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Landslide threatens safety of villagers BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

Landslide threatens safety of villagers

Posted: 12 Feb 2014 09:48 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Villagers at Kampung Kopungit in Luyang constituency here are worried that their safety is threatened by a landslide.

According to the village chief Geoffrey Kiun bin Salidou, he has notified the Luyang assemblyman's office of their predicament.

Yesterday, two aides from the Luyang assemblyman's office, Simon Yap Yen Fung and Noriah Onong, went to check on the landslide which is located just next to the community hall on top of the hill at Kepayan Ridge.

Also present with them during the inspection was the Village Development and Security Committee chairman of Kampung Kopungit, Peter Lajin Alousius, who highlighted several other problems like walkways, concrete steps, roads and drainage system that required attention.

Their inspection revealed that the landslide could endanger the side of the community hall and if not reinstated might cause further damages. The villagers here are worried that should the slope comes down during rainy weather, their access road would be totally cut off and the villagers will not be able to get in or out.

According to Simon, immediate remedial work needs to be done to protect the earth slope and the drains would have to be upgraded to effectively drain away the excess rainwater. The work would require a special allocation from the government fund, and this hopefully could be applied through the rural development fund under this year's budget.

In thanking the Luyang assemblyman's office for their attention, Geoffrey said though this village is in the heart of KK City, it is not always noticed. He hopes with the help of the Luyang assemblyman's office, it will become better known to the KK people.

He said the proposal by the Luyang assemblyman for a viewing tower and platform to be built here is worth considering due to its unique and panaromic view of KK City from the top of the hill in the village.

This could benefit the village here as more visitors and tourists can come to the village. With more activities and visitors here, Kampung Kopungit may one day be transformed and developed into a 'model village' within KK City.

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Call to expedite probe on China tourist’s death

Posted: 12 Feb 2014 09:46 AM PST

by Chok Sim Yee. Posted on February 13, 2014, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: Family members and relatives of Li Yong, the 26-year-old tourist from China who died while vacationing on Mantanani Island in January, have urged the police to expedite their investigation on the victim's cause of death.

The victim's cousin, Mickey Xia Jing Wang, said the police investigation had been slow, and families and relatives were still awaiting the result of the investigation.

"We need to know how he (Li) died. There couldn't be no news at all (on the investigation) when a China tourist died here," he said in a press conference here yesterday.

Li's body arrived at Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province with a transit in Hong Kong via Dragonair on Tuesday.

Xia is the cousin of Li's father. A press conference was called by Xia, along with Li's brother-in-law Ren Liguang and cousin Steven Fang. The trio arrived in Kota Kinabalu on January 28 to manage the procedures.

Also present were representatives from Basel Christian Church of Malaysia (BCCM) in Likas, including pastor-in-charge of BCCM KK Chinese, Reverand Eric Wong and BCCM Chinese Council member Kong Yu Kiong. A cousin of Xia in Kuala Lumpur hooked them up with BCCM Likas.

Xia said the aim of holding the press conference was also to address the inaccuracies of the report in the Chinese newspapers, and proceeded to elaborate on the incident leading up and after the death of Li.

Xia said Li and his wife, together with two other couples, all in their 20s, arrived from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu via AirAsia on January 24.

Li, who is a manager in an automobile company in Wenzhou City, married his wife last year and has a daughter of less than six months old. Their daughter did not join the trip.

On the same morning, a local travel agent brought the three pairs of couples and other tourists to Mantanani Island.

Xia said a tourist guide also asked the tourists to sign a waiver of liability and indemnity agreement upon arriving at the jetty heading for Mantanani, which was not written in Chinese.

"They (the three couples) do not understand English or Malay."

The tourists arrived at the jetty at 9.36am and the three women went to the toilet, he said.

"When they came out from the toilet, the men had signed the waiver agreement and the women followed suit."

As they reached Mantanani Island less than an hour later, the three couples told the employee on the island that they did not know how to swim.

The employee divided the tourists into two groups, those who could swim and those who could not.

Li went snorkeling first while the others joined him later. He was reportedly wearing a life jacket during snorkeling.

"Within minutes after they went snorkeling, the employee ordered all the tourists to come up."

Soon after, Li was dragged from the water to the jetty and employees performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the victim while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

"When there was still no sign of the ambulance after some time had passed, the tour guide sent Li to the hospital.

"At 2.53pm of the same day, Li was pronounced dead."

Xia said Li's wife and the other two couples panicked and helpless during the whole ordeal, as there was a language barrier.

They eventually received counseling in order to cope with the tragedy.

Following Li's death, Xia said a police report was lodged, albeit a brief one due to the language barrier, adding that the police did not ask much about the details.

"We hope the police will expedite the investigation because we do not know how he died."

Upon a lawyer's advice, the tourists went back to Kota Belud police station to make a more detailed statement. Xia lamented that they could not understand the police statement as it was written in Malay.

As for now, Xia said the first priority for the family was to prepare for Li's funeral.

"After that I will return to look into the case," he said, adding the family reserved the right to take legal action.

Meanwhile, Kong said the post-mortem on Li ruled out external factors that caused his death, including diseases and jellyfish poison.

On the other hand, Xia expressed his gratitude towards Gerakan national vice president Tan Sri Liew Yun Fah, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Malaysia, and General Consulate of the People's Republic of China in Kuching, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Pang Yuk Ming and BCCM Likas volunteers who assisted them in this matter.

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200kg of bombed fish seized

Posted: 12 Feb 2014 09:45 AM PST

by Elton Gomes. Posted on February 13, 2014, Thursday

KUDAT: The Marine Operations Force (MOF) here confiscated about 200kg of fish that are believed to have been caught through bombing.

MOF chief ACP Mohamad Madun said four pump boats were also seized during an operation, dubbed 'Ops Cantas Perairan 1/2014', along Sikuati waters, near here on February 4.

He said the 9.30am operation was carried out after MOF had received tip-off of illegal fishing in the area.

"As the MOF patrol approached the area, they saw about 10 pump boats along the beach. Upon realizing our presence, the suspects immediately fled the scene in the pump boats. Swift action by the MOF patrol managed to seize four pump boats that were left behind by the suspects," he said yesterday.

Mohamad said from their investigation they found about 200kg of assorted fish that are believed to have been caught through illegal fishing.

Police also found several items such as a compressor, goggles and flippers that are believed used by the suspects in their activities. He said all the items were taken to the Kudat marine police station for further investigation.

Mohamad thanked the public for their cooperation with the police and said such operation would be carried out from time to time to combat illegal fishing in the state.

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Sulu militants fired many shots – commando

Posted: 12 Feb 2014 09:44 AM PST

by Suraini Andokong. Posted on February 13, 2014, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: A police inspector told the High Court here yesterday that his teams were attacked by the Sulu militants while they were on their way to assist their friends who were carrying out Ops Daulat in the vicinity of Kampung Tanduo.

Commando Sahar Omar, who was testifying before Justice Stephen Chung, said they were heading to another area of responsibility to help other VAT 69 commandos, but when they stopped at a house near that area, the gunmen fired shots at them.

"I took a decision to retreat and ordered my men to stay put as the shots fired at us were too many and it was difficult for us to move forward as the terrain was bad," said the seventh prosecution witness while testifying under examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Abdul Wahab Mohamed.

He said he was a troop leader for three patrols, while another two patrols were led by Inspector Fazrul. All five patrols formed one group called 'Alpha' whose team leader was DSP Hakemal Hawari, and they were assigned to one of the responsible areas called 'Sector A'.

"Hakemal instructed us to give assistance to the other areas of responsibility, to move in a standard line and separated in small groups towards where the shootouts were heard," he further recalled.

Sahar explained that they took cover and his teams exchanged fire with the gunmen.

To a question by Abdul Wahab, he said the gunfight took about ten minutes and there was no assistance coming at that time as their friends were too far from them.

"After the gunfight, our team leader asked us to regroup and to stay there until further instruction," he said during the terrorism trial of the 29 accused persons including the nephew of the Sulu Sultanate III Datu Jamalul Kiram, for terrorist acts at several places in Lahad Datu, Semporna and Sandakan areas between February 12 and April 10, 2013.

If found guilty, they face the mandatory death sentence while the rest face life imprisonment and fine upon conviction.

The hearing was held at a hall which doubled as an open court at Kepayan prisons here under tight security checks. The prisons compound was guarded by prison personnel called 'Trup Tindakan Cepat' (TTC).

To another question by Abdul Wahab, Sahar said on March 6, 2013, they received instruction to do a 'Cut Off' operation at Tanjung Batu, to prevent enemies from escaping from the area.

Six patrols were involved in the operation where four patrols were taken from Sector A, and the other two patrols from another sector.

He recalled that while carrying out the operation, three gunmen wearing camouflage trousers and were armed, were walking towards them.

"I instructed my men to take up positions as the enemies were approaching us at a distance of 30 meters, and we fired shots at them," he said.

He said the three gunmen fell but Sahar and his men did not check on them as the situation was still not safe.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a senior police officer testified that the Malaysian VAT 69 commandos had first fired shots at five individuals at Tanjung Batu in Lahad Datu, killing two of them.

DSP Anwar Rosli said he ordered his men, who were carrying out their mopping up operation at Tanjung Batu, to fire shots at five individuals who were seen about 30 meters from them.

He said this in response to a suggestion by counsel Sivananthan.

When cross examined by Sivananthan, the sixth prosecution witness said they fired shots first, not because they did not follow instructions given by their superior.

"That order not to fire at the enemies until they fired shots at us was an order given at Kampung Tanduo, and not for this operation at Tanjung Batu," he explained.

When suggested by Sivananthan: "I put it to you that the shooting of these two individuals was a mistake of you and your team who failed to take caution before firing any shot at the individuals?"

Anwar answered: "The individuals were armed."

Anwar said he was with his 24 men divided into four patrols in conducting an operation to flush out the gunmen at Tanjung Batu, when they spotted five persons wearing civilian clothing.

To another suggestion by Sivananthan, Anwar testified that there were no weapons found on the two persons killed at Tanjung Batu.

Anwar also said he could not recall whether he was in touch with his man Corporal Azman Ampung once the fire exchange started at their area of responsibility at Kampung Tanduo.

He further could not remember whether Azman had informed him about the presence of a man with a stick of wood with a white A4 size paper attached.

However, he agreed that information could have been reported to him as he was in charge of that team.

"Maybe Azman had given me a message via walkie talkie but at that time everything happened so fast and maybe it was a network problem," he added.

Attorney General of Chambers Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail led the prosecution and assisted by deputy public prosecutors Abdul Wahab, Ishak Mad Yusoff, Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, Cheng Heng Kher and Anati Kisahi while Sivananthan was assisted by James Tsai, Stella Simon, Zaleha Mohd Yusof Pan, Majnah Abdillah and Zakaria Ahmad. Other counsels involved were Kamarudin Mohd Chinki, Ram Singh, YS Lo, Rowiena Rasad and Abdul Ghani Zelika.

On Tuesday, the terrorism trial heard that the Malaysian VAT 69 commandos had first fired the shots at five individuals at Tanjung Batu in Lahad Datu where two people were killed.

DSP Anwar Rosli told the High Court that he ordered his men who were carrying out their mopping up operation at Tanjung Batu to fire the shots at five individuals who were seen 30 meters away from them.

The trial continues today.

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Sabah takes steps to prevent spread of H7N9 – director

Posted: 12 Feb 2014 09:43 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: The Health Ministry has taken several measures to prevent the spread of Influenza A (H7N9) following the confirmation of the first case in the country.

Sabah Health Director Dr Christina Rudi said yesterday that the actions include stepping up check for influenza cases across the country, especially in the state including increasing the number of sentinel locations in Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu from eight to 12.

They are also strengthening laboratory capacity in Sabah to test H7N9, increasing infection prevention and control in all health facilities and cooperating with the Veterinary Department to increase the surveillance of birds.

The health authorities are also getting the cooperation of travel agencies which are

arranging visits of tourists from avian influenza-hit countries to advise their customers to postpone the trip. If any of the tourists have respiratory symptoms, they have to seek immediate treatment at the nearest health facility.

The Ministry of Health also advises individuals who have visited the avian influenza-hit countries and have respiratory symptoms after returning home to wear surgical masks and immediately seek medical treatment.

Those planning to travel are advised to avoid visiting markets selling live poultry.

In addition, they should always adopt a high level of personal hygiene such as washing hands frequently with soap and water orsanitizer, especially after coughing and sneezing; avoid touching any surface contaminated by stool and/or blood of poultry;

not to hold birds found dead without protective equipment and report the unnatural death of birds to the nearest veterinary office; and ensure food is fully cooked before eating.

Human infections with a new avian influenza A (H7N9) virus were first reported in China in March 2013. Most of these infections are believed to result from exposure to infected poultry or contaminated environments, as H7N9 viruses have also been found in poultry in China.

While some mild illnesses in human H7N9 cases have been seen, most patients have had severe respiratory illness, with about one-third resulting in death. No evidence of sustained person-to-person spread of H7N9 has been found, though some evidence points to limited person-to-person spread in rare circumstances.

The Health Ministry of Malaysia yesterday confirmed the first Influenza A (H7N9) case in the country, involving a female tourist from China.

The import case involves a 67-year-old Chinese woman, who had travelled from Guangdong, China, to Kuala Lumpur on Feb 4.

She went to Sandakan, Sabah the next day before going on to Kota Kinabalu on Feb 6.

"The woman was referred to a private hospital in Kota Kinabalu on Feb 7, and (after two screenings) on Feb 11, the sample tested positive for the Influenza A (H7N9) virus.

"She is currently receiving treatment in the ICU, put on ventilator and is in a stable condition," Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam said yesterday.

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Sabah MCA wants cabinet posts for party

Posted: 12 Feb 2014 09:43 AM PST

TAWAU: Sabah MCA chairman Wilfred Yong has urged the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the Prime Minister to let the party serve in the cabinet and maintain the previous quota of four ministerial posts.

Wilfred said MCA is one of the BN component parties of BN and it would not be able to serve the people well without any cabinet posts.

"The party (MCA) will have limited power and right in doing something that is demanded by the people," he said at a Chinese New Year dinner celebration organized by MCA Kalabakan, Tawau and Semporna here on Tuesday night.

"I also hope the MCA members could provide 100 per cent support to the party for the cabinet posts," Wilfred added.

MCA is expected to call for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) soon to review the party's resolution to decline Cabinet appointments.

President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai expressed hope that more MCA delegates would agree for an EGM to be called so a vote could be taken on the resolution.

In the party's annual general meeting in 2011 and 2012, MCA made a resolution not to accept any government post should it perform badly in the 2013 general election.

The party only won seven parliamentary and 11 state seats in last year's election, compared to 15 parliamentary and 32 state seats it won in 2008.

At the Oct 20 EGM last year, delegates rejected a motion to rescind the decision but supported two motions, allowing for the party to accept appointments like Senators or other government positions, as well as appointments at the state level, including state executive councillors.

According to the party constitution, an EGM can be called by either the president, or upon receiving support from two-thirds of the central committee members or receiving support from two-thirds of the central delegates.

The earliest it can be held is in seven days after requisition is received by the secretary-general.

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