Honoring fallen heroes BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo |
- Honoring fallen heroes
- WWII bomb found at Tg Aru construction site
- Property developers want banks to shoulder more responsibility
- Streetlight thefts rampant – City Hall
- RM680,000 aid for 82 flood-hit schools
- Dad recalls frantic moments trying to save lawyer
| Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:19 AM PDT Posted on April 26, 2014, Saturday
Minister of Resource Development and Information Technology Advancement Datuk Siringan Gubat represented Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman at the ceremony. The annual Anzac Day is held in memory of 1,787 Australian prisoners of war who died in the 'death marches' from Sandakan to Ranau towards the end of World War II from January to June 1945.  We encourage commenting on our stories to give readers a chance to express their opinions; please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. While the comments here reflect the views of the readers, they are not necessarily that of Borneo Post Online. Borneo Post Online reserves the right not to publish or to remove comments that are offensive or volatile. Please read the Commenting Rules.  |
| WWII bomb found at Tg Aru construction site Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:18 AM PDT KOTA KINABALU: A rusty live bomb, believed to be from World War II, was discovered at a construction site in Tanjung Aru on Thursday. The discovery was made by construction workers while carrying out excavation work at the site. The meter-long bomb, which was buried in mud about 10 feet deep, was later successfully detonated by a bomb disposal unit from the State Police Headquarters around 5pm yesterday, according to City police chief ACP Jauteh Dikun. In October last year, some 12 rusty live artillery shells, believed to be also from World War II, were discovered at Kampung Pulau Sepanggar. The shells, about two inches long each, were discovered by villagers and were detonated by the bomb disposal unit. We encourage commenting on our stories to give readers a chance to express their opinions; please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. While the comments here reflect the views of the readers, they are not necessarily that of Borneo Post Online. Borneo Post Online reserves the right not to publish or to remove comments that are offensive or volatile. Please read the Commenting Rules. |
| Property developers want banks to shoulder more responsibility Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:17 AM PDT PENAMPANG: Property developers associations from Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia are seeking an audience with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to push their demand for the banking industry to shoulder more responsibilities in the implementation of a private-led affordable homes scheme. Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association's president (SHAREDA) president Francis Goh Fah Sun, said the organization together with its partners, Real Estate and Housing Developers Association's (REHDA) and Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHEDA) would make a courtesy call on the premier soon. "We have concluded during the meeting that we should have a discussion with Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the Finance Minister, [to forward] our suggestion to have local banks come in to play a more effective role towards achieving the government's pledge to provide 1 million affordable homes for the rakyat," he said to reporters after the 19th Malaysian Developers' Council (MDC) meeting here yesterday. He said it was important that the banks provide more accessible financing facilities for home buyers, especially the low income group to ensure that they could actually afford to buy the houses built for them. This came following Goh's statement earlier this month that failure to secure housing loans due to stringent requirements imposed by banks was the main reason low income families were unable to buy a house, despite many assistance and schemes provided by the authorities. Stressing that local loan requirements for eligible applicants of government housing initiatives such as MyHome need to be more flexible, he had suggested that local banks adopt a quota system, under which they would approve a certain number of housing loan applications as part of their social corporate responsibility (SCR) programme. "There are over 2,000 branches of local banks across the country. If each of them adopt a quota of 500 affordable home applicants, we will meet the 1 million target in no time. Perhaps, Bank Negara can impose this as some kind of requirement for the banks," he proposed. On a separate issue, Goh called for the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman's intervention to expedite delayed land conversion approval for housing projects in Sabah. He noted there were projects ready to commence but could not go forward pending the issuance of land premium endorsement letters by the related department. "The endorsement letters are still stuck at the Natural Resources Department which comes directly under the Chief Minister's Office. I believe this is due to the changing of administration and hope that it could be resolved soon," he said. Meanwhile, REHDA's president Datuk Seri Michael Yam, suggested measures be taken by the government to reduce the upfront cost paid by home buyers to help reduce the prices of houses. He said this included the utility charges imposed on developers which are transferred to the end prices of housing properties. "Instead of charging the cost up front to developers, who in return add the additional cost to their selling price, why not have the buyers, for instance, pay higher tariff for 20 years. This will increase the affordability of the houses as they would be sold at lower prices," he said. Goh in supporting Yam's suggestion, said utility charges translated to about six to seven percent of the prices of affordable houses in Sabah, depending on the unit density of the project. On other matters discussed during the meeting, Yam said the three associations had deliberated on the issue of labour shortage in the property development industry. SHEDA's president, Haji Zaidi Ahmad in elaborating on this, said the industry was faced with acute shortage of labour and high dependency on imported workers. In this regard, he said the council was of the opinion that more training programmes should be conducted by the government together with the industry players to produce more skilled construction workers among the locals. Another representative from SHEDA also informed that the council together with 13 other associations, have submitted a memorandum of the industry's perspective on the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) planned for implementation starting May 1 next year. The association said the memorandum also contained several suggestions to minimize the impact of GST especially on the prices of the affordable houses. Among the suggestions included to zero rate the taxes for main construction prices such as steel bars, cement, brick and sand. |
| Streetlight thefts rampant – City Hall Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:17 AM PDT KOTA KINABALU: City Hall is facing serious theft problems of its streetlight control panel components, serving streetlights and decorative lights at strategic locations within the city. The latest incident occurred on Wednesday (April 23), at the Jalan KK By-pass in front of Menara Jubili, whereby 40 units of LED floodlights, 240 metres of armored cables, and 60 metres of underground copper cables worth more than RM50,000 were stolen. Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir said the stolen floodlights were installed on the road island to brighten up the area and, at the same time to decorate the landscape. He added that this year alone, the streetlight components at the Jalan Pintas tunnel have already been stolen twice on February 27 and April 22, while another two incidents occurred at Jalan Coastal Highway on March 25 and Jalan Mat Salleh on April 8. Madingkir said it cost substantial amount of money to replace the stolen streetlights and control panel components. According to him, City Hall had recently installed many additional streetlights and decorative lights to enhance the city night view and public safety, but sadly these items were either vandalized or stolen. In view of this, the Mayor called upon the public to assist City Hall by reporting to them or to the police should they come across any suspicious characters working around these control panels, especially at odd hours of the night. The public can report to City Hall's Hotline number at 088-210 011 (during office hours) or to the police at 088-242 111 (after office hours). The Mayor added that City Hall contractors normally do not work late or after midnight unless during special events and they will soon be wearing vests to highlight their identities. |
| RM680,000 aid for 82 flood-hit schools Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:16 AM PDT by Jenne Lajiun. Posted on April 26, 2014, Saturday KOTA KINABALU: A total of 82 schools in Sabah will benefit from the RM680,000 funds raised by Media Prima NSTP. Tourism, Culture and Environment minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said during the State Education Department 1Agenda 1Vision Disaster Fund presentation ceremony held at the Promenade Hotel near here yesterday. He said the schools that would be receiving the funds were afflicted by the floods which occurred in February and March. Masidi, who was represented by State Education Department director, Datuk Jame Alip, also congratulated the department for successfully raising RM42,200.90 in its special donation fund. The funds would be used to help schools affected by floods, landslides, and fire, he said. The special donation fund was set up on February 17, he said. He described the effort as noble and hoped that the assistance rendered would help the schools overcome the difficulties they were facing. "This would also serve as an encouragement for them to recover as they are aware of the support given to them by the Education Director," he said. He described each disaster as a divine test which also acts as a reminder to people who were not affected by the disaster and encouraged them to be grateful to God and render their assistance to those in need. He urged all parties, including individuals, to assist victims of disasters irrespective of where they were. The assistance given could be in the form of cash, equipment, medicine, clothing and used materials as well as physical assistance, he said. He reminded that while some disasters do not result in the loss of lives, they do incur heavy losses to those involved. He also urged that the spirit of helping others be inculcated in the young and encouraged parents to do their part in this respect. Meanwhile, when met by media members after the event yesterday, Jame said that the Beaufort District Education Office had received the largest allocation as the floods severely affected the schools there. He said SK Pintas at Beaufort, for instance, had lost its chairs and desks in the flood. However, despite the loss, the school continued to operate. The recipients of the funds were the District Education Offices from Sandakan (RM8,000), Lahad Datu (RM16,000), Kota Kinabalu (RM56,000), Keningau (RM96,000), Tuaran (RM69,000), Kota Belud (RM40,000), Sipitang (RM40,000), Nabawan (RM16,000), Beaufort (RM221,000) and Tenom (RM128,000). He advised the District Education Offices to immediately issue assistance payments to all the affected schools to enable them to carry out rectification work promptly. |
| Dad recalls frantic moments trying to save lawyer Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:16 AM PDT by Elton Gomes. Posted on April 26, 2014, Saturday
KOTA KINABALU: Family and friends yesterday attended the funeral of lawyer Jay Ferret Jeffrey Linjungan, who suffocated and died inside a hole on Wednesday while attempting to rescue puppies. The funeral service was held at the St Michael's Church in Penampang. "He saved the lives of two puppies but lost his life trying to rescue another two more. He is so young just starting out his life (as a trained lawyer). I can't believe he is gone," said Jay's father, Jeffrey Linjungan. The father also said that the other two puppies inside the hole also died. Jay, 28, was found stuck inside the metre-deep hole near his home in Kampung Pisang Babah, with his legs protruding from the hole that measures about 45cm in width (18 inches). Recollecting the tragic incident, Linjungan said he started looking for his son (Jay) when he saw the latter's vehicle was still parked outside their house after he returned home about noon. "Jay was supposed to go to work so I was a bit surprised when his car was still at home," he said. "I went looking for him and was shocked to see two legs protruding from a hole behind our house. "My heart started to beat fast and I cried out for my two other sons who were at home at that time," said the tearful father, adding that neither of them managed to pull Jay out of the one-meter deep hole. "Only after someone else came, who I could not remember, that we managed to get him out. "He was not breathing and I tried CPR but there was no response," he said. They brought him to the hospital but Jay was pronounced dead upon arrival, he added. According to Linjungan, their pet dog, Nina, had dug the hole just before she gave birth to four puppies. "Jay was planning to keep the puppies in a safer spot as it was raining the day before," he said. Among those present to pay their final respects were Jay's mother Jovita Peter Lidadun, his two brothers, three sisters and other relatives. Jay was laid to rest at the Nambazan Cemetery in Penampang around noon yesterday. |
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