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Respect decision of court – Kurup - The Borneo Post Online Berita Sarawak - News 2 Sarawak

Respect decision of court – Kurup - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 10:28 AM PST

by Johan Aziz. Posted on March 9, 2014, Sunday

KENINGAU: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup reminded the people to respect the laws and not create any speculation that may affect the harmony and security of the country.

"Whatever has been decided by the Court of Appeal against the sodomy case of PKR de facto leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should be respected," he said when asked to comment on the decision by the Court of Appeal against the sentence meted out to Anwar.

He said, let the authorities carry out their duties without any interference from non-responsible parties.

Kurup said, irresponsible parties need to think the rationalism on this case as it was tried by the judges, jurors and lawyers in a transparent and fair manner without individual interests related.

"I think the case has not disturbed the unity existing in the country as well as the preparation  for the Kajang by-election that will take place on March 23," he told reporters after launching the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M ) 3.0 distribution at Sook community hall here yesterday.

He told the people that the matter should be submitted to the authorities to solve and not give a negative impression of the case.

Earlier in his speech, Kurup, who is also Pensiangan Member of Parliament reminded BR1M recipients to be wise, prudent and thrifty in spending the assistance provided to buy daily necessities.

He said that the aid and assistance was not just a government initiative to provide assistance to low-income people but also goes to prove the sincerity of the government in ensuring that the people are living comfortably.

"The increase of BR1M payments from RM500 to RM650 is a good move from the government to help people overcome the pain of the rising cost of living.

"The Government will continue to fulfill its promises in the last general election manifesto including that of adding the BR1M incentive value to RM1,200 in the future," said Kurup.

At the event, a total of 4,766 recipients from Pensiangan constituency consisting of senior citizen, singles and heads of households earning below RM3,000 and RM4,000 received their assistance.

Also present were Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister and Sook Assemblyman, Datuk Ellron Alfred Angin; Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Nabawan Assemblyman, Datuk Bobbey Ahfang Suan; Nabawan District Officer, Fredian Gan; Sook Assistant District Officer, Primus Takom and Pensiangan Umno Deputy Chief, Wednes Abie Gamboi.

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Two <b>Sarawak</b> juniors to join 1Mas U13 training camp – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 28 Feb 2014 08:28 AM PST

KUCHING: Sarawak Hockey Confederation's (SHC) participation in the 1Mas youth development project has been rewarded.

Three players from the programme's U12 side has been selected to attend the 1Mas National U13 training camp in Ipoh from Mar 22-27.

It will coincide with the last two days of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to give the youngsters a rare chance to watch top-tier matches.

SK St Thomas' primary six student Mohd Haziq Asyraaf Berahim, Kolej Abdillah's form one student Clement Tsai and Sabah Sports School's Aiman Iriyani Kamaluddin were selected after impressing in last December's 7-a-side U12 Tournament.

"Aiman will not be eligible for the camp as he is a sports school student," said SHC official William Lee.

In the tourney, Sarawak finished third after being edged by Kedah 1-0 in the semis and then hammered Perak 6-1 for the final placings.

Tsai was second in the skills competition which was based on time and accuracy in the basics of the game.

Jallister West Ranggie added to the team's cap when he was one of six players given the Young Talents Award.

The 1Mas has U12, U14 and U16 levels with the girls having U14 and U16 teams.

The project aims to give Malaysia a regular pool of players that can compete at the international level.

In Sarawak, it is located in Kuching, Sibu and Samarahan.

"We have four training sessions from Friday to Sunday. Friday and Sunday has one each and Saturday has two," said Lee.

Chief coach Kangot Awan, who also handles Kuching school hockey powerhouse SMK Penrissen's programme, oversees the SHC's 1Mas project.

He is one of five coaches who will conduct the training sessions during the Ipoh camp.

In Kuching, he has former state player Sunil Roy Chakraverty as assistant with Dzulkhaini Tajuddin handling Sibu and Marzatilaswat Hamzah in charge of Samarahan.

Sarawak women's team coach Siva Subramaniam handles the girls teams.

"In the U12, we have about 60 players but only about half are really good as they attend training regularly," said Lee.

It is compulsory for the trainees to attend the Saturday training sessions.

Haziq started when he was 10.

"He attend on a regular basis. We work on his skills and built up his confidence," said Lee.

"It is one reason he was selected for the Ipoh camp."

The programme has produced several players that will be the core of the Sukma team when Sarawak plays host in 2016.

SMK Penrissen's Alaika T Ruang, Adolft Jakang, Shawn B Mathew, Augustus Ken Jakang and M Nurazwan Syafiq Amir in addition to SMK Bau's Louis M Jari are the project's standouts.

"They have exceptional skills that are comparable to Peninsula players," said Lee.

Alaika, an excellent fullback, is in Form Five and will skip the Perlis Sukma.

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No change in venue for <b>Sarawak</b> Health Marathon registration <b>...</b>

Posted: 27 Feb 2014 09:32 AM PST

SIBU: There is no change in the venue for the registration for the 14th Sarawak Health Marathon on May 4 at Sibu Jubilee Park.

Kelab Sukan Marathon Extreme (KSME) chairman Tang Kah Seng said registration and submission of entries remained at Chai Lai Café.

He said the run organiser had earlier announced a change of venue to allow the coffee shop to undergo a renovation.

"But now the renovation has been postponed," he explained.

To-date, some 400 entries have been received.

Tang said he expected some 2,000 runners for the run, including foreigners and seasoned runners from the Peninsular Malaysia.

The first 800 to register may expect a free T-shirt.

The run is divided into seven categories – 21km Men's and Ladies' Open and Men's Veteran (48-year-old and above), 7km Men's Fun Run and ad Boy's Junior, 2.5km Ladies' Fun Run and Girls' Junior.

For the prize structure, the winners in the 21km Men's and Ladies' Open, Men's veteran will get RM900 plus a trophy, the first runner-up will get RM750 plus a trophy and the second runner-up will get RM600 plus a trophy.

The fourth prize is RM550 plus a medal, fifth (RM500 plus a medal), 6th(RM450), 7th(RM400), and 8th to 10th (RM300).

The 11th to 20th finishers will each get RM200 while the 21st to 30th finishers will each get RM100 and 21st to 50 finishers, RM50 each.

In the Ladies' Open and Men's Veteran, only the 31st to 35th finishers will each get RM50.

For the winners in the Boy's Junior, the champion will get RM300 plus a trophy, the first runner-up (RM250 plus a trophy), the second runner-up (RM220 plus a trophy) and the third runner-up (RM200 plus a trophy).

The fifth prize is RM170 plus a medal, 6th (RM150), 7th(RM130), 8th to 10th(RM100), 11th to 20th(RM70), 21st to 30th(RM50) and 31st to 50th(RM40).

For the Girl's Junior, the champion will get RM200 plus a trophy, the first runner-up (RM180 plus a trophy), the second runner-up(RM160 plus a trophy) and the third runner-up(RM140 plus a trophy).

The fifth prize is RM120 plus a medal, 6th(RM100), 7th(RM90), 8th to 10th(RM80), 11th to 20th(RM50), 21st to 50th(RM40).

For Men's and Ladies' Fun Run, the champion will get RM120 plus a trophy, the first runner-up(RM100 plus a trophy), the second runner-up (RM80 plus a trophy) and the third runner-up (RM60 plus a trophy).

The 5th to 10th finishers will get RM50 and 11th to 40th finishers will each get RM40 plus medals.

Entry fees are RM20 for Men's & Ladies' Open and Men's and Ladies' Fun Run and RM10 for Boy's and Girl's Junior.

The closing date is April 28.

Those in Sibu may contact Joseph Tangon on 019-8181129 for details.

For Kuching, contact Ngui Kiong (012-8881261), for Miri, Wong Siew Ming (019-8354321) and for Bintulu, Sarkawi Adenan (011-29978867).

The run is jointly organised by KSME and Sibu Municipal Council, assisted by the Police and Sibu Red Crescent.

The events main sponsors are TA Ann Holdings Bhd, Dato Wong Kuo Hea, KTS Trading Sdn Bhd and Temenggong Vincent Lau Lee Ming.

The official drink is sponsored by Milo and V-Soy.

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<b>Sarawak</b> to maintain its 60 pct forest cover — Awang Tengah <b>...</b>

Posted: 27 Feb 2014 12:04 PM PST

KUCHING: The state government has set a target of 25 per cent of its 12.4 million hectares' land mass for various agricultural purposes.

This will still allow the state to maintain a 60 per cent forest cover, which is higher than the world average, says Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.

"Sarawak fully acknowledges the importance of its peat lands not only as part of the carbon sink but more so for the survival of the local communities who live along the coastal peat land areas," he told a lunch talk held in conjunction with the 8th Malaysia Heads of Mission Conference here yesterday.

His text of speech was read by Assistant Minister of Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh.

While the Netherlands and Denmark burn their peat for power generation, the state government had adopted a wise use approach and not merely clear-felling as depicted by certain non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The government would make sure oil palm development would not jeopardise the environmental integrity of the areas being cultivated.

The state's major peat lands initiatives included a feasibility study under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management done in 1998, development and implementation of a Guideline on Water Catchment for Agriculture in Coastal Peat land areas of Sarawak and gazetting of biodiversity conservation areas within the peat lands and water catchment areas.

"Western NGOs have accused Sarawak on issues such as deforestation of its peat swamp forests, decimination of orang utans and a major contributor of carbon dioxide global emission.

"They conveniently ignored the fact that 5,000 Sarawak's orang utans are thriving as viable wild population at Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, Batang Ai National Park and Sebuyau National Park."

Awang Tengah said Indonesia and Malaysia produced about 85 per cent of the world's palm oil, making it a multi-billion dollar industry in both countries.

Malaysian palm oil accounted for 24.1 per cent or 17.6 million tonnes of the total global trade of oils and fats in 2011.

"Palm oil is one of the 17 major oils and fats produced globally and palm oil was the highest consumed oil in 2012, reaching three billion people in 150 countries.

"Global consumption of palm oil was 52.1 million tonnes in 2012. Palm oil is competitively priced against soybean, rapeseed and sunflower oil in the world's market for oils and fats."

Among reasons for palm oil's widespread use was also the fact that it is the most efficient oilseed crop in the world.

According to the Oil World Report 2013, one hectare of oil palm plantation was able to produce up to 10 times more oil than other leading oilseed crops.

Hence on a per hectare basis, oil palms produced roughly 10 times as much vegetable as soybean.

"Also, contrary to NGOs claims that millions of hectares of rainforests are felled annually for oil palm, the fact is that Malaysia's oil palm area stands at five million hectares, an increase of only 4.36 million in the last 35 years. Sarawak has 1.2 million hectares."

He thus hoped delegates to the conference could assist Sarawak to address the misconception on issues portrayed by foreign NGOs.

"We have also distributed booklets on Sarawak's Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity Conservation which will provide you further with better insight on the management of our peat and forest resources."

Deputy secretary general to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Datuk Ramlan Ibrahim, Ambassador-designate of Malaysia to Spain Kennedy Jawan and Assistant Minister of Rural Development Datuk Julaihi Narawi who is also Assistant Minister of Industrial Development (Investment and Promotion) were among those who attended the conference.

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BR1M applicants may have given incorrect details – Jainab <b>...</b>

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 10:42 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: 1Malaysia People's Assistance (BR1M) recipients who did not receive the right amount in accordance with their respective categories are advised to check their particulars with the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

Giving the advice yesterday, Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad said individuals involved may need to update their application details before they could be given the remaining aid still owed to them.

"It is possible that the applicants may have given the wrong information when filling their application or the officers keying in the data may have made a mistake," she said during the presentatin of BR1M vouchers at the Menggatal Community Hall yesterday.

Some recipients in the constituency complained that they received less than what they should be getting.

On Tuesday, a commotion erupted during a BR1M voucher presentation in Tanjung Aru after a group of people started making noises and scolding the officers distributing the vouchers, claiming the amount given was less than the amount promised.

Some were also complaining that their names were not on the list despite being eligible and had received the aid last year.

Jainab who is also the Karambunai elected representative, told those who had yet to receive their BR1M not to panic, noting that distribution period for the assistance had been extended and every eligible applicant would get their share.

"I hope everyone will remain calm and patient and understand the procedures involved. This is just the first phase and it will continue until Sunday.

"We need everyone's cooperation and I urge those who have questions regard their BR1M to check either online or go personally to any IRB branches in their area.

"It would be a shame if our noble intention of providing the assistance is tainted with chaos and dissatisfaction among the people," she said.

Over 11,000 people from Karambunai, covering Inanam, Manggatal and Sepanggar received their BR1M voucher yesterday.

She advised recipients to have a clear understanding, particularly on the amount of assistance they were eligible to receive.

She noted that RM650 would be given to married couple with household income of RM3,000 and below while single individuals aged 21 and above and with income of not more than RM2,000 would get RM300.

Couples earning between RM3,000 and RM4,000 are only eligible for RM450 aid, she explained.

Under the scheme, senior citizens who live alone with no one supporting them are entitled to RM650, she added.

Meanwhile, Jainab said her ministry would continue to monitor the prices of daily goods to ensure irresponsible traders were not taking advantage of customers.

"We have discussed about the matter and asked traders to display the prices for every item they are selling.

"This is to make it easier for consumers to make price comparison and it will be easier for them to notice any price hike.

"We ourselves will continue to conduct inspection and ensure stern action is taken against errant traders," she said.

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RM1.9 million pre-tax profit for <b>Sarawak</b> Cable in 4QFY13, with <b>...</b>

Posted: 28 Feb 2014 08:22 AM PST

KUCHING: Sarawak Cable Bhd (Sarawak Cable) recorded RM1.9 million profit before tax (PBT) for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2013 (4QFY13).

In its 4QFY13 results announcement, the company said other income in the corresponding quarter of 2012 is higher than that of 2013 primarily due to recovery of bad debts amounting to RM 3.1 million.

Finance costs has also increased by 193 per cent compared to 4Q12 principally due to borrowings for working capital requirements and to finance an acquisition of a subsidiary in 2012.

The sale of power cables and conductors contributed 36 per cent of group revenue, making it the main contributor to the group's operating profit in 2013 with most of its operations concentrated in East Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the sale of galvanised steel products and transmission tower contributed 14 per cent of the revenue of the group via its subsidiary whose sales and services are in this segment, concentrates mainly in East Malaysia.

The contract revenue segment is one of the group's main source of revenue, contributing 49 per cent of the revenue of the group and is the main contributor to the group's revenue in 2013.

Segment results for 4Q13 have declined mainly due to slow progress of current on-going contracts in the cumulative 4Q13 and partly due to amortisation of intangible assets (construction contracts) of RM4.1 million, it noted.

Despite the mediocre FY13 results, the group remains positive its prospects driven by the rapid infrastructural and utilities developments in Sarawak, spurred by Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy.

"With the government's increased focus on development of rural areas in Malaysia, particularly in Sarawak, under the Government Transformation Programme coupled with the development of heavy industries under SCORE, there is an urgent need to enhance the electricity generation and power distribution capacity in the state to facilitate infrastructural and industrial developments in the years ahead.

"This will translate into a continuous and strong demand for power cables and conductors, steel products, transmission lines and towers. This augurs well for our group which has a long track record, capability and capacity to undertake various projects in the power transmission and distribution business," it said.

Sarawak Cable added, "While some of our operations may not have met the group's target, we believe that our strategy for our future prospects and growth bodes well with the government's focus on development of the rural areas in the State of Sarawak.

"Overall, the group's strategy remains focused on growing its power cables, steel products and contract revenue segments, with a view to achieve improving performance in the financial year ending December 31, 2014."

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