Sarawak Latest News

The Sibu Kidney Foundation (SKF) here will be organising free blood pressure checking from 11.00 am to 4.30 pm on March 15 at Delta Mall Shopping Centre.

This blood test would be on a first-come-first-served basis as it would only accept 200 persons only for uric acid test and 100 persons for blood glucose test.

The event would be held in conjunction with its exhibition day.
There would also be a poster exhibition on what is renal failure, its causes, the type of treatment available for end stage renal failure available in the country and how to prevent renal failure.

The exhibition would also include different types of recycling programmes the people could undertake in helping to save the earth from global warming.

Meanwhile, it would also hold an Electro Somato (ESG) body scan. The scan could be done in only four minutes and the result would be available instantly.

The normal price is RM200 but on that day the foundation is only charging RM120. Besides that, the participants would also be given a RM20 voucher for future scan.

All monies collected on that day would donated to the foundation for its running cost.

Booking for the RV Orient Pandaw Rajang River Cruise is already full for this year and beyond the expectation of the company, the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company.
The founder of Pandaw Cruises, Paul Strachan, in an email to Eastern Times yesterday, said although the Pandaw Cruise would only start in July, bookings for the upcoming cruise was already full.

He said response was that overwhelming due to the active selling of the cruise by company to their long established list of clients who had experienced such cruise in Vietnam and Cambodia.

“It seems that hundreds of our old passengers are just waiting for a really exciting new product like this to come along,” he said, adding that Pandaw Cruise was also actively promoting stop-over in the state capital of Kuching and other towns in Sarawak to be added to the Rejang river cruise.

The cruise would be Malaysia’s first luxurious cruise when the Pandaw Cruise began operation in July this year.

Operated by on the RV Orient Pandaw, a ship that is a replica of the old colonial river steamer, this cruise will sail along the Rejang River.
The RV Orient, with 30 staterooms, will make a nine-day voyage along the Rejang which is adorned with picturesque scenery provided by the lush rainforest and longhouses by the riverbank.

The founder of Pandaw Cruises ,Paul Strachan, described the journey as a rich eco paradise and this is a true reflection of Sarawak’s new destination tagline “Sarawak-the paradise within”.

Starting from Sibu,the cruise will sail up-river to smaller towns of Kanowit and Kapit before turning into Rejang River’s main tributary of Balleh and heading towards the Pelagus Rapid.
From Pelagus, the cruise will return downstream to the town of Song and continue on to Sarikei and Tanjung Manis towns before returning to Sibu.

Apart from stopping and enjoying the rustic attractions in Sibu, Kanowit, Song, Kapit, Sarikei and Tanjung Manis, passengers can also take a smaller boat to visit the longhouses and enjoy the hospitality of the Iban community living along the river.

Steeped in tradition, the Ibans are known for their friendliness and rich cultural heritage. Other activities that passengers can do during the cruise include jungle trekking and visit to farmland where fruits, rice and pepper are grown. For the adventurous ones, they can also go shooting the rapid. Sibu is accessible by direct flights from Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching provided by Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia.

The flight from Kuching to Sibu only takes an hour and Kuching being the main gateway to Sarawak, is also connected by direct flight from Brunei, Jakarta, Pontianak, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.

These flights are currently operated by Malaysia Airlines, Royal Brunei Airlines, Air Asia, Tiger Airways and Batavia air. In March Kuching will see another airline, Jetstar Asia, making a direct flight into the city from Singapore.

Rumah panjang diroboh tanpa notis, harta benda bernilai lebih RM60 ribu musnah
Seorang penghuni rumah panjang di Batu 15,Jalan Mukah-Selangau di sini telah membuat laporan di balai polis Selangau petang semalam kerana tidak puas hati dengan tindakan pihak berkuasa yang meroboh dan merosakkan harta benda beliau dan dua lagi ahli keluarga yang lain.

Mensekar Banyau, 70, yang merupakan ketua kepada keluarga-keluarga yang mendiami rumah tersebut mendakwa kakitangan sebuah jabatan kerajaan bertindak zalim kerana merobohkan rumah mereka tanpa notis peringatan walaupun dalam masa 24 jam.

“Tindakan mereka tidak dapat dihalang dan mereka melakukan sesuka hati sehingga menyebabkan kami yang mendiami rumah ini dan memiliki harta benda berasa sakit hati serta ingin menuntut jumlah kerugian yang dianggarkan lebih RM60,000,” katanya kepada Utusan Borneo ketika ditemui di tempat kejadian petang semalam.

Katanya lagi, buat masa ini mereka yang terjejas akibat tindakan tersebut menumpang di rumah panjang sanak saudara sementara mengumpul perkakas yang masih boleh digunakan untuk mendirikan pondok tempat tinggal.

Kata Mensekar, tindakan serupa turut dilakukan oleh kakitangan pihak berkuasa yang sama terhadap beberapa buah rumah di kawasan tersebut pada 16 Oktober 2008.

“Belum lagi selesai kes mereka yang menebang beberapa buah rumah dengan cara yang sama pada 16 Oktober 2008 lalu, penguat kuasa jabatan itu turut merobohkan rumah tempat kediaman kami tiga keluarga pagi semalam iaitu 26 Februari 2009, kira-kira jam 10.30 pagi.

“Hanya satu keluarga yang berada di dalam rumah itu pada masa kejadian kerana dua keluarga lagi sedang bekerja dan tinggal di rumah kakitangan syarikat tempat mereka bekerja. Saya dan isteri saya tidak mampu dan tidak diberi kesempatan langsung untuk memindahkan barang-barang dan harta benda yang berada di dalam rumah kerana apabila sampai sahaja mereka terus merobohkan rumah itu menggunakan sebuah jentolak.

“Kami tidak menerima apa-apa surat pemberitahuan daripada pihak berkuasa dan tidak diberitahu juga bahawa rumah ini akan dirobohkan atas sebab mengganggu proses pembinaan Jalan Mukah-Selangau.

“Mereka memberitahu saya pada suatu ketika dahulu bahawa sebahagian daripada rumah saya yang sudah diroboh oleh saya sendiri sememangnya termasuk dalam kawasan jalan baru, namun sebahagian lagi diberitahu sendiri oleh seorang kakitangan jabatan dari Mukah ia tidak termasuk dalam pembinaan jalan dan masih boleh didiami.

“Itulah sebabnya kami terus mendiami rumah ini dan tiba-tiba kehadiran mereka semalam ternyata adalah satu daripada penipuan dan mempunyai muslihat yang tersendiri,” kata Mensekar dengan kesal.

Seorang lagi penduduk, Nyunkin Renjau yang tinggal di rumah sama turut memberitahu bahawa beliau sungguh terkejut dan marah apabila kediaman mereka musnah setelah dirobohkan oleh pihak yang tidak bertimbang rasa.

“Kami menerima nasib malang apabila padi, baja, motosikal,harta benda lama dan wang tunai yang berada di dalam dan kawasan rumah tersebut telah musnah sama sekali. Rumah kami ditumbangkan dengan jentolak sehingga semua harta benda musnah dan tindakan sebegini amat kejam seolah-olah kami binatang bukan manusia,” kata Nyunkin.

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Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the money was an extra allocation to help repair the damages to the facilities.

"This amount is not in our budget. It is something extra we give to the people of Sarawak who are facing hardship because of the recent floods.

"For the damages to schools and public roads, we are still assessing the damage," he said when presenting aid to families in the Suai district located 100km south of Miri City.

"The disaster was extraordinary. In Kuching, the rainfall over a two-day period was equal to one year's total rainfall. In Miri, the rain was also very serious," he said.

Since January, floods and landslides have hit Sarawak, especially in the central and northern region of Sibu, Miri and Limbang.

A total of RM1,500 was given to families to repair their homes while RM3,000 would be given to those whose houses were completely destroyed.

Those who had death in the family would get RM5,000.

Farmers who had lost their crops would have their case assessed before aid is given.

Najib said the 4,375 families at evacuation centres would get RM500 per family while the 27,500 families who stayed with their relatives and friends would get RM300 each.

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said some 10,000 farmers incurred some RM30mil losses after their crops were destroyed during the floods.

"I propose that these farming families be given an extra RM1,000 after we assess the damages," he said.