The Star Online: Nation
The Star Online: Nation |
- M’sian team not a target in Somalia: Azeez
- Water scooters, parasailing banned in Penang beaches
- PAS wants Parliament to review nation’s history
| M’sian team not a target in Somalia: Azeez Posted: 06 Sep 2011 06:24 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Putera 1Malaysia Club president Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim dismissed allegations that the recent humanitarian aid mission to Somalia was a target of certain quarters in the war-torn country. He said Tuesday the Malaysian team was never a target of the Somali army or rebels as they were escorted at all times by 90 security personnel from among the country's soldiers and policemen. The volunteers also did not receive threats, and all the accompanying security personnel were not mercenaries as claimed by certain quarters, he said. "The shooting of BernamaTV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor was an unexpected incident. He was hit by a stray bullet from a gun fired by an unidentified individual," he told reporters after a lunch with media personnel and volunteers involved in the mission, at the Lanai Attap Restaurant in Jalan Kampung Attap here. Noramfaizul, 39, died in Mogadishu last Friday after he was hit by a stray bullet on his way back to the hotel in an MPV with other Malaysian journalists after covering the distribution of aid by the mission in famine-hit Somalia. Azeez said the team had always adhered to the instructions of the Somali authorities when they went out of their hotel. "Once, when we wanted to go out, the Somali security personnel sternly ordered us to stay put and only allowed us out after the police and army said it was really safe," he said. There was some fighting among Somalis outside the hotel at the time and it could have jeopardised the team members' safety if they had not obeyed the order, he added. On the issue of bullet-proof vests, Azeez said he had brought it up with the Somali authorities who advised that they were not necessary as other foreign volunteers and journalists were not wearing them. Questioned as to why the media was only invited to Somalia at such short notice, he said it was unavoidable as it was difficult to predict when a natural disaster or famine struck a country. "We invite all media for every mission but the selection of journalists and cameramen will be made by the chief editors of the individual organisations," he said. He also denied claims that the club harassed and pressured media organisations to join all their humanitarian missions, saying it was at the discretion of the chief editors who would decide based on newsworthiness. Meanwhile, he said, the mission managed to distribute 550 tonnes of food, drinking water and medical supplies to 55,000 families, which were expected to last between 45 and 60 days. - Bernama |
| Water scooters, parasailing banned in Penang beaches Posted: 06 Sep 2011 05:54 AM PDT GEORGE TOWN: All water scooter and parasailing activities in Penang have been banned with immediate effect. The clampdown came about following a spate of accidents where a number of tourists were injured during such activities along the Batu Ferringhi-Tanjung Bungah tourism belt. In announcing the ban Tuesday, the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) told all water sports operators to abide by the directive at once. "Action will be taken against those who defy the ruling," according to a council notice which was distributed to the water sports operators on Tuesday evening. It is learnt that a group of MPPP enforcement officers went around handing out the notices to the operators along the beach front at about 5pm. An MPPP officer said the order was a temporary measure until state Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow and MPPP president Patahiyah Ismail returned from overseas next week. "More detailed guidelines and measures will be discussed by then. "The ban is being put in place following numerous accidents and complaints by tourists as well as hoteliers," she added. On Sunday, Chow was reported to have said that water scooter operators had encroached into swimming zones in Batu Ferringhi after dismantling sea buoys used to designate these zones. He had also said the Penang Municipal Council might have to revoke the licences of these operators who had encroached onto the beach. Several accidents took place during the Hari Raya season including one that involved a Form Four student being hit by a water scooter while playing in the water. A 40-year-old woman suffered lacerations on her neck and arm after she got entangled in the rope of a parasail. Although horse and quad bike activities have been banned on the beach since January, water scooters and para sailing are allowed within the demarcated zones. On June 7, a five-year-old girl was injured after being hit by a horse ridden by a man who was fleeing from council officers on the beach at Batu Ferringhi. Related Stories: |
| PAS wants Parliament to review nation’s history Posted: 06 Sep 2011 04:43 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: PAS insists on a review of the nation's history in Parliament, following the controversy triggered by party deputy president Mohamad Sabu's remarks over the Bukit Kepong tragedy in 1950. Party vice-president Salahuddin Ayub said it was urging the Government to establish a committee in the coming Parliament session scheduled for October to review the country's pre-independence history. "It will be the party's top priority in the next (Parliament) session. If the government is sincere, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should form a committee and we will send our historians and representatives to participate," he told reporters at its headquarters, Tuesday. He was commenting on Mat Sabu's alleged claim that the communist terrorists who attacked and killed 25 police personnel and their families in the Bukit Kepong tragedy were the real heroes as they were actually fighting against the British. Meanwhile, Bernama reports that more organisations and individuals have lodged police reports against Mat Sabu over his remarks that allegedly praised communist terrorists and discredited the nation's security forces. Two NGOs, the Malaysian Society for Former Intelligence Personnel (Baris) and the Islamic Propagation and Welfare Organisation of Malaysia (Pekida), lodged reports in the federal capital while an ex-serviceman, Wan Din Wan Mamat, 51, made his in Tumpat, Kelantan. More in The Star on Wednesday Related Stories: |
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