malaysia last year," he said here yesterday.

Norman said another important agreement was the MoU on long-term cooperation between Petronas and state-owned Turkmen Gas that would intensify both countries' cooperation and partnership in the gas exploration sector.

Turkmenistan has a gas reserve of 17.5 trillion cubic metres, which is the fourth largest natural gas reserve in the world after those in Iran, Russia and Qatar.

Apart from Petronas, Norman said, other Malaysian players in the O&G sector had also expressed interest to explore opportunities in the Central Asian country and this would be discussed by both leaders at a meeting tomorrow.

Malaysia's collaboration with Turkmenistan in the O&G sector began in 1996 when Petronas entered a production-sharing contract with Turkmen Gas.

It has since become one of the main partners for Turkmenistan's oil and gas exploration in the Caspian Sea.

Norman said Malaysia was also looking forward to collaborating with Turkmenistan in tapping its halal food market by turning it into a hub for the Central Asia region.

"Also, Malaysian property players may seek opportunities to participate in Turkmenistan's development, especially in the city here."

Turkmenistan is Malaysia's third largest trading partner in the Central Asian region with both nations' total trade growing from US$24.27 million (RM78.87 million) in 2011 to US$33.31 million last year.

Malaysia's major exports to Turkmenistan include machinery and parts, iron and steel products, palm oil, chemical products and electrical and electronic items.

Malaysia mostly imports machinery, appliances and parts from the country.

Najib's second visit to Turkmenistan today is at the invitation of its president. His first visit was in July 2011, which was followed by Gurbanguly's first official visit to Malaysia five months later.

Following the fruitful visit, Malaysia and Turkmenistan had agreed to strengthen bilateral ties, paving the way for the setting up of the Malaysian embassy here in December 2011 while Turkmenistan opened its embassy in Kuala Lumpur in July last year.

Norman said Najib would be accompanied by his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar and a business delegation.

Malaysian ambassador to Turkmenistan Norman Muhamad says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the Presidential Palace in Ashgabat today. Bernama pic