Mampu, MDeC to implement four pioneer projects BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo |
- Mampu, MDeC to implement four pioneer projects
- More cooking oil sent to Labuan to meet shortage
- Improve Labuan ferry services call
- Crop-raiding elephants put villagers on edge
- Sabah to have four new police stations – CP
- UMS hands over 397 e-devices for disposal
| Mampu, MDeC to implement four pioneer projects Posted: 25 Jun 2014 12:18 PM PDT KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) and Malaysia Development Corporation (MDeC) will be implementing four Big Data Analysis (BDA) pioneer projects in the public sector this year. According to Mampu director general Datuk Wira Omar Kaseh when launching the Kota KInabalu He said the organising committee was chaired by the ministry's chief secretary. He said under the management, Mampu will be looking after the BDA implementation at the public sector, while MDeC will focus on the BDA development of the private sector, namely local entrepreneurs. "Four pioneer projects are being planned and they are the BDA Price Watch which will be implemented with the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry: BDA Sentiment Analysis which will be carried out with the Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission; BDA Crime Prevention to be implemented with the Home Ministry and the BDA Infectious Diseases Forecasting together with the Health Ministry. Among the initiatives implemented by Mampu were the 1Gov*Net, 1GovUC, 1GovCloud, Public Sector Data Centre and the Digital Document Management System. "These initiatives are the platform for the implementation of the Big Data and Open Data at the public sector," he said. The implementation of the Public Sector Data Centre was aimed at improving security and for cost reduction at management level through a collaborative, consolidated and integrated approach. "At present, there are 125 agencies benefitting from the services," he said. The 1Gov*Net, on the other hand, comprise an integrated network infrastructure that has centralised management with emphasis on security for the public sector. A total of 10,600 government agencies locations' have been linked under the 1Gov*Net network, he added. The 1GovUC initiative improves efficiency and cost savings of government agencies. Some 200,000 users have benefitted from the use of the facility, he said. The facility will be introduced to the State Government's administration. The government has also introduced the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Multimedia Messaging System (MMS), Mobile Apps and Mobile Payment to realise the mobile government or M-Government concept. Other initiatives such as Big Data help generate better decisions, reduction of expenditure, create quality services and reduce decision making errors. "The present global scenario and researches have proven the importance of the Big Data initiative as a device that helps in effective and good decision making," he said. He added that the Big Data has been implemented in Singapore, United Kingdom and USA.   |
| More cooking oil sent to Labuan to meet shortage Posted: 25 Jun 2014 12:17 PM PDT LABUAN: The supply of subsidised items, especially cooking oil, is sufficient here for the fasting and Hari Raya festive season, said Labuan Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry. Its acting director Aslani Dabi said more supply of cooking oil was being sent to Labuan to meet the shortage. "Labuan needs around 168 metric tonnes of cooking oil per month and earlier we found that we have a shortage of 68 metric tonnes, which caused problem to the consumers here. "We have appointed an agent to transport those 68 metric tonnes from Sandakan to meet the monthly demand for cooking oil here. "This week we are expecting to have 6,300 kilos of cooking oil in plastic bags and by next Aslani added if there was still a shortage of cooking oil, it would be probably due to hoarding by irresponsible traders. He urged the public to report to his office if they found out any hoarding of subsidized items. Meanwhile, 42 small traders here received assistance from the Bazaar Micro-i Financing Scheme to open up stalls during this coming Ramadhan. They received the aid from Aslani at the Labuan Corporation on Tuesday. "We have received around 54 applications for this scheme and after the processing, only 42 were approved," said Aslani. He said the scheme was introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak early this month for stall operators to sell food and drinks during the fasting month. Bank Rakyat will issue a maximum interest-free loan of RM3,000 to the qualified recipients and they have to pay back the amount within two months after the fasting month. Aslani reminded the stall operators to adhere to the rules by putting up price tags for their food and drinks. Also present were the officer of Labuan Parliamentary Community Service Centre, Khalid Abdul Ghani, Labuan Consumer Movement Council chairperson Hjh Fauziah Datuk Mohd Din and Labuan Bank Rakyat manager Kamarudin Ibrahim. |
| Improve Labuan ferry services call Posted: 25 Jun 2014 10:22 AM PDT by Adrian Nandu. Posted on June 26, 2014, Thursday LABUAN: The Labuan Consumer Movement Council has urged the ferry operators here to improve their services. Its chairperson, Hjh Fauziah Datuk Mohd Din, said she had received several complaints from the public about alleged poor services provided by a roll on/roll off (roro) ferry here. "The other roro ferry operators should follow the system practised by Labuan Ferry Corporation Sdn Bhd where it is more systemic, with passengers' data recorded in computers. "Those who bought ferry tickets earlier are treated as it should be and their rights should not be denied," she said after witnessing the handing over funds from the Bazaar Micro-i Financing Scheme to the recipients here on Tuesday. Fauziah said other complaints were ferry operators would normally give priority to lorries rather than to normal vehicles. "It is unfair to those who have purchased tickets earlier but are denied when they go to the ferry terminal. This kind of thing must be looked into seriously. There should be no discrimination and consumer rights must be prioritized," she said, adding that another complaint was that there were no seats provided by a certain roro ferry. She said there should be one seat for each passenger. "The sea journey between Labuan and Menumbok on the roro ferry is about an hour or two. It must be hard for the elderly and the children if there are no seats provided by the ferry operator. "The treatment by the ferry crew to the passengers must also be enhanced by giving attention to their comfort. Other facilities such as air-conditioning should also be given attention," she said. Fauziah also disclosed that a speedboat laden with passengers is believed to have stranded near Papan Island due to a leakage while on its journey from Menumbok to Labuan, on Monday. She claimed that among the passengers in the speedboat were her staff. "A case like this could hardly be traced by the authority. After the boat was stranded at Papan Island, another speedboat came to rescue the passengers. It was lucky that the speedboat managed to reach the nearby island and no fatality occurred. "A case like this should serve as an eye-opener to all of us. The speedboat that is used for sea transportation must be upgraded, including by providing secure life jackets and not overloaded with passengers. "There might have been similar cases before but were not reported," she said, urging the Ports and Harbour Department to monitor such cases. Meanwhile, Fauziah disclosed that in an earlier meeting with the authorities here, the authorities wanted Labuan Corporation (LC) to set up a committee to study the rising cost of living in Labuan. "We found that the cost of living here is much higher compared to other cities, and a study led by LC must be done. "We also discussed the RM17 million subsidy per year given to lorry operators. The subsidy did not contribute in lowering the prices of goods here as prices keep on rising "Another discussion was about Labuan Hospital where we need specialists. What we are experiencing right now is that we still depend on medical services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu. Our hospital's standard of service should be on par with government hospitals in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya," she said, adding that the government must look into this matter seriously. |
| Crop-raiding elephants put villagers on edge Posted: 25 Jun 2014 10:21 AM PDT SUKAU: For the past two months a group of nine Bornean Elephants have been boxed into a totally isolated patch of forest located very close to the village of Sukau, some 120km from Sandakan, causing undue worry and sleepless nights to the villagers there. "Though we have been living with elephants all our lives and respect them, the current situation is quite alarming as the elephants are trapped in this small patch of forest and have no way to go," said Azrie, a villager from Kampung Sukau. "During the day, the elephants hide in this forest. At night, they venture out of this forest patch and they enter the village area in search of food. Elephants are destroying our properties and crops. There is also a very high risk of these elephants colliding with vehicles at night when they cross the Sukau highway to come to our village area. Even our children are afraid to go to school early morning or late afternoon because the elephants also come there. We really need help here," added Azrie. Nurzhafarina Othman, a PhD student who has been studying elephant ecology and movement in Kinabatangan for the past five years, explained that this problem is due to the destruction of elephant habitat and more bottlenecks in the elephant movement pathways due to erection of electric fences and drains by oil palm plantations and villagers to protect their crops. "The number of elephants in Lower Kinabatangan has been stable over the past ten years or so. However, the size of habitat available to the elephants (forest and grassland) has declined regularly during this period. Indeed, although Kinabatangan is a destination famous all over the world for eco-tourism, forest conversion for new oil palm plantations goes unabated," said Nurzhafarina. Forest conversion in lower Kinabatangan had in the past been recognized as the major issue facing wildlife in the area and pledges to freeze any new development in the area were made taken during the Sabah Wildlife Colloquium a few years ago and are part of management documents such as the Elephant and the Orangutan State Action Plan. However, recent analysis shows that more land is being converted every year in Kinabatangan. The Sabah Wildlife Department acknowledges the fact that the most urgent and immediate solution would be to capture and to translocate this group to the nearby Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. "Translocation is technically possible and Sabah Wildlife Department's Wildlife Rescue Unit which is funded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council has been actively doing this throughout Sabah for the past few years. However we need to realize that elephant translocation is only a fast fix and not a long-term solution. Translocation is a very complicated endeavor, costing a lot of money and creates a lot of stress to the animals," said Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah Wildlife Department. "We would probably be doing more translocation activities within the Lower Kinabatangan landscape before we can solve this ever increasing issue. Just this exercise alone to translocate nine elephants could very easily cost between RM100,000 to RM200,000," said Dr Ambu. "We see more of these human–elephant conflict now erupting not only here in the Kinabatangan area but throughout all the elephant habitats in Sabah. The reasons why we have conflicts are because more elephant habitat is still being converted to agriculture. As long as the natural habitat of the elephants is destroyed, we will continue to create more conflicts. The department will also be calling all plantations around Sukau to develop a Spatial Master Plan that will respect an elephant corridor. However, unless everyone collaborates genuinely on this issue, we can expect more elephant conflicts in the future," he added. The Wildlife Rescue Unit is currently translocating the group of nine elephants from this tiny patch of forest to secure the safety of the villagers in Sukau. The elephants will be released in the forest of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. |
| Sabah to have four new police stations – CP Posted: 25 Jun 2014 10:21 AM PDT by Azmie Lim. Posted on June 26, 2014, Thursday LAHAD DATU: Four new police stations would be built in the state to enhance security, said Sabah Commissioner of Police Datuk Hamza Taib. They are in Paitan (Beluran), Pitas (Kota Marudu), Sukau (Kinabatangan) and Banggi (Kunak). Hamza disclosed this after officiating at the Tambisan Darat new police station at Kampung Tambisan Darat, which replaces the old one at Pulau Tambisan. He said that the setting up of the new police stations was aimed to help the public in lodging reports or convey information of crime activities in their areas. According to Hamza, the new police station under the administration of Lahad Datu police headquarters, has 36 cabins in an area measuring 52,739 hectares. He said the construction of the new police station proved that the government and police were committed to improve the quality of service to the community. "I hope all the equipment and facilities provided will motivate all police personnel to improve their services to meet the expectations and needs of the community in Tambisan," he said. In his speech, Hamza urged police personnel to give their best when serving the people and be committed in protecting the country and the people. He said the police needed strong collaboration with community members in an effort to reduce crime and protect the country. Therefore, cooperation from members of the public is needed to ensure that these efforts are fruitful, he said. Also present were Lahad Datu police chief ACP Shamsudin Mat, district officer Iman Ali and assistant district officer Juraimin Jadil. |
| UMS hands over 397 e-devices for disposal Posted: 25 Jun 2014 10:20 AM PDT by Chok Sim Yee. Posted on June 26, 2014, Thursday KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has handed 397 electronic devices to the Recycle Community Malaysia (RCOMM) to be disposed of as electronic waste (e-waste). Deputy dean of The Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning (CPKLL), Dr Jeannet Stephen, said the e-waste that were disposed of included computers, televisions, printers and other electronic devices that were collected since 1999. She said the university treated E-waste disposal seriously in its effort to maintain environmental sustainability for the next generations. "The effort will continue with the establishment of the Eco Campus through various awareness programmes and activities such as the 'green campus' campaign to increase public awareness on the importance of environmental protection and conservation," she said after handing over the e-waste to RCOMM at CPKLL foyer here yesterday. Jeannet said CPKLL also provided recycling sites for E-waste in support of the effort. She said the programme would be held from time to time, while lecturers especially at the centre, were instructed to hand over electronic devices that were no longer in use for E-waste disposal. Meanwhile, CPKLL senior assistant register Awina Kamis said the assets that were disposed of were worth RM1 per unit due to depreciation. The E-waste disposed yesterday was worth about RM1.3 million in total back in 1999. Also present was RCOMM secretary general Miza Pawan. |
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