Tag - Environment

KOTA KINABALU: The June 5 Ranau earthquakes had caused RM95 million in damages at areas affected, said State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun. "From the recent coordinating meeting for rehabilitation and repairs under the Chief Minister's chairmanship, the preliminary reports—mostly from Public Works Department—estimated RM95 million in damages. "This included 38 schools as far as Nabawan and Kota Marudu districts which were exposed to the quake's aftermath," he told reporters after launching the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) fair for Sabah here. In another development, he said despite the challenges faced by the State the past two years, airlines are still showing interest to fly to Kota Kinabalu. "I am meeting with the boss of China Eastern Airlines next week to finalise their plans to inaugurate a flight to Kota Kinabalu," he added. Asked about possible destinations linked from the Republic, Masidi said he had visited Wuhan before and found the interest of its citizens there to come to Sabah is still high. Previously, arrivals from China to the State were affected following several kidnappings at Sabah's east coast involving China nationals over the last two years. Source: New Straits Times

KOTA KINABALU: Institut Sinaran will be having its annual World Environment Day with a new activity in store for its participants, Eco – Challenge 2015 at the campus itself. With this year’s World Environment Day theme, “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care”, Institut Sinaran will set out to raise awareness about the growing environmental issues impacting Sabah among students, in the form of team activities and scavenger hunt. The Eco-Challenge Contest consists of exciting challenges of games, scavenger hunt, quizzes and intriguing puzzles based on the awareness of environmental issues in hopes to promote students’ participation in efforts to preserve the environment and to encourage creativity and team building among the young generation today. The contest is open to all upper secondary school students in Kota Kinabalu and also the surrounding region. Each participating team must consist of 10 to 12 members and the team with the highest accumulated score wins. The rewarding of scores for each challenge will be based on speed, accuracy, completeness and creativity of answers. A big crowd is expected this year. So far, Institut Sinaran has received multiple teams from Maktab Nasional, SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin, Kian Kok Middle School, SMK Bahang, Maktab Sabah, Sekolah Menengah Shan Tao and Sabah Tshung Tsin Secondary School. Institut Sinaran is expecting more schools to join in this event. The contest itself will be held in Institut Sinaran on July 25 from 8am to 1pm. Students will be required to be at the venue by 7am for registration. Winners will be announced during the closing ceremony on the day itself. Besides the Eco-Challenge Contest, the IS World Environment Day Video Contest and “YB Minister! We have something to tell you” are also activities that aim to mutually raise awareness but in a different approach. Institut Sinaran was established in 1987 as Sabah Tshung Tsin Pre-University centre to provide affordable, internationally recognized Pre-U qualification locally. It was upgraded to an institute on July 14, 2002 and is presently the biggest Cambridge GCE A-Level Centre in East Malaysia. For more inquiries, please contact the event organizer, Mr Steve Yap, 016-8310397, or email your questions to isenvironmentday@gmail.com or visit Institut Sinaran’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/isenvironmentday2015. Source: The Borneo Post

KOTA KINABALU: A world class training and competence assurance facility will be set up at the University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) campus to train manpower for the oil and gas industry. The multi-million dollar facility will include a Safe Live Process Plant (SLPP), a realistic industrial oil and gas facility that will provide a safe and controlled environment for new and experienced trainees to develop practical skills and enhance competency. Construction of the proejct will begin as soon the feasibility study conducted since April 2015 is completed (currently entering its final stages). It is expected to take nine months to complete, and its first intake of trainees is expected in the last quarter of 2015. This was disclosed when a high-powered delegation from UMS led by Professor Ir Dr Rosalam Hj Sarbatly paid a courtesy call on Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan recently. Dr Rosalam updated the minister on the progress of establishing the UMS oil and gas training and certification centre. Through the universitys newest business platform, UMS Oil & Gas Sdn Bhd (U-OIL), the Faculty of Engineering is committed towards supporting the state’s agenda on highly skilled human capital development and providing a platform for nurturing young entrepreneurs in the oil and gas sector through university-industry smart partnerships. He also reported that Sitegroup International Ltd (SGI) will be offering internationally accredited and employer customised vocational training and competence assurance programmes in partnership with U-OIL, to the oil and gas industry in Sabah. Another U-OIL partner, Kudat Offshore Oil & Gas Sdn Bhd, is establishing an Offshore Safety and Induction Training Centre. The OPITO (Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization) certified Tropical Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (TBOSIET) course will be offered to provide participants with an understanding and awareness of the hazards encountered when working on offshore installations and travelling via helicopter. Uniquely, the SLPP (SGI) will be linked to the Survival Pool equipped Offshore Safety and Induction Training Centre, offering unrivalled emergency response and escape training. Also in partnership with U-OIL, Alhambra Petroleum Sdn Bhd, through its subsidiary, Altronik Sdn Bhd, will be offering internationally certified specialized training courses and services in instrumentation and control engineering (such as Siemens and Yokogawa systems) to facilitate industry needs, specifically, for the oil and gas industry. Silver Ridge Sdn Bhd, in partnership with Commerce Galaxy Sdn Bhd and U-OIL, aims to provide a platform to nurture young ICT entrepreneurs, especially in businesses related to fibre optics infrastructure, to achieve sustainable ICT-based human capital development initiatives. According to Dr Rosalam, who is the dean of the Faculty of Engineering in UMS, the main objective of the visit was to strengthen its networking, especially between industry players and UMS with the ministry, and with the State Government in general. Among the agenda discussed were human capital development in the now booming oil and gas sector; highlighting updates on recent UMS collaborations with the industry and key strategies for supporting the State Governments goal to develop and train more Sabahans to become highly skilled workers. During the discussion, Raymond shared the latest development and vision of the State in developing the oil and gas sector in Sabah. He also emphasized the significance of collaborations with the ministry, industry players and the role of the university to achieve the aim of Vision 2020, especially in respect of becoming a nation of high income earners. Tan Hwa Tong, the director of Zone 2 Industries Sdn Bhd (training provider for IECex based competency training) wrapped up by sharing his view after meeting with the minister: An energetic market driven minister, who shares his prestigious view on the current and future of Sabah oil and gas industries. His aim of increasing more O&G activities within Sabah and attracting more specialists in this industry to Sabah with collaboration and joint ventures with local entrepreneurs and corporations. We are glad to have invested in Sabah with our collaboration with U-OIL and be part of the fast growing O&G activities here in Sabah. Meanwhile, also participating in this meaningful meeting were delegates of the consortium for technical young talent services contractors, represented by young Sabahan entrepreneurs (Alhambra Petroleum Sdn Bhd, Commerce Galaxy Sdn Bhd, Petrofiq Sdn Bhd and Petrocore Sdn Bhd). The consortium was established by Rosalam to be a platform for nurturing young Sabahan entrepreneurs to be capable and sustainable; strengthening Sabahs active participation in the oil and gas industry support services sector. At the end of the meeting, the minister concluded that he was happy to see the materialization of collaborations between UMS and industry players. He hoped that in the future, more collaborations such as these will be initiated to support the development of Sabahs industry and business sector. He added that the university had made the right move towards enhancing the credibility and employability of young talents in Sabah. The delegates consisted of representatives from University Malaysia Sabah; UMS Oil & Gas Sdn Bhd; Alhambra Petroleum Sdn Bhd/Altronik Sdn Bhd (represented by Al Hambra Tun Juhar; Altronik Sdn Bhd/Greenium Sdn Bhd (represented by Khairul Anwar bin Kamal; Commerce Galaxy Sdn Bhd (represented by Ahmad Syuaib bin Datuk Nasir; Silver Ridge Sdn Bhd (represented by Syakur bin DatoMohd Suhaimi and Wong Chee Keong; Sitegroup International Ltd. (represented by Nigel Peake and Neil Costelloe; Kudat Offshore Oil & Gas Sdn Bhd (represented by Wong See Khieng and Danial bin Datuk Iskandar; Zone 2 Industries Sdn Bhd (represented by Tan Hwa Tong and Nor Adzuara binti Mohd Rasih; Petrofiq Sdn Bhd (represented by Mustaqeem bin Datuk Tawfiq; Petrocore Sdn Bhd (represented by Muhammad Gaddafi bin Gulistan. Source: Borneo Post