Indonesia: Rare Sumatran tiger found dead in trap

AFP 25 Sep 18;

The carcass of a critically endangered Sumatran tiger which died after being caught in a pig trap near Pekanbaru on the island of Sumatra
A critically endangered Sumatran tiger has died after being caught in a hunter's trap on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, an official said Wednesday.

Locals told the conservation agency that a female Sumatran tiger had been seen on Tuesday caught in a pig trap set by a hunter in Muara Lembu village of Riau province.

Officers immediately visited the location but the tiger was gone.

The next day officers scoured the area once again and found the tiger dead near a ravine, with rope from the trap wrapped around its belly.

They believed the rope caused the animal's death.

Local conservation agency head Suharyono said the death was especially regrettable because the tiger was an adult female expected to give birth to cubs.

Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

There are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild and environmental activists say they are increasingly coming into conflict with people as their natural habitat is rapidly deforested.


Man arrested after death of pregnant Sumatran tiger
Dyaning Pangestika & Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 27 Sep 18;

The authorities have arrested a man in connection with the death of a pregnant Sumatran tiger after it was caught in a hunter's trap, an official said on Thursday.

The man in question, identified only as E, was detained by the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (Riau BKSDA) near the location of the tiger's corpse on Wednesday night.

The head of Riau BKSDA, Suharyono, said E was still being questioned as a witness.

“He admitted that he had set up several traps in various areas,” Suharyono told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

According to Suharyono, E, who works as a security guard for an oil palm plantation, denied that he killed the tiger intentionally and said he used the traps to catch pigs.

“I told E that he was supposed to wait around the trap to prevent other animals from being harmed if he actually wanted to catch a pig. If a tiger passed by, then he should shoo it away. What would happen if it was his kid instead who was trapped?” he said.

The tiger, which was estimated to be between 3.5 and 5 years old, was found dead with the wire from the trap wrapped around its belly. The autopsy report showed that the wire had ruptured the tiger’s kidney, which led to her death.

The autopsy also revealed that the critically endangered animal was carrying two fetuses and was expected to deliver her cubs in two weeks.

If the authorities name E a suspect, he could face 5 years in prison and a Rp 100 million (US$6,708) fine as stipulated in Article 21 of Law No. 5/1999 on the conservation of biological resources and the ecosystem. (ahw)

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Malaysia: Call to ban import of plastic waste

wani muthiah The Star 27 Sep 18;

KLANG: The government should stop the import of plastic waste instead of imposing a RM15 levy for every tonne of the scrap brought into Malaysia, says the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP).

“CAP calls for a total ban on the import of plastic waste to protect public health and our environment.

“CAP is very frustrated with the Malaysian government because it does not recognise the scale of the problem,” association president S.M. Mohamed Idris said in a statement yesterday.

On Tuesday, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamarudin said a RM15 levy would be imposed when the freeze on approved permits (APs) on plastic waste import ends on Oct 23.

The imported garbage, mostly plastic, is believed to be imported from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Malaysia is slowly becoming a recycling hub for foreign trash material since China banned the import of plastic waste.

Mohamed Idris said CAP had anticipated such issues arising in Malaysia after the China ban and had written to several ministries and the National Solid Waste Man­agement Department about its concerns.

According to him, the department had talked about a ruling to control plastic waste import and imposing stringent requirements on premises and import licences.

“However, the control measures and enforcement have proven inadequate, based on the pollution and mushrooming of illegal recycling factories in many parts of Malay­sia,” he said.

Fomca president Datuk N. Mari­muthu said Malaysia already had problems with domestic garbage disposal and should not take on additional trash from other countries.

“We have a clear food wastage issue in our country with people dumping it all over the place. This is threatening to contaminate our water sources,” he said.

Marimuthu said the government must take a clear stand and do what was right for the nation.

“Why talk about imposing the RM15 levy? Just stop importing garbage. Malaysia cannot be a dumping ground as we already have far too much of our own trash,” he said.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia honorary secretary Meenakshi Raman concurred, saying: “It is not about imposing levies; it is about not allowing the waste to come into the country at all.”

If other countries banned garbage import, she added, there was no reason for Malaysia to become an importer of waste.

The government’s priority should be protecting the environment and public health, she said.


Levy for plastic waste imports
wani muthiah, arnold loh, fatimah zainal, and rashvinjeet s. bedi The Star 26 Sep 18;

KUALA LANGAT: Malaysia, which is becoming a dumping ground for plastic waste by other countries, will slap a levy on such imports to halt the growing environmental problem.

The situation became critical after China banned plastic imports, leading to a huge impact on the global recycling system.

Countries such as Britain have begun to look to other places such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to offload such wastes.

Here in Kuala Langat for example, which is a town about 60km away from Kuala Lumpur, it has emerged as a hotbed of plastic waste with about 40 unlicensed factories processing imported plastic.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, who made a spot check here yesterday, announced that a levy would be imposed at RM15 per tonne of plastic waste after Oct 23, when the freeze on approved permits (AP) on plastic waste import ends.

(On July 23, the ministry revoked the AP on plastic waste import of 114 plastic waste companies and factories all over Malaysia for three months in order to allow the authorities to look into the plastic waste issue.)

“Malaysian factories are currently able to import plastic for free. So now we are going to put a levy on them,” she said.

Furthermore, the requirements for factories to obtain permits to import plastic waste would also be tightened, she told reporters yesterday.

The process to obtain an AP on plastic waste imports will also be made more stringent with the addition of new criteria that must be met before permits are issued to plastic waste factories.

“The names of companies that import and export plastic must be listed to show the legitimacy of the business. Applicants must also get the approval of Mida (Malaysian Investment Development Authority) in order to get the AP,” she said.

Zuraida said that the number of APs issued would be cross-checked with the Customs Department’s capacity to receive plastic waste at the ports. The monitoring process would also be tightened with the ministry looking out for illegal activities linked to this, she added.

Zuraida noted that laws were already in place to regulate plastic waste factories.

“However, unlicensed factories did not adhere to them,” she said.

Zuraida said that the ministry would be closing down 24 unlicensed factories in Kuala Langat.

“By principle we have agreed to close them down but what we want is to discuss with them to find a way on how to get rid of their plastic waste, which could be sold to licensed factories.

“We also need to set a time frame for when they should start and end the process,” she said.


'Halt plastic waste processing activities at illegal factories immediately'
Dawn Chan New Straits Times 28 Sep 18;

SHAH ALAM: A Kuala Langat-based environmental group has called for a concerted effort by the authorities to immediately halt all plastic waste processing activities in the district which are causing air pollution and endangering the lives of the local community.

A spokesperson of the Kuala Langat Action Group, which was set up to highlight the issue to the authorities, said little has changed since the recent visit by the Housing and Local Government minister, Zuraida Kamaruddin, who had addressed the issue and ordered a meeting to be called in a weeks’ time.

The spokesperson, who declined to be named, said Zuraida’s visit on Tuesday to several illegal factories processing the plastic waste sourced from overseas and unauthorised sites where the materials were dumped did nothing to put fear in the operators.

“Our observation showed that there are still illegal factories processing the plastic waste and there are still containers being sent to the premises. The factory operators know we are watching them and they have also changed their operating hours.

“It is high time that the authorities such as the Kuala Langat Municipal Council (MDKL), the Department of Environment and the district and land office take stern action against the illegal operators. I think there is a lack of supervision here and the culprits should not be given just a slap on the wrist.

“The district office should seal the illegal premises immediately and penalise the land owners for allowing such activities to take place on the property,” he told the New Straits Times Press today.

He added that members of the group were actively monitoring the activities taking place at the illegal factories in a bid to build a strong case with hopes that the authorities will put a stop to it the soonest possible.

Proof such as photographic and video evidences were being collected to show that illegal factory operators did not fear the authorities, he said.

On Tuesday, Zuraida had called for a ministerial level meeting to be held with 54 factories processing plastic waste operating in MDKL’s jurisdiction, out of which 13 were licensed after they were legalised by the state government while 17 had been ordered to shut.

Following a coordination meeting at the municipal council, Zuraida ordered a meeting to be held with all parties on Oct 2 and it will be chaired by the National Solid Waste Management Department director-general Ismail Mokhtar.

Zuraida said in the Oct 2 meeting, discussions would revolve around finding ways to dispose the existing plastic waste at the illegal factories, taking over of the materials from unlicensed parties by licensed factories and the time frame of the actions.

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Malaysia: Jumbo problems for Sabah rangers

muguntan vanar The Star 27 Sep 18;

KOTA KINABALU: The frequent conflict between man and beast has stretched wildlife rangers so thin so that they are calling on plantation owners and farmers to take their own initiatives to protect their crops from elephants without hurting the animals.

“There are just so many plantations and smallholdings that an elephant can enter anytime. There is no way the department can cope and provide assistance to all,” Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said.

He said the government wanted to optimise its resources.

“The best is for all of them to be able to protect their own property without hurting or killing the elephants,” he said when contacted about a farmer’s cry for help after elephants destroyed his newly-planted oil palm, banana plants and coconut trees on a 1.6ha farm.

They remained there for three days, destroying the crops.

He estimated his losses at RM5,000.

Ghani said it was the second time that elephants had destroyed his crops, adding that there could be up to four “visits” in a year.

“We did not dare get out of the house because we were surrounded by elephants. We were lucky they did not turn aggressive and destroy our home,” he said.

Tuuga said his department received Ghani’s complaint but he was unable to send his officers there as they were busy attending to similar problems in Kampung Bobotong and Kampung Entilibon in central Sabah’s Tongod district.

“No staff were available because other districts were also facing same problem,” he said.

Tuuga urged oil palm plantation owners to put up electric fencing if their palms were still young (less than five years old) and susceptible to damage.

The department, he said, could also help to train them in protecting their property while awaiting for assistance “if we cannot attend im­­mediately to their request for help”.

Sabah has been grappling with human-elephant conflicts in the east coast with some 25 elephant deaths, either due to poaching or unidentified natural causes, reported in the wild so far this year.

Conservationists are pushing for the need to create forest corridors for the elephants to roam between fragmented forest reserves in the east coast as one of the quick solutions to reduce such conflicts.

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Malaysia: Kelantan claims 21% of its forests given extra protection as 'water catchments'

sira habibu The Star 26 Sep 18;

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan state government claims it has gazetted about 21% of permanent forest reserves (PFR) as "water catchment forests" to show its commitment towards forest conservation.

Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob (pic) announced that the state had on Wednesday (Sept 26) approved the gazetting of 92,697 ha of forest reserve as water catchment forest, bringing the total area gazetted so far to 128,595 ha.

"It (water catchment forest) now makes up 20.97% of the 613,275 ha of PFR.

"We are committed to safeguarding forest and ensuring environmental sustainability in Kelantan," Ahmad said in a statement.

Water catchment areas must be preserved to protect water resources and ensure continuous water supply, he said.

He said since 2008, the state government had gazetted 35,898 ha (5.85% of permanent forest reserves) as water catchment forest, and on Wednesday they expanded the gazetted zone by another 92,697 ha.

"It involves 70 compartments in 11 districts," he said.

The Star has previously reported that permanent forest reserves (PFR) are, in reality, not that "permanent" as they can be logged, supposedly in a "sustainable" way.

Even worse, a loophole in the law has been allowing such forests to be cut down totally and converted into plantations of rubber trees (and also durian, teak, acacia and mahogony), as seen in many interior areas of Kelantan.

This has caused conflicts with the orang asli, who claim these forests as ancestral home lands. In addition, environmentalists have pointed out that such single-species plantations have led to soil erosion, floods, loss of rich biodiversity and loss of habitats for wildlife.

However, classification of PFR as "water catchment forests" is better, as it gives an extra level of protection. However logging is still possible, supposedly under more stringent criteria.

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Indonesia: 80 hotspots detected across Sumatra Island

Antara 26 Sep 18;

Pekanbaru, Riau, (ANTARA News) - The number of hotspots detected across Sumatra Island increased to 80 on Wednesday, from 13 on the previous day.

Of the total 80 hotspots, 38 were found in Riau Province, according to data of the Pekanbaru meteorology station.

Some 21 hotspots were found in Lampung Province, 10 in South Sumatra, three each in Riau Islands and Jambi, two in Bangka Belitung, and one each in North Sumatra as well as West Sumatra.

In Riau Province, the Terra and Aqua satellites detected 36 hotspots in Indragiri Hilir District and two in Pelalawan District.

"Some 32 hotspots were found in Indragiri Hilir, with above 70 percent accuracy of being fire spots, while only one was detected in Pelalawan," Sukisno, head of the Pekanbaru meteorology, climatology, and geophysics station, stated.

Indonesia is currently being hit by prolonged severe dry season that has triggered water shortages in regions, such as East Nusa Tenggara and parts of Java, and forest fires in Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Java.

Reporting by FB Anggoro
Editing by Fardah Assegaf
Editor: Sri Haryati

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Indonesia: Drought hits 11 districts in East Nusa Tenggara

Antara 26 Sep 18;

Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara, (ANTARA News) - A total of 11 districts in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) have been hit by severe dry season, a local official stated.

No rainfall was received since long in NTT's 21 districts, of which 11 districts were experiencing severe dry season, Apolinaris Geru, head of the Kupang meteorology, climatology, and geophysics station, stated here, Wednesday.

The 11 affected districts include East Manggarai, Nagekeo, Ende, Lembata, East Sumba, Rote Ndao, Kupang, North Timor Tengah, Malaka, and Belu.

Those districts had received no rains for over 60 days, he remarked.

September is usually the transitional period during which rains begin to fall across the country. However, until Sept 26 this year, several regions remain dry, as rains have not been received for months.

Currently, drought has hit some regions in Indonesia, especially the islands of Java and Nusa Tenggara. The drought hit 4,053 villages in 888 sub-districts located in 111 districts and cities in 11 provinces.

Some 4.87 million people in the country were affected by this year's drought, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency stated recently.

Reporting by Bernadus Tokan
Editing by Fardag Assegaf
Editor: Sri Haryati

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More than 800kg of e-waste collected by electronic retailers under expanded StarHub programme

JANICE LIM Today Online 26 Sep 18;

SINGAPORE — Four electronics retailers that joined an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling programme by telecommunications firm StarHub have collected more than 840kg of e-waste in the first three months.

Laptops and cables are among the most common items found in the 20 recycling bins that have been placed in the outlets of electronic goods stores Harvey Norman, Gain City, Courts and Best Denki since June. Other items are modems, mobile phones and computers.

StarHub’s REcycling the Nation's Electronic Waste (Renew) programme started in 2012 and there are now more than 460 Renew bins across the island.

More than 82 tonnes of e-waste have been collected islandwide since the beginning of the year and Ms Wendy Lai, StarHub’s senior manager in corporate sustainability, expects the total amount collected for the year to hit 100 tonnes.

All four retailers told TODAY that the visibility of the bins has increased awareness of e-waste recycling among customers.

Store managers have had curious customers asking about the green bins that have been placed prominently on their premises.

Mr Ben Tan, chief executive officer of Courts Singapore, said: “We are encouraged to see customers and members of the public utilising these bins to properly dispose of their e-waste, with higher usage seen at our larger stores — including Courts Megastore at Tampines, as well as our Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh stores.”

Harvey Norman’s chief operating officer Bernice Kwok said that some customers took their printers to the store to recycle, only to find out that the bins’ slots were meant for smaller electronic items. However, store managers were able to unlock the bins to allow bigger items to be deposited.

Gain City’s senior marketing manager Alex Wong reported that usage of the bins was “not that high”, although Gain City has been promoting e-waste awareness through its roadshows.

The good news is that customers have not been discarding non-electronic items in the bins. This could be due to their design and the various messages plastered on the bins, as well as their prominent positions in the stores, the retailers said.

E-WASTE RECYCLING IN SINGAPORE

StarHub’s Renew programme is one of several company-led e-waste recycling efforts for individuals and households in Singapore. Others include the Singtel X SingPost Recycle programme, M1 Drop-off Point campaign and Panasonic’s Heartland E-waste Recycling Programme.

Since 2015, the National Voluntary Partnership programme of the National Environment Agency (NEA) has provided support in co-organising events, administrative help and extra publicity for these efforts. The NEA also provides funding of up to 80 per cent for project qualifying costs, to encourage partners to implement or expand their programmes, an agency spokesperson told TODAY.

NEA said that more than 130 tonnes of e-waste was collected last year through these four programmes. StarHub’s Renew programme was the biggest, collecting about 70 per cent of the amount, or more than 92 tonnes of e-waste last year.

The amount, however, is a fraction of more than 60,000 tonnes of e-waste being generated by Singaporeans every year — half of it coming from households — figures from NEA showed.

Part of the reason is because existing voluntary programmes mostly accept smaller e-waste items, the NEA spokesperson said.

TODAY previously reported that bulkier electrical products make up more than 80 per cent of the e-waste generated here.

The NEA announced in March that it is developing a regulated e-waste management system that will cover bulkier e-waste such as refrigerators, washing machines and televisions, and it will be implemented by 2021.

Consumers will find it easier to recycle their electrical and electronic waste under the new system. They may drop items off at collection points located within retail stores or have them picked up via the retailers’ services.

Manufacturers of electrical and electronic products will be responsible for the collection and proper treatment of e-waste through the Extended Producer Responsibility approach. They will have to fulfil collection targets set by the NEA and ensure that the unwanted electronic equipment collected are sent for proper recycling and disposal.

They will also have to engage Producer Responsibility Organisations, which can be commercial companies or the manufacturers themselves, to collect discarded e-waste, regardless of the brand or purchase date.

CONSUMERS WANT E-WASTE BINS AT VOID DECKS

Consumers interviewed by TODAY said that the Renew bins by StarHub are still not widely available enough.

Media professional Rachelle Lee, 28, said that she and her husband had to drive from their home in Chua Chua Kang to Jurong “just for the bin”. Once, she had to leave a box of LED lights on top of a bin.

E-waste recycling bins should be placed at void decks of housing estates, like the blue recycling bins for plastic, paper, metal and glass, she added.

Calling the lack of awareness of the bins “failed marketing”, civil servant Koh Hong Wei, 30, agreed with Ms Lee. “(Because) most e-waste will be thrown out from home...(if) you have them at malls, also not much (of a) point,” he said.

Ms Lim Wensu, 30, who is unemployed, would like the Renew programme to accept alkaline batteries.

Professor Seeram Ramakrishna, who heads the circular economy taskforce at the National University of Singapore, proposed that one way to improve accessibility of the bins is to create Internet or mobile applications that allow people to call e-waste collectors and handlers when necessary.

Apathy among consumers as well as business costs also pose challenges.

Singapore Environment Council’s executive director Jen Teo said that there could be more incentives for recycling companies to collect e-waste from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“Unlike SMEs, multinational corporations typically have existing contracts with recycling companies to dispose of large amounts of e-waste,” Ms Teo said.

As e-waste management is “labour-intensive”, Prof Ramakrishna said that “companies without economies of scale will find it a challenge to sustain”.

“E-waste is a new challenge for all countries including Singapore, and optimum and customised technologies are to be further developed. Current treatment plants are limited by the capacities and range of technology solutions,” he added.

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Indonesia: Elephant calf dies 4 months after being wounded by trap

Hotli Simanjuntak The Jakarta Post 25 Sep 18;

A 15-month-old elephant named Amirah died four months after she severely injured her leg in a wire trap, despite receiving routine medical treatment.

She died of an internal organ complication caused by severe distress and acute dehydration. She had been receiving treatment at the Elephant Training Center in Saree, Aceh Besar, Aceh.

Amirah, also called Mey, was found injured in Geumpang, Pidie regency on May 3 this year. Amira was left behind by her herd and the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (Aceh BKSDA) took her to the center and treated her wounded leg, which was almost completely torn off.

Agency head Sapto Aji Prabowo said on Monday that Amirah's wound did not cause her death, which had healed completely. He suspected she died because her liver and kidney was not functioning well.

“Amira’s health had been in poor condition since we brought her here. She suffered from stress and malnutrition,” Sapto said.

Amira had received medical treatment from a joint team comprising Aceh BKSDA and the Syiah Kuala University’s Medical School for four months.

Veterinarian Rosa Rika Wahyuni, who had been taking care of Amirah, said she suffered from stress because she was separated from her mother and herd, which worsened her health. The stress made Amirah vulnerable to diarrhea and other diseases.

“We tried hard, but it was not enough to save the elephant,” said Rosa. (evi)

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Indonesia: Plastics make up 37 percent of garbage polluting Indonesian seas

Antara 25 Sep 18;

Probolinggo, E. Java (ANTARA News) - Around 37 percent of 1.2 million tons of garbage polluting Indonesian seas are plastics, which could not easily be decomposed, a government official said here on Tuesday.

Director General of Sea Pollution Control at the Environment and Forestry Ministry MR Karliansyah said plastic made up around 37 percent of 1.2 million tons of garbage in the country`s seas .

"Sea garbage has become a world problem and plastic garbage is the most dangerous as very many fishes in the sea found to have eaten plastics," Karliansyah said, adding the plastic was found when the fish bellies were split open.

Karliansyah, who was here to attend the ceremony of commemorating the Environment Day highlighted with "Coastal Clean Up" activity on the Binor beach, said his information was based on a survey by the Environment and Forestry Ministry in October 2017 in 18 coastal districts areas and cities.

The finding, however, showed that the condition was by far not as bad as said by a French researcher that Indonesia was the second largest contributor to sea garbage in the world, he said.

The result of the survey negates the allegation, he said, adding "the condition in Indonesia is still quite good despite the plastic garbage."

He said 50-70 percent of the sea garbage came from on shore and the rest from the sea itself such as from ships.

"We will continue to carry out evaluation that we have data in two consecutive years and as part of the program to achieve the government target of making Indonesia free from plastic garbage in 2025," he said.

He said the Coast Clean Up activity would be made regular by the local people to serve as an example for other coastal areas that would make people more aware of the importance of keeping the sea clean

Head of the East Java Environment Office Dyah Susilowati said she appreciates the local people involved in cleaning up the coast and said she would seek to make the activity routine in the province.

Reporting A Malik Ibrahim
Editing by Yoseph Hariyadi
Editor: Heru Purwanto

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Malaysia: Serious pollution as Malaysia processes plastic waste rejected by China - imports and permits to be tightened

fatimah zainal The Star 25 Sep 18;

KUALA LANGAT: Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin is proposing that a levy be imposed on plastic waste imports in a bid to better manage the problem of plastic pollution from the recycling industry.

She said while Malaysian factories were currently importing plastic for free, this was set to change soon as the government planned to impose a levy of RM15 per tonne.

Local factories have been importing and recycling plastic waste from countries like Western countries after China banned imports of such plastic waste. There have been reports of serious pollution, including in Kuala Langat district (around Banting town).

"I hear it's a very lucrative business.

The process to obtain approved permits (AP) on plastic waste imports will also be made more stringent before permits were issued to plastic waste factories, she said.

According to Zuraida, there were 114 plastic recycling factories that are active all over Malaysia. (The country is becoming one of the hubs to process waste plastic from western countries that had been rejected by China.)

"The names of companies that import plastic and export plastic must be listed down to show how genuine the business is.
"The applicants must also get the approval of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) in order to get the AP," she said.

Zuraida added that the APs issued by her Ministry will be made to tally with the Customs Department's capacity to receive plastic waste at the ports.

"Previously, there was no tally between the permits issued and the Customs Department's capacity," she pointed out.

In July, the Ministry revoked the AP on plastic waste imports, affecting 114 legal plastic waste factories all over Malaysia for three months up till Oct 23.

The move was taken after reports of serious pollution in Kuala Langat caused by factories processing plastic waste.

In Kuala Langat alone, there were 24 illegal plastic waste factories, with another 17 already ordered to close down, she said.
In addition, there are 13 plastic waste factories that are operating legally in Kuala Langat.

All of these factories will be called for a meeting with the Ministry on Oct 2.


Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/25/plastic-waste-imports-to-be-levied-permits-tightened/#wvsthaJsLyDaHlhd.99

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