WEDNESDAY-26 MARCH 2008- 75 SUMMONED IN ILLEGAL RACING OPERATION

75 summoned in illegal racing operation

KOTA KINABALU:

Seventy five summonses were issued by the district’s traffic police during the three-day Ops Lumba Haram operation here which started last Friday. On the first day of the operation aimed at curbing illegal motorcycle racing, police mounted road blocks at several main roads around the City,namely Jalan Lintas,Jalan Tun Fuad and Jalan Tuaran. Six motorcycles were stopped and checked during the two- hour operation which saw three summonses issued to motorists for various traffic offences. On Saturday, the law enforcers continued their operation and focused their attention along Jalan Kepayan where they stopped and checked 35 motorcycles. Twenty- two summonses were issued. The operation ended on Sunday with road blocks being mounted in Jalan Coastal, Jalan Pasir, Jalan Lintas and a few other strategic locations in the City centre. The operation which started at 9pm, lasted for five hours and of the 80 motorcycles inspected, 50 were slapped with summonses.

WEDNESDAY-26 MARCH 2008-PENAMPANG TO HAVE NEW DISTRICT OFFICE BUILDING

Penampang to have new District Office building

KOTA KINABALU:

A RM9.8 million new Penampang District Office building to accommodate more than 100 workers will be built to replace the one which is already 33 years old. The ground breaking ceremony for the new building site was yesterday officiated by Assistant Information Technology and Resource Development Minister Donald Peter Mojuntin who represented Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Haji Hajiji Haji Mohd Noor. Speaking at the event, Mojuntin said that the plan to build a new office was proposed in 1995 which was included in the Ninth Malaysia Plan as the old building was no longer safe for use. “Because of the worst condition of the building, the Local Government and Housing Ministry had approved the proposal to build the new office in December 2007 since the Penampang District Council can afford to pay for the costs,” he said. Penampang District Council Chairman William Sampil said that the cost to build the new four-storey building was RM6.9 million. “The new building will be used by one third of the 383 workers of the Council. “The existing building cannot accommodate all the workers where some 50 workers from the Enforcement Division have to use the rest house at the back of the hall as their office while the workers at the Evaluation Division and Poverty Eradication in Town Division have to use the empty spaces in the hall as their office,” he said. According to Sampil, the costs for the new building will be RM9.825 million where the amount will be used to .build the office and another RM600,000 will be donated to Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd, Telekom and Water Department. Sampil added that the new building is expected to be completed in 18 months. Also present at the ceremony were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok, Deputy Chief Minister cum Food Industry and Agriculture Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Yahya Hussin, Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Edward Khoo and Assistant Local Government and Housing Minister Edward Yong Oui Fah.

WEDNESDAY-26 MARCH 2008- SANDAKAN, KENINGAU, LAHAD DATU POLICE RECEIVE COMMENDATION CERTIFICATES

Sandakan, Keningau, Lahad Datu police receive commendation certificates

SANDAKAN:

Ninety-three police officers and personnel received commendation certificates from State Police Commissioner Datuk Rashid Noor in conjunction with the nationwide Police Day yesterday. Another 48 officers and nine members of the public received commendation certificates from District Police Chief ACP Rosli Md Isa during a ceremony here which was attended by Youth and Sports Minister Peter Pang, Batu Sapi Member of Parliament Datuk Edmund Chong, Sekong Assemblyman Datuk Samsudin Yahya and ElopuraAssemblymanAuKam Wah. Meanwhile, at a similar ceremony held at the 15th Battalion of the General Operation Force (GOF) at Karamunting, 25 officers and five individuals from the Police Family Association received commendation certificates from Commanding Officer Superintendent Lee Moh Lee. The District Marine Police also held a similar ceremony officiated by State Marine Police Deputy Chief Superintendent Wan Shazali Haji Wann Abdul Rahman. In Keningau, 27 police personnel, public services staff, Perkep members and media representatives here received appreciation certificates at the district police headquarters. The three media representatives were Johan Aziz (Borneo Post), Marutin Ansiung (New Sabah Times) and Francis Andin (Berita Harian). District Police Chief DSP Zahari Mohammed presented the certificates to all the recipients. Earlier, Zahari inspected a parade involving 28 police personnel and read the message from the Inspector General of Police followed with the Police Day pledges. In Lahad Datu, District Police Chief Superintendent Kamis Damina presented certificates of honour to 30 policemen for their excellent performances. The spouses of the police led by Puan Kamzilah Sharuddin, the Deputy Chairperson of the Lahad Datu Police Families Association, went to the general hospital and gave away goodies to the patients at the children wards

WEDNESDAY-26 MARCH 2008- DCP:NO COP IN SABAH HELD FOR GRAFT

DCP: No cop in Sabah held for graft

KOTA KINABALU:

No police personnel or officer has been arrested or charged with corruption in Sabah since July last year, said State Deputy Commissioner of Police Datuk Ab Razak Ab Ghani. “To the best of my knowledge, since I became the State DCP in July, no personnel or officer in Sabah has been arrested for corruption,” he said during a press conference in conjunction with the police parade and blood donation drive at the Kepayan Police Headquarters here yesterday. However, he reminded police members not to take bribe or involve in any other illegal and unethical activities that may jeopardize the image of their Department. Ab Razak said the police must also ensure quality in their services and be professional when upholding the law or dealing with the people. He pointed out that everyone is now aware of their rights and expects nothing less than a good service from the police. In order to keep the police force relevant, he said every police member must play their part and deliver their duties to the best level. To another question, Ab Razak without going into details, said police had investigated and forwarded to the Anti- Corruption Agency some alleged corruption cases in connection with the recently concluded general election. On the current hot topic of opposition parties buying Government elected representatives, he said police would be monitoring any unlawful activities and would channel information to the ACA should corruption take place. However, he said all information or tip off channelled to the police would be thoroughly scrutinized to avoid false allegation that could cause unnecessary inconveniences to anyone.

WEDNESDAY-26 MARCH 2008-LANSLIDE CUTS OFF NEW KENINGAU-KIMANIS ROAD

Landslide cuts off new Keningau-Kimanis Road

KENINGAU:

The new Keningau-Kimanis Road is no longer passable to traffic after a landslide at Km 16 early yesterday morning. The landslide which occurred at 4am, left a 50-metre gap on the road. District Public Works Department (PWD) Engineer Edward Lingkapo said it would take some time to repair the road and he advised motorists to use the Keningau-Tambunan-Kota Kinabalu Road for the time being. “I was told by the contractor that the repair will take some time, depending on the weather. However, a temporary bypass will be created as soon as possible,” he said. Signboards would be put up at both the Keningau and Papar ends of the road to warn road users of the landslides, he said. Meanwhile, a motorist in his 60’s cheated death when a Vigo four wheel drive vehicle he was driving, ploughed onto the mud and slid down the hill early yesterday. The motorist said he was on his way from Tawau to Kota Kinabalu and was taking the Kimanis-Keningau Road. “The vehicle got stuck in the mud and slid down. There was nothing I could do except to get out of the vehicle and watched it sliding down the hill,” he said. Confirming the incident, Keningau OCPD DSP Zahari Mohamad said the vehicle was found about 100 metres from the road, and had been pulled out by a crane at 11am yesterday. Zahari advised the public not to go to the affected area because the risk of another landslide occurring is high with the continued rainfall. He also said they should use either Tambunan Road, Sipitang Road or Ranau Road to get to the West Coast. Meanwhile, District Officer Zulkifli Nasir urged the PWD to put up the road closure signs at strategic locations before the affected area. One of the locations is Kampung Bulu Silou, he said. It was learnt that the road which was opened to road users about two years ago has yet to be handed over to the PWD. The road is preferred by going to the Keningau, Tenom and other districts nowadays as it reduces travelling time by at least one hour.

WEDNESDAY-26 MARCH 2008- JAPANESE TO NAME, DOCUMENT MT.KINABALU'S UNKNOWN CLIMBING ROUTES

Japanese to name, document Mt Kinabalu’s unknown climbing route

KOTA KINABALU:

Way back in 1975, a Japanese mountaineer used several unknown routes to scale Mount Kinabalu, Southeast Asia’s highest summit. While most mountaineers might have been proud of such an achievement, it was not so with Tsutsumi Nobuowho. He felt that in scaling Southeast Asia’s highest summit, he might have forgotten something more important — to name and document the routes he took 33 years ago, when he reached the World Heritage Site’s highest peak — Low’s Peak. That might be one of the reasons why the man is back on a mission. Tsutsumi, now 57, wants to revisit his old rock-climbing playground, Mount Kinabalu to complete that mission to further promote the world heritage in the eyes of the mountaineering fraternity. Tsutsumi is also here to try the Mountain Torq Via Ferrata, a mountain path (via ferrata is Italian for ‘iron road’) opened on Dec 15, last year and was certified by the Malaysia Book of Records as the world’s highest and Asia’s first to be built on Mount Kinbalu. “I am very happy to be here again. Mount Kinabalu has a lot of potential to attract rock climbers all over the world. However, its potentials were not fully documented,” he told reporters here yesterday. “Some attractive potentials of the world heritage site were not fully developed and not popular among rock climbers. I think the unpopulr (unknown) routes will attract more climbers,” he added. According to Tsutsuix mission was to identify the unknown routes he made in 1975,name them and subsequently compile the routes as a document which might prove useful to promote Mount Kinabalu climbers in the world. Tsutsumi, who has also climbed various other popular summits the world, including Everest, said in 1984, he had an unexplored gully on Kinabalu, known as ‘Commando Cauldron’. The 400-metre deep gully located right of Low’s between the Tunku Abdul Rahman peak and another unnamed peak down the Donkey’s Ears on Mount Kinabalu. Tsutsumi, who is now president of Rope Rescue Association of Japan, said during the expedition he and two other Japanese climbers failed to conquer the 1. 2km Low’s Gully, and had to stop at Commando Cauldron due to weather factors.

WEDNESDAY-26 MARCH 2008- NINE SUSPENSION BRIDGES DAMAGED OR SWEPT AWAY

Nine suspension bridges damaged or swept away

SIPITANG:

Nine suspension bridges at Sungai Meligan, Sungai Ibul and Sungai Laugon, located about 82 kilometres from here, have either been damaged or swept away by severe floods. A spokesman for the villagers, Samson Imui, said the floods that hit the area last Wednesday also destroyed crops, particularly paddy. He said five suspension bridges were swept away by strong currents at Sungai Ibul, three at Sungai Meligan and one at Sungai Laugon. “It’s the second time the villages were badly hit by floods; the first time was about 15 years ago,” Samson told The Borneo Post yesterday. He said since the affected villagers were relying on the suspension bridges to carry out their daily activities, the Government should build new suspension bridges as soon as possible. The villagers are willing to build the new suspension bridges through gotong royong effort, if the Government provides the funds for them to buy the materials. The villagers had brought the matter up with Sindumin Assemblyman Hj Ahmad Bujang during his inspection visit to the villages, according to Samson. Some 1,000 residents were affected during the last bad flood that hit the area 15 years ago, he said.