Youth camp gets teens to go green

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Youth camp gets teens to go green

THE fourth MyHIJAU Youth Camp in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, saw 70 students learning the importance of green technology applications and practices.
Organised by the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry and the Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (GreenTech Malaysia), the camp was introduced last year as a platform for students to learn about green technology and how it can be applied in everyday life.
Facilitated by GreenTech Malaysia’s personnel, the knowledge-sharing session included interactive activities such as an outdoor explorace, creating mosquito traps and solar lamps from recyclable materials as well as brainstorming on green projects for schools,
GreenTech Malaysia chief executive officer Ahmad Hadri Haris said their role was to drive the nation’s green technology agenda forward.
“The camp is one of our key initiatives as we recognise the importance of embarking on awareness early in life to encourage youth to become more environmentally conscious.
“The sustainability of the industry’s growth will only be possible if the next generation of leaders appreciate this and are fully equipped to continue the efforts,” he said.
At the two-day event, the students also had the opportunity to speak with Ahmad Hadri during an informative Q&A session which covered the conditions of the current global environment as well as fundamental knowledge on green technology and why it is important for Malaysians to adopt green practices.
SM La Salle, Kota Kinabalu student Nathaniel Sean Otion said the camp was an eye-opener and showed him how to contribute to the betterment of the environment in small ways.
“After today, my friends and I will start recycling plastic waste and reducing our water usage as the first step.”
SMK Sanzac, Kota Kinabalu teacher Lily Ashidayanti Kadni said there was a huge difference between reading about green technology in textbooks and learning beyond the walls of the classrooms.
“We definitely understood better through our interaction with the industry experts and the hands-on activities we experienced during the camp,” she said.
Since 2013, the MyHIJAU Youth Camp has reached out to over 150 students from schools located in Pahang, Selangor and Sabah.

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Eyes on Kasawari RM3bil Petronas Carigali job

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Eyes on Kasawari RM3bil Petronas Carigali job

Works being carried out at a MMHE ship yard. The company and Technip are believed to be ‘the most likely’ candidates to secure a job from Petronas Carigali to design and build a multi -platform project at the Kasawari field located off-shore Sarawak.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Marine & Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE) andTechnip are believed to be “the most likely” candidates to secure a job from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd for design and construction of a multi-platform project at the Kasawari field located offshore Sarawak, according to AmResearch.
The Kasawari project is the second such project in the area. known as Block SK316.
The tender for the project, expected to be out by May this year, is for the parallel front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies to build a multi-platform project at the field.
AmResearch noted that Technip took the lead in the conceptual studies of the Kasawari field development, while the JV between Technip and MMHE had eventually secured the contract for the first standalone multi-platform development in Block SK316.
“We believe they stand as the most likely candidates to secure this project,” it’s analyst Alex Goh said in note.
An online industry magazine recently reported that at least three local firms - MMHE,SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd and and TH Heavy Engineering Bhd - have been invited by Petronas Carigali to participate in a pre-qualification exercise for the project.
The Kasawari project, estimated to be worth some RM3bil, involves a 30,000-tonne eight-legged central processing platform (CPP) which has topsides that weigh 19,000 tonnes, a nine-slot wellhead platform, a bridge link, a flare tower and a central collection platform. Other overseas players such as Hyundai Heavy Industries,Samsung Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering could also be involved.
According to the report, Petronas has limited participation to contractors with at least 10 years of experience in handling projects involving carbon dioxide removal process.
This is given that gas from the Kasawari field has high carbon dioxide content, which could be more costly to extract and produce.
AmResearch’s Goh opined that the winner for this parallel FEED contest would also stand the best chance to secure the EPCIC (engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning) contract for the project.
Goh said the EPCIC job is likely to be awarded in the second half of 2015.
Meanwhile, CIMB Research analyst Norziana Mohd Inon expects Petronas’ capital expenditure (capex) in the upstream segment could keep O&G service providers on their toes.
“We learned that over the next five years, Malaysia’s upstream capex could reach US$60bil, including investments in enhanced oil recovery projects at the Guntong, Angsi and Dulang fields following the success at Tapis,” she said fresh from the recent Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Asia.
Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project, Petronas’ downstream project, could top US$50bil in capex by 2020, which is 150% more than the initial target of US$20bil. Although pleasantly surprised on the potential higher capex, Norziana noted that Petronas has targeted to spend it by 2020.

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MH370 search: SAR mission baffles even US Navy super plane

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MH370 search: SAR mission baffles even US Navy super plane


Filepic of a US Navy Poseidon - EPA
INDIAN OCEAN: Of all the 20 aircraft and ships out scouring the vast Indian Ocean for debris from Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370, the US Navy’s P-8 Poseidon seems perhaps the most likely to help unlock modern aviation’s most confounding mystery.
Five workstations lining the fuselage display high-definition video from the top-secret sensors that make this one of the most sophisticated surveillance planes in the world.
But the latest mission in the three-week hunt – five luckless hours skimming as low as 300 feet above the wave tops – only served to underscore the enormity of the challenge facing the international search team.
“This is my first time in the Indian Ocean and it is unquestionably the most untouched piece of water I have ever seen,” US Navy Lieutenant Commander David Mims, the plane’s pilot, told Reuters during a search flight this week.
“It’s rare to come out and not see any land mass, not see any shipping traffic. There's nothing,” he said. “It’s weird”.
The United States, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan are all scouring an area some 2,000 km west of the Australian city of Perth, where investigators believe the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people came down.
So far, the search has turned up only fishing rubbish and other flotsam. It has been halted several times by bad weather in the search area.
Two Poseidons are engaged in the search. Costing around US$175 million, the aircraft is armed with cameras, infra-red and radar sensors that are fine-tuned to detect enemy submarines hiding under the ocean surface.
But despite its high-tech equipment, much of the searching is visual – crew members peering out a window.
“I’m a pretty optimistic guy by nature,” said Petty Officer Michael Herman, perched in front of a porthole staring out into the foggy sea. “But yeah, this is tough.”
The Poseidons operate alongside a pair of Chinese Il-76 military transport planes at Perth International Airport. They are kept under tight security, including a round-the-clock armed rapid response team.
The plane is so top-secret that a Reuters journalist given a rare berth was stripped of all electronic devices and barred from taking pictures.
The technology is impressive. Sitting at a pair of monitors stacked one atop the other, Petty Officer Julio Cerpaoperates a panoramic camera that quickly zooms in on distant patches of ocean with great clarity.
An infrared version of the same camera feed cuts through the haze of fog surrounding the plane, offering a polarised and somewhat nightmarish view of the search area.
About two hours into the search zone, the monotony of peering out a window or at a computer screen, is starting to wear on the crew.
Petty Officer Sam Judd begins a slow climb up his seat back that will eventually see him perched atop it. Cerpa's hands turn his workstation into the world’s most expensive drum kit.
And then the plane begins to ascend back to 30,000 feet, having found nothing. The total trip, including flying time to reach the search zone, is around 10 hours.
To an outsider, the experience can seem frustrating, but the crew maintains a remarkably optimistic outlook. Even a trip that finds nothing rules out a part of the search zone, and is thus an important part of finding the wreckage, says Mims, the pilot.
“Being this far into the search process and having this much ocean to cover definitely makes it a challenging evolution,” he says. “But if it’s in our area, I think the probability of finding it is high.” – Reuters

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Consumers still using as much water as when dams were full

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Consumers still using as much water as when dams were full

Going down: The water level at the Sungai Selangor dam as seen yesterday.
PETALING JAYA: Selangor’s dams are running dry, but its residents are still using nearly as much water as they were when the dams were full.
Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry secretary-general Datuk Loo Took Gee said people in Selangor were only using 7% less water despite the water rationing in the state.
As of yesterday morning, the Sungai Selangor dam in Kuala Kubu Baru recorded a 36.53% capacity. Its critical level is 30% – which will be reached in just two weeks if water levels consistently drop.
“Despite the water rationing, the regulator has found that the (amount of) water saved is a mere 7%. The demand has only dropped by (that much),” Loo said in an interview, citing National Water Services Commission figures.
It was reported that the demand for treated water in Selangor was 4,641 million litres a day.
This would mean that a mere 325 million litres are saved each day, which Loo said was not enough. Malaysia, she said, had low water tariffs and Selangor gave 20 cubic metres of water for free to its residents each month.
This did not motivate people to save water, and the ministry was mulling the possibility of a water surcharge to stretch the state’s resources, Loo said.
“It’s a possibility in light of the present dilemma that we have right now...If you go beyond a certain consumption, you must increase (charges),” she added.
According to the Malaysian Water Industry Guide 2013, Selangor residents are charged RM0.57 per 1,000 litres for the first 20,000 litres. This is bumped to RM0.72 for the first 30,000 litres and RM0.77 for the first 35,000 litres.
The state’s last tariff review was in 2006.
Loo said the Government might consider declaring a water emergency before dams reached critical levels.
“We’re not going to wait until the levels reach 30%,” Loo said, referring to the Sungai Selangor dam, the state’s largest.
“I hope that by the end of April there’ll be more rain coming. We have to prepare the necessary measures needed to be invoked, just in case,” she said, declining to say when either a surcharge or emergency might take effect.
She added that the ministry was considering taking water from the Labu and Ngoi-ngoi treatment plants in Negri Sembilan to supplement Selangor’s water needs during this time.
If the critical level is reached, a water emergency can be declared and the Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister is given discretionary powers to do whatever he wants to conserve water resources.
He would have the power to ban car-washing and garden-watering as well as take action against those violating the water emergency rule.

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Man burnt to death in car accident

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Man burnt to death in car accident

Motorists at the scene watching the burning car which had split into two.
JOHOR BARU: A driver was burnt to death after his car caught fire when it was hit by another car which lost control and swerved into his lane.
The Proton Wira driven by Liew Wei Liang (pic), 20, was split into two during the incident on Sunday.
Liew Wei Liang, 20, a cook from Masai
Liew, a cook who resides in Masai here, was on his way to the city centre via Permas at around 9.30pm when a woman driver who was in a Toyota Vios lost control of her car and swerved into the opposite lane. He couldn’t stop in time and crashed into her car.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Sulaiman Salleh said that Liew had died on the spot.
He said that the woman was sent to the Regency Specialist Hospital as she suffered from an injured back due to the impact, while Liew’s body was sent to Hospital Sultan Ismail.
He added that the woman was detained by police at the hospital for investigations into the case.
On another matter, ACP Sulaiman said that the police are looking for a group in connection with the death of an 18-year-old welder in Taman Sentosa here.
“We believe that the victim was hit by a blunt object and tried to flee before falling into a drain along Jalan Songket.
“The victim’s body has been sent to the Hospital Sultanah Aminah for a post-mortem and we are still looking for the suspects connected to the case,” he said adding that the victim’s body was discovered by the public at around 6am on March 30.

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Australian surfer injured as dolphin slams into him

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Australian surfer injured as dolphin slams into him

SYDNEY: A surfer in Australia was airlifted to hospital Monday after a dolphin slammed into him as he was riding a wave at a remote beach.
The 27-year-old man was on his body board, or boogie board, at Bawley Point, 250 kilometres (155 miles) south of Sydney, when the collision occurred.
"He has come over a wave and as he did so, a dolphin has come through and hit him in the pelvic area," New South Wales Ambulance duty operations manager Wayne Dunlop said.
"The force has been enough to tear the patient's wetsuit."
Paramedics treated the man, who had made his way out of the water, at the scene before he was airlifted to a hospital in Sydney.  
Dunlop said the full extent of his injuries was unknown and he would require further assessment.
While shark attacks sometimes occur around Australia, incidents involving other marine animals are not common.
In July last year a surfer was knocked unconscious when he got too close to a whale at Bondi Beach in Sydney.-AFP

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Five babies a day left at Chinese city's 'baby hatch'

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Five babies a day left at Chinese city's 'baby hatch'



BEIJING: More than 260 unwanted children, most of them babies, have been abandoned in a Chinese "safe haven" in just over six weeks - more than five a day - since it opened in late January, authorities said.
The "baby hatch" in Guangzhou, in the southern province of Guangdong, was suspended on Sunday after the city's welfare home exceeded its capacity to handle new arrivals.
All of those abandoned suffered from illnesses including cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and congenital heart disease, and 67 percent of them were less than a year old, the Bureau of Civil Affairs of Guangzhou Municipality said.
The facility was set up in late January and 262 children had been abandoned at it by Sunday morning, it said in a statement.
The 1,000-bed welfare home was housing 1,121 residents, with another 1,274 being cared for by foster families, the statement issued Sunday said.
Its quarantine facilities were "not enough to meet the demand" and wards that had previously held 50 children were now caring for 80 to 100, it added.
China has set up 25 baby safe havens in 10 provinces and major cities since June 2011 and plans to roll out the facilities to most of the country, the official Xinhua news agency reported in February.
The havens - introduced to reduce the risks of children dying after being abandoned in the street - usually have an incubator, a delayed alarm device, an air conditioner and a baby bed, that report said.
Welfare staff retrieve a baby five to 10 minutes after a person leaves the child and presses the alarm button, allowing families to give up the infant safely and anonymously.
Many babies are given up because parents cannot afford expensive medical bills and fees for special education, it said.
A disabled child can be a huge drain on a family's resources, and although the country's one-child policy normally allows parents to have another baby if their first is disabled, the restrictions can be a factor in other abandonments.
Anyone leaving a child at the Guangzhou safe haven will now be reported to police, the city statement said. Any re-opening will be announced at a later date, it added.
"Losing the care and love of the family at a young age will cause lifetime psychological damage to a child," it cited the head of the welfare home, Xu Jiu, as saying. "And abandoning children is illegal. I hope parents who want to do so think prudently before acting." - AFP

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Kualiti udara di seluruh negara semakin pulih

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Kualiti udara di seluruh negara semakin pulih


KUALA LUMPUR 17 Mac - Kualiti udara di seluruh negara semakin pulih dan tiada kawasan merekodkan bacaan Indeks Pencemaran Udara (IPU) tidak sihat setakat pukul 6 pagi ini.
Menurut senarai bacaan IPU dikeluarkan Jabatan Alam Sekitar (JAS), 11 kawasan mencatat IPU sederhana baik manakala 41 kawasan mencatat bacaan baik.
Kawasan mencatat bacaan sederhana antaranya Muar (57), Kangar (53), Kuala Selangor (60) dan Putrajaya (68) sementara kawasan merekodkan bacaan baik ialah Kuala Terengganu (24), Kuching (19), Seri Manjung (21) dan Alor Setar (47).
Bacaan IPU antara 0 dan 50 dikategori sebagai baik, 51 hingga 100 (sederhana), 101 ke 200 (tidak sihat), 201 hingga 300 (sangat tidak sihat) dan 300 ke atas (bahaya).

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Empat pelajar hilang semasa turun Gunung Bubu

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Empat pelajar hilang semasa turun Gunung Bubu


IPOH 17 Mac - Empat pelajar Sekolah Menengah Vokasional Padang Rengas dipercayai sesat ketika dalam perjalanan turun dari Gunung Bubu, Ulu Kenas dekat Kuala Kangsar, semalam.
Ketua Balai Bomba dan Penyelamat Kuala Kangsar, Ismail Darus berkata, kehilangan pelajar terbabit yang terdiri daripada tiga pelajar lelaki dan seorang pelajar perempuan berusia 17 tahun itu disedari oleh guru pengiring kira-kira pukul 2.30 petang.
Katanya, pihaknya menjalankan operasi mencari dan menyelamat sebaik menerima panggilan kecemasan pada pukul 10.16 malam. - UTUSAN ONLINE

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Bayi melecur akibat salah ubat, meninggal dunia pagi tadi

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Bayi melecur akibat salah ubat, meninggal dunia pagi tadi

ALOR SETAR 17 Mac - Seorang bayi lelaki berusia lapan bulan yang melecur selepas menggunakan ubat diberikan sebuah klinik swasta di sini pada 16 Februari lalu meninggal dunia di Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah (HSB) awal pagi tadi.
Bayi malang itu, Muhammad Nasrullah Khairul Nizam meninggal dunia di Unit Rawatan Rapi HSB pada pukul 1.25 pagi.
Jenazah Muhammad Nasrullah dikebumikan di perkuburan Islam Masjid Pematang Buluh, Kota Sarang Semut dekat sini pada pukul 9 pagi tadi.
Pada 1 Mac lalu, akhbar ini melaporkan seorang bapa mendakwa sebuah klinik swasta cuai merawat penyakit ruam bayinya yang berusia lapan bulan sehingga menyebabkan kulit di seluruh tubuh anaknya melecur.
Khairul Nizam Lebai Jusoh, 41, mendakwa, dia membawa bayinya, Muhammad Nasrullah ke klinik berkenaan pada 16 Februari lalu untuk mendapatkan rawatan penyakit ruam yang dialami anaknya itu di bahagian paha dan perut. - UTUSAN ONLINE

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