The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
- Local villagers to collect scientific data for coastline conservation project
- A-G: Johor needs better revenue collection
- Socso compounds 76 errant employers in Sabah
| Local villagers to collect scientific data for coastline conservation project Posted: 27 Oct 2011 07:29 PM PDT KOTA KINABALU: Villagers near here will soon take charge of looking after their coastal ecosystem thanks to a community-based coastline preservation programme. Called the Environmental Monitoring for Marine and Coastal Ecosystems (EMMCE), the project at the seaside settlement of Kampung Meruntum in Putatan, seeks to help the villagers learn about the importance of coastline conservation. Under the initiative, the villagers will be trained to collect baseline data about the coastline near their village using scientific means, from coastal profiling and identifying sediment composition to identifying direct and indirect threats to beaches, and coastal mapping. Although the type of data to be collected is considered baseline information, it is crucial to help formulate future environmental conservation policies. This will be of great use when tackling issues such as erosions or the effects on coastal areas following the monsoon seasons, among others, and the villagers will have direct involvement in addressing such problems. A collaboration between Malaysia's environmental watchdog Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) and oil and gas producer Talisman Malaysia Ltd (TML), the EMMCE was first launched in Pulau Redang, Terengganu last April. The programme in Terengganu has begun to bear fruit, with villagers trained to observe their coastline using scientific methodology now becoming trainers themselves, teaching others to better manage their coastal ecosystem. The Sabah chapter of EMMCE was launched here recently and both the collaborators hope to see the same kind of success in Kg Meruntum. MNS executive director Clifford Clement said, as in Terengganu, the project will provide workshops for the community on how to gauge the health of their coastline. "There has been no prior initiative to pool basic data for scientific reference and without that we are unable to lobby for policies to ensure the preservation of our nation's coastlines," Clement said. With scientific data, which is verified by third parties like MNS and TML, the villagers will have a stronger case to highlight to the government in case better environmental policies are needed, he added. "We can also use the data, for instance, during the marine parks annual general meeting from both sites in Terengganu and Sabah and say 'this is what is happening to our beaches'," he said. Currently, about 30 Kg Meruntum villagers are participating in the first workshop and the collaborators are confident the figure will rise. The project is scheduled to end in December next year but Clement pointed out they will have a lasting relationship with the villagers and continue to monitor their progress and the data collected. TML, which has projects off Sabah, is contributing RM329,000 to the project in both locations for two years. Its exploration manager Dr Simon Molyneux said TML believes in investing in the communities where they operate. "We believe the EMMCE project will help to provide a platform for local-community involvement in preserving the health and wellness of the environment," he said. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| A-G: Johor needs better revenue collection Posted: 27 Oct 2011 03:46 PM PDT JOHOR BARU: Johor must continue its efforts to collect or recover outstanding arrears despite being able to reduce the figure to RM175.90mil in 2010, compared with RM177.32mil in 2009. According to the Auditor-General's Report 2010, unpaid dues on land taxes, rent, the buying and selling of houses, privatisation, and raw water taxes represented RM174.20mil or 99% of outstanding revenue. Uncollected land taxes made up 64.3% of the overall outstanding revenue or RM113.08mil in 2010, against RM97.18mil recorded in 2009. Among the main reasons contributing to the increase in unpaid land taxes included changes of ownership and people postponing payments while waiting for penalty reductions on late payments. The Johor Baru District Land Office had the highest amount of unsettled land dues of RM49.68mil followed by the Pengerang Land Office in Kota Tinggi District with RM25.87mil. According to the feedback compiled by both land offices, problems in collecting the dues often crop up because some of the companies that own the land are in the midst of winding-up their businesses. Other problems include outdated records on individual land owners and the confiscation of private lands for conversion into state property. The A-G Report also indicated that Johor's outstanding revenue was on an upward trend between 2006 and 2010 from RM141.21mil in 2006 to RM153.47mil (2007), RM156.18mil (2008), RM177.32mil (2009). It declined slightly to RM175.90mil lsat year. The Report also showed that Johor's financial position was healthy, with current accumulated assets of RM505.81mil compared with RM231.39mil in 2009. Last year, Johor recorded a surplus of RM158.36mil, reducing its deficit to RM325.69mil from RM484.05mil registered in 2009. The state's revenue rose to RM1.02bil in 2010 from RM750.24mil in 2009. At the same, its operating expenditure also increased to RM864.81mil last year compared with RM829.10mil spent in 2009. The report also recommended that the state continue practising prudence in its expenditure and operations, though this should not be at the expense of reducing the quality of the civil service and development projects. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Socso compounds 76 errant employers in Sabah Posted: 27 Oct 2011 03:47 PM PDT TAWAU: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) has identified and compounded 76 employers in Sabah since the third Ops Kesan began on Oct 5. Socso deputy chief executive officer of operations Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said 649 premises were inspected. This year, up to September, 277 employers in the state were slapped with compounds compared with 430 during the same period in 2010, he said. "This year we registered 3,321 new employers from January to September," he told reporters after heading the operation with Sabah Socso director Mariam Hassan, here recently. He said, employers in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) made up the largest number of thosse compounded due to their lack of understanding about their duties as an employer. He said, based on Ops Kesan statistics nationwide until September, the number of errant employers increased by 1.2%. He said, of the 18,217 employers visited this year, 2,770 or 15.2% were issued compounds totalling RM1.78mil compared with 2,954 employers or 14% out of 21,207 employers last year. — Bernama Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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