Car-free Sunday in the city to return for second run

Car-Free Sunday SG will take place on every last Sunday of the month for six months from February to July 2016.
Channel NewsAsia 23 Mar 16;

SINGAPORE: The second run of Car-Free Sunday SG will take place this Sunday (Mar 27), and will have longer hours of road closures and walking, running and cycling routes.

Roads within the Civic District and parts of the Central Business District (CBD) will be closed to traffic and the streets will be given over to walkers, joggers and cyclists. Family-friendly activities as well as sports and fitness sessions will be hosted in the adjacent spaces, according to a press release issued on Wednesday by various Government agencies.

Roads will be closed to traffic starting at a later time and over a longer duration, from 7.30am to 10am instead of 7am to 9am. The walking, running and cycling route will now include Esplanade Drive, forming a 5km car-free stretch – comprising St Andrew’s Road, Stamford Road, Esplanade Drive, Fullerton Road, Shenton Way and Robinson Road.

Connaught Drive will be closed from 7.30am to 7pm to host a variety of community sporting events and activities, according to the press release.

Presented by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Land Transport Authority (LTA), National Parks Board (NParks), National Arts Council (NAC), Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Sport Singapore (SportSG), Car-Free Sunday SG will take place on every last Sunday of the month for six months from February to July 2016.

New timing, activities for this weekend’s car-free Sunday
Today Online 24 Mar 16;

SINGAPORE — The second edition of car-free Sunday in the Civic District and parts of the Central Business District will be happening this weekend, with extended hours and new activities to transform the area into a giant recreational space.

Roads will be closed to vehicular traffic from 7.30am to 10am instead of the 7am-to-9am period as in the first edition on Feb 28, which attracted thousands who turned up to exercise and enjoy the space. The walking, running and cycling route will be expanded to include Esplanade Drive, to form a 5km car-free stretch along St Andrew’s Road, Stamford Road, Fullerton Road, Shenton Way and Robinson Road.

Apart from free entry to museums, sports activities, street performances and guided heritage tours, this round of the event will also feature an arts and gardening bazaar from 8am to 6pm, as well as open-mike sessions from 3pm to 6pm for aspiring musicians, singers and dancers at Esplanade Park.

The National Gallery Singapore will host a one-hour yoga session from 9.10am, followed by an Easter egg hunt from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.

Car-free Sunday will happen every last Sunday of the month until July. Participants are encouraged to take public transport or cycle to the venue. Personal mobility devices, including motorised versions, are allowed. More details are available online at http://ura.sg/carfreesundaysg.

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Malaysia: Rangers fighting forest fires in Sabah’s Mount Trusmadi

RUBEN SARIO The Star 23 Mar 16;

KOTA KINABALU: A fire is raging at hilly conservation area near Mount Trusmadi, Sabah’s second highest mountain and there is little Forestry Department personnel can do to put out the blaze for now.

Department director Datuk Sam Mannan said the fire had so far burned more than 500ha of bushes and secondary forest at the Trus Madi conservation area located about 70km from the city.

“The fire is now burning on steep slopes and our tractors cannot climb these areas to make firebreaks,” he told The Star late Wednesday.

He said the blaze was now burning a vulnerable area of shrubs and acacia as well as secondary forests that were first damaged by fires during the last intense El Nino induced drought in 1997 and 1998.

He said the fire was believed to have started more than two weeks ago at state lands near the conservation area.

“These fires were started by people practising shifting cultivation and got out of control because of the present dry conditions,” Mannan added.

He said the department had deployed a team of rangers to try and bring the fire under control but they were making little progress so far due to the dry spell.

Mannan said they would consult the Fire and Rescue Services Department on the possibility of using aerial water bombing to douse out the blaze in the conservation area.

Sabah bush fire razes over 50ha of vegetation
The Star 24 Mar 16;

KOTA KINABALU: A fire is raging at a hilly conservation area near Mount Trusmadi, Sabah’s second highest mountain, and there is little Forestry Department personnel can do to put out the blaze for now.

Department director Datuk Sam Mannan said the fire had so far burnt more than 500ha of bushes and secondary forest at the Trus Madi conservation area, located about 70km from the city.

“The fire is now burning on steep slopes and our tractors cannot climb to these areas to make firebreaks,” he told The Star late yesterday.

He said the blaze was now burning at a vulnerable area of shrubs and acacia, as well as secondary forest that were first damaged by fires during the last intense El Nino-induced drought in 1997 and 1998.

“Our concern is that this fire, if left unabated, will continue to burn into the forest where good trees stand.”

He said the fire was believed to have started more than two weeks ago at state land near the conservation area by people practicing shift cultivation. It got out of control due to the present dry conditions.

He said the department had deployed a team of its rangers to try and bring the fire under control but they were making little progress due to the dry conditions.

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Malaysia: Four Out Of 20 Dams At Critical Level - Wan Junaidi

Bernama 23 Mar 16;

PUTRAJAYA, March 23 (Bernama) -- Water capacity at four out of 20 dams monitored by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) are at the critical level as of Monday following the current heatwave in the country.

The four dams are Kwong in Kelantan at 27.9 per cent capacity; Padang Saga in Langkawi, Kedah (38 per cent); Labong, Johor (14.3 per cent) and Timah Tasoh in Kangar, Perlis (38.8 per cent).

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the other dams recorded water levels at between 53 per cent and 100 per cent.

In another development, he said a technical meeting on coral reef monitoring would be held by the Department of Marine Parks (JLTM) soon.

"Extreme temperature increase can affect marine ecosystems especially corals because they are very sensitive to changes in their environment," he said in a statement here Wednesday.

Wan Junaidi said sudden temperature changes of two degrees Celsius for eight weeks could cause coral bleaching and death.

"If the temperature changes significantly, between one and two degrees Celsius, JLTM will hold the National Coral Reef Bleaching Technical Advisory meeting and the National Coral Reef Bleaching Response Committee meeting," he said.

The meetings will be held to coordinate the action plan, such as monitoring the marine recreational activities, disseminating information to the public especially tourists and monitoring public complaints, he said.

Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi said the ministry and other relevant agencies had been enhancing prevention efforts against open burning which could potentially cause haze.

The efforts include activating the open burning prevention action plan throughout the country starting Jan 12.

Between early this year and March 19, a total of 703 open burning cases were detected nationwide involving forest, agriculture, industry and landfill areas as well as construction sites.

Fines were imposed in 56 of the cases, 18 cases were issued notice of instruction and seven cases were issued letter of instruction.

"The investigation papers on three cases are ready for court action," he said.

In PASIR MAS, Pasir Mas DID district engineer Hanisah Che Wok said the Kwong Dam was still supplying water to agriculture areas despite the low level.

Hanisah said they were monitoring the situation closely.

In SEREMBAN, Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said there were no plans for water rationing in the state as there was adequate supply even though levels at dams had dipped due to the prolonged hot and dry weather.

In IPOH, the Perak state executive councillor in charge, Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin, said the state would also not be facing any water shortage for now,

-- BERNAMA


No plans for Negri to ration water
SARBAN SINGH The Star 24 Mar 16;

SEREMBAN: Consumers in Negri Sembilan can heave a sigh of relief as the state government has deci­ded against implementing water rationing.

The news comes despite water level at one of its seven dams being below the critical mark while five others are nearing critical le­vels.

According to Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, there was no need for water rationing now because the authorities were drawing most of the raw water supply from rivers.

Just last week, he had said that they were considering rationing treated water due to the falling water levels at its dams.

“We are aware that the levels at five dams are nearing critical levels but they can still supply water for another two months.

“We hope to get more rain in the catchment areas by then,” he told reporters.

Statistics from Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan showed that the water level at the Gemencheh dam had fallen to 94.97m or 0.03m below the critical level.

The water level at the Sg Terip dam was 97.69m with the critical level at 94.6m while Kelinchi was 199.7m (198.3m), Talang 144.16m (140.5m), Pedas 134.4m (131.75m) and Teriang 190.3m (190m).

The water level at the Ulu Sepri dam was 131.2m.

Mohamad said efforts were already underway to replenish the water supply at the Gemencheh dam by drawing water from Sg Jelai through a 7km pipe network.

“We will pump some 55 million litres of raw water a day to the Gemencheh dam.

“Once it is full, we will supply the treated water to residents in Tampin,” he said, adding that these residents now received their supply from the Sawah Raja plant in Rembau.

Mohamad said once this was done, the additional treated water would be supplied to consumers in Port Dickson.

He said that to replenish the supply at the Sg Terip dam, the autho­rities would also start pumping some 68 million litres of raw water from Sg Petasih.

To further replenish the water supply at the dam, the authorities will also increase the intake from the Sg Batang Penar from 23 million litres per day to 68 million litres per day depending on the water quality.

“Also, we will pump some 60 million litres of water a day from Sg Muar to replenish the supply at the Talang dam,” he added.

He said to ensure that there was sufficient supply of treated water, the state government had also recently approved applications from industries to construct tube wells to draw groundwater.

“By doing this, we have rerouted some 20% of all treated water in the state previously consumed by industries to other users,” Mohamad added.


Negri Sembilan water levels adequate: MB
TEOH PEI YING New Straits Times 23 Mar 16;

SEREMBAN: Negri Sembilan will not impose water rationing for now as the water level at rivers and dams there are adequate despite the hot spell.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the meeting with Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan (Sains), Meteorological Department and other relevant agencies revealed that the dams and rivers could endure longer than the expected 30 days.

“In Negri Sembilan, we do not only take raw water from the dams to process into treated water.

We also get the water from the rivers.

“Although the water level at the dams had dropped, with some almost reaching the critical level, the rivers levels are still stable. “Sungai Terip and Gemencheh dams recorded lower water levels as water treatment plants directly get raw water from these two dams,” he told reporters after chairing the weekly state executive councillors meeting here, today.

Mohamad, however, advised members of the public to use water prudently as no one knew for sure when the hot spell would end.

It was earlier reported that Mohamad said the state government would consider imposing water rationing in two weeks, if the dry spell continues.

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Malaysia's biggest island, Pulau Banggi, pleads for help as water supply dries up

ROY GOH New Straits Times 23 Mar 16;

KOTA KINABALU: Residents of four main villages on Pulau Banggi, Malaysia's biggest island are at their wits end on how to source for water supply, as the heat wave persists nationwide.

Community leader Jimbo Juisali said there are about 50 villages on Banggi, which measures about 440 sq km, and most are badly affected by the hot and dry weather.

The four affected villages are the main township of Karakit, Perpaduan, Lok Tohog and Singgah Mata.

“Most villages still depend on wells and gravity system from water sources but four main villages linked with piped supply from the Pangkalan Darat treatment plant however are facing shortfall in supply.

“There’s still water at the plant’s reservoir and this is where transporters have helped deliver water to the villagers at RM20 per 400 gallon (1,500 litre) plastic tanks,” he said.

The plant is about 10km from Karakit where the main jetty is located.

Jimbo said some of the affected villagers also carry water from water sources on the island or get their supply from friends in other villages.

“There are wells on the four islands but all have dried up because the residents no longer ‘depend’ on them because of the piped water supply that was available since 2007,” he explained.

The water shortage has captured the attention of netizens, who have rallied for aid to be given to the islanders. The hashtag #BanggiWaterCrisis was trending on Twitter this morning.


Sabah island in dire straits
MICHELLE TAM The Star 24 Mar 16;

PETALING JAYA: Villagers on Sabah’s Pulau Banggi, the largest island in Malaysia, are facing a water crisis that has stretched on for three weeks.

Among the most affected on the island, which is the size of Singa­pore, are the elderly, the disabled, children and dozens of primary school students

The children have to walk over a kilometre to and from their classes in sweltering weather on an island made worse by a lack of basic amenities.

Water is already expensive at RM20 per 1,000 litres. In comparison, the price in the peninsula for 1,000 litres is less than RM1.

Showers and washing are also deemed luxuries and many villagers opt to use unclean water from wells and ponds instead.

Desonny Tuzan, co-founder of the Beyond Pitas non-government organisation, has highlighted the villagers’ plight through a series of tweets using the hashtag #Banggi­WaterCrisis.

“The wells in Kg Palak in Pulau Banggi, Sabah, are drying up. There are three wells. One has a dead rat,” he tweeted yesterday.

For some, the nearest well can be up to a kilometre away.

Among those helping on the ground is Pastor Albert Adampai, 43, who has served the area under the Sidang Injil Borneo Church for over two years.

He said Felcra was supplying water to its workers in the area but the island’s main water tank has run dry, leaving villagers in dire need of clean treated water.

“The last two weeks were the worst. Whatever little water there was evaporated quickly because of the scorching sun,” he told The Star.

Without Good Samaritans like Albert, some elderly folk have to endure a 2km walk home daily under the weight of a 25-litre container.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said each district in the state had a disaster management committee chaired by the District Office and that it had been ordered to act accordingly.

In Kota Kinabalu, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said water shortages had hit various parts of Sabah, including Pekan Nabalu at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu.

He also said the authorities had begun sending water to people in the affected areas.

“There is also a high incidence of bush and forest fires that have affected our air quality.

“I would also like to remind people to be responsible and not to resort to open burning, which would worsen the haze,” he added.


Musa Aman: Sabah hit by water shortages
RUBEN SARIO The Star 23 Mar 16;

KOTA KINABALU: Water shortages have hit various parts of Sabah including Pekan Nabalu at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Musa said the ongoing El Nino-induced drought had also caused a water supply shortfall at Pulau Banggi and Pitas in northern Sabah as well as Pulau Sebatik in the east coast.

He added that the Water Department and other authorities have begun sending water to people in the affected areas, and that he had also directed the State Disaster Relief Committee headed by State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman to closely monitor and implement measures to overcome the water shortage.

Musa said in a statement late Wednesday that he had also reminded district Disaster Relief Committees to be alert and monitor the water supply situation in their respective areas.

He also reminded the public to conserve water in light of the dry spell that is expected to last till June.

"There is also a high incidence of bush and forest fires that has deteriorated our air quality. Therefore I would also like to remind people to be responsible and not to resort to open burning which would worsen the haze," said Musa.

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Malaysia: As heat wave persists, parents install fans, air conditioners in schools

C. PREMANANTHINI New Straits Times 23 Mar 16;

SHAH ALAM: Following El Nino and the heat wave that has affected the country, parents here have taken measures to ensure their children are comfortable in school.

A check at several schools revealed that some schools had been equipped with additional fans, air-conditioners as well as water station in their canteens.

In Shah Alam, Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Jelutong had additional fans placed in several classrooms.

A spokesperson said the fans was sponsored by the parents, along with an air-conditioner for one of the classrooms.

In Klang, a spokesperson for SK Bukit Kapar said a water station had been set up in the canteen during the school holidays.

"With the help of the parent-teacher association (PIBG), we installed a water station.

On Sunday we informed our teachers to gather information on the El Nino and its effects and about heatstroke and how to overcome it.

"The next day, we briefed our students about the El Nino phenomenon and made sure that they drank two litres of water a day to overcome the heat," she said.

Though outdoor activities are postponed temporarily, she said, indoor activities such as clubs and association are ongoing as usual.

Meanwhile, while Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang was not able to provide any additional facilities to help overcome the heat, the school made an exception for its students.

Their students are allowed to wear school t-shirts to school to beat the heat.

"We requested several times for the installation of fans in our classrooms but to no avail due to a lack of budget," she said.

Meanwhile, Selangor Education Department director Zainuren Md Nor said some 930 schools in the whole of Selangor had been issued circulars to temporarily postpone outdoor activities.

Back to schools nationwide but off the fields
The Star 24 Mar 16;

PETALING JAYA: Schools in Perlis and Kedah, which were closed due to the heatwave, will resume classes today but outdoor activities are still suspended.

The Education Ministry said in a statement that all schools nationwide would resume lessons as temperatures had dropped.

It said the decision was made as the temperature over the last 72 hours was below 38°C.

The ministry also issued a directive for all schools to take precautionary measures such as ensuring that there was adequate supply of clean drinking water.

State Education Departments and district education offices were to monitor all schools to ensure that they followed the directive, it said.

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Malaysia: Jumbo rumble in the jungles

SAMANTHA CHOW and ELROI YEE The Star 24 Mar 16;

GERIK: A war is brewing between the orang asli and wild elephants in the jungles of Perak, and there are now reports of casualties on both sides.

Conservationist at the Wildlife Conservation Reserve Steven Lim said five to six elephants had been killed by the orang asli in the Belum-Temengor area over the past two years, mostly by lacing fruits with rat poison and ferti­lisers.

He claimed the orang asli resorted to such acts as their complaints to the authorities had fallen on deaf ears.

Last year, a 15-year-old boy was killed at Pos Kemar (an orang asli resettlement area in Hulu Perak) by an elephant.

He was not the first human casualty in the conflict.

A Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK) member at Pos Kemar, who declined to be named, said the orang asli killed the elephant responsible for the 15-year-old’s death using a trap called ranjau.

A ranjau consists of a tree trunk with a sharp spike, which strikes at the heart of the elephant when triggered.

“When human lives are at stake, laws don’t matter anymore. We have to care for our own safety,” he said.

A documentary by The Star’s R.AGE video crew captured the attempts of the orang asli of the Jahai tribe in Belum to ward off the elephants, which posed a danger to their homes and crops.

One family was forced to abandon their homes entirely after an elephant “attack”, and they lived in a makeshift tent for several weeks.

The orang asli claim the conflict is escala­ting because the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has translocated 36 elephants into the area since 2010.

Perhilitan said the conflict could not be avoided due to human activity in the forest.

“However, we haven’t received any reports of retaliatory killings by the orang asli,” said Nosrat Ravichandran, director of the Consul­tancy Division for Perhilitan.

“We encourage those with information to inform us immediately.”

Bandaruna, one of the village heads at Pos Kemar, said they had spoken to the state assemblyman, the Department of Orang Asli Development and Perhilitan about the escalating conflict but they had not developed a long-term solution.

“If outsiders die, it will surely appear on TV. But when it happens to orang asli, nobody knows about it,” he claimed.

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Indonesia: Three orangutan traders sentenced to prison

The Jakarta Post 24 Mar 16;

The Pekanbaru District Court sentenced on Wednesday Ali Ahmad and Awaluddin for two and a half years and Khairi Roza for two years in prison for trading orangutans.

Presiding judge HAS Pudjoharsoyo said Khairi received a lighter sentence because he was not directly involved in the trade of the protected species as he was just the driver of the car rented by the other convicts.

The police arrested them last November in Riau, seizing three orangutan babies.

The three orangutans are now in the care of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program in Sibolangit district in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra. Wishnu Sukmantoro, the Sumatra program manager at WWF Indonesia, was satisfied with the verdict as it was heavier than verdicts handed down to previous illegal traders in Riau in the last 10 years.

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