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Litterbugs undermining efforts to keep city clean – Mayor BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

Litterbugs undermining efforts to keep city clean – Mayor

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:30 AM PST

by Jenne Lajiun. Posted on January 4, 2014, Saturday

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has been ranked as the 10th most popular destination within the Asian region, yet its capital city is still struggling with litterbugs.

Lamenting the situation in the city after launching the Puspanita City Division's Annual General Meeting (AGM) held near here yesterday, Kota Kinabalu Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir said that it was imperative that everyone played their part to keep the city and State clean.

"About 3.4 million tourists are expected to come to Sabah this year in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 and Visit Sabah Year," he said.

Unfortunately, the mentality of some folks had made it very difficult to keep the city clean, he said.

"There are proper garbage bins in place throughout the city, but people still litter. There are bins near the bus stands, yet there are still irresponsible people who, upon disembarking from the bus, throw their garbage on the ground instead of using the bins," he lamented.

He said that they should assist City Hall cleaners by not throwing garbage indiscriminately.

He then urged the relevant parties to act on the issue.

At the same time, Abidin also commented on the sorry sight at Api-Api, near here.

"There is so much garbage in the area that the management of the car park areas at the venue had to be taken over by DBKK Holdings," he said.

Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu Puspanita chairperson, Datin Florence Malangkig said that the branch was established three years ago.

"I am proud to see the association developing. Last year was a meaningful year as various activities have taken place," she said.

These include talks on cancer, fund raising for the Puspanita Fund, visits to orphanages and so on.

She added that Puspanita also took part in endeavors to promote cleanliness within the city along with City Hall.

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School bus fare hike in KK deemed ‘reasonable’

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:30 AM PST

by Amy Dangin. Posted on January 4, 2014, Saturday

KOTA KINABALU: Although there has yet to be any announcement of approval for school bus fare hike by the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB), parents claimed the operators have increased their fares.

Prescilla, who uses the school bus service to send her seven-year-old son to SK Anglo Chinese from their residence in Nosoob, Penampang said she had been duly informed by the school bus operator of the increase in fare.

"I used the same school bus operator for my son's transport between home and his then kindergarten school. The fare was RM80 just last year, and the school bus operator informed me that there will be an increase of RM10 per head. So we're paying RM90 now," said Prescilla.

She said although the price had been increased, she still had to use the school bus service due to her work shift.

Mother of three, Dahlia Benedict, also uses the services of a school bus operator as her daily routine also involves preparing her two younger children for school.

The school bus fare hike, she said, is reasonable due to the distance from their residence to her son's school.

Meanwhile, vice president of the Board of Governors of St Francis' Convent Schools, Kota Kinabalu, Mary Florence Gomez opined that the increase in school bus fare is justified.

"I think it's a fair sum based on the several increases in petrol and diesel in the past two years.

"People operating school bus services also need to survive and earn a living. I believe school bus operators are not given any subsidies so they are not charitable organisations.

"It's not their fault that although fuel, electricity and some subsidies have been taken away, there seem to be no increase in wages," said Gomez, who is also former chairperson of SRK St Francis' Convent Parents Teachers Association (PTA).

Further, she said, opting for school bus services would be a more cost-saving way than sending children to school by themselves, due to the increase in fuel price.

"Due to the increase in fuel price, even if parents themselves send their children to school, their fuel cost will be more than the RM10 fare increase per child," she said.

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3,963 illegal ads removed in crackdown on ‘ah longs’

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:28 AM PST

by Elton Gomes. Posted on January 4, 2014, Saturday

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police have intensified their efforts to curb money laundering activities involving 'loan sharks' or 'ah longs' and arrested 16 people from nine cases last year.

State Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Superintendent Saiman Kasran said from the arrests, two individuals had been charged in court under section 5 (2) of the Money Lenders Act 1951.

"All the arrested suspects had been identified to be involved in money laundering activities around the state, including the Federal Territory of Labuan," he told a press conference at the State Commercial Crime Investigation Department in Kepayan here yesterday.

Saiman said that from January until December 2013, the police had taken down 3,963 illegal posters and advertisements that had been put up by loan sharks around the country.

"Apart from taking down these posters, we have also recorded the telephone numbers that were advertised and handed them to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ( MCMC) for further investigation," he said.

Elaborating further, Saiman said 12 of the suspects who were arrested were from Peninsular Malaysia, and police investigation showed that they had expanded their illegal business to Sabah.

Although there is an increase in illegal money laundering activities in Sabah, that is six cases with 12 arrests in 2012, Saiman said such activities in the country were still under control.

"Illegal money laundering activities in Sabah are still under control compared to those in Peninsular Malaysia, but we will continue to monitor such activities and intensify our efforts to curb such illegal activities," he said.

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Two boys perish as fire destroys house

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:27 AM PST

by Azmie Lim. Posted on January 4, 2014, Saturday

LAHAD DATU: Two little brothers were burnt to death when a fire destroyed their house at Kampung Teck Guan here yesterday.

The charred remains of Mohd Firul Azhar Tamrin, 5, and Mohd Nur Jihad Tamrin, 2, were found close to each other in one of the bedrooms in the house.

District Fire and Rescue Department chief, Mohd Apandi Mahmood said his department received an alert at 12:45pm and rushed two fire engines with seven firefighters to the scene.

"Upon arrival at the scene at 12:51pm, the house was almost 95 per cent burnt.

"We took about 22 minutes to control the blaze from spreading to other houses and completely extinguished the fire at 1:34pm," he said.

Mohd Apandi said that during the incident, the victims' mother was at work while their father, Tamrin Sumaila, 31, had gone to the mosque for Friday prayers.

Apandi added that the cause of fire and losses incurred were still under investigation.

He also advised the public not to leave their children alone without adult supervision at home.

He also encouraged the public to have fire extinguishers at home in case of any fire incidents.

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Woman dies in fall from Sandakan shophouse

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:27 AM PST

by Winnie Kasmir. Posted on January 4, 2014, Saturday

SANDAKAN: A 50-year-old woman here died after she fell from the third floor of her home at a building in Grandview around 6am, yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Ramanee A/p Krishnan who lived with her son, daughter-in-law and their two children.

Ramanee's body was later sent to Hospital Duchess of Kent for a

post-mortem.

District police chief ACP Rowell Marung said that based on police reports, the victim's family did not know what caused her to fall off the verandah, and police have classified the case as a sudden death.

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Pom Pom Island security beefed up – Lam Thye

Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:26 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) vice chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye visited Pulau Pom Pom, off Semporna yesterday to see for himself the security situation in the island.

He spent about three hours there and was briefed by the operator of Sipadan Pom Pom Resort & Tours Peter Loong Chee Min on the latest development regarding his resort followed by a walkabout.

Following the visit, Lee told the media that more tourists should visit Pom Pom Island to appreciate the natural beauty of the resort and the various facilities provided for the comfort of the guests.

The resort operator also briefed Lee on the various security measures being put in place to enhance the safety of the tourists.

Lee thanked the security forces stationed at Pulau Pom Pom for carrying out their security duties to look after the safety of the island.

Lee hoped that the relevant authorities would continue to intensify efforts to further improve the safety of all tourists who visit not only Pom Pom Island but other tourist attraction centres located on Sabah's each coast region.

Lee also called on more tourists to visit Pom Pom in line with the call made by the State Government to achieve the target of more than three million tourist arrivals in Sabah next year.

"During my interaction with the tourists they were not deterred by the recent incident and had confidence in the safety aspect of Pulau Pom Pom," he added.

Late last year, masked gunmen shot dead a tourist from Taiwan and kidnapped his wife while the couple were vacationing on the island.

The Taiwanese woman has since been released by her captors and returned to her homeland.

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