MTUC Sarawak says Sarawak Labour Ordinance is obsolete, needs to be amended

KUCHING, March 25, 2022 - The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Sarawak has asked the government to amend the Sarawak Labour Ordinance 1958 to be at par with the Employment Act 1955 (Act 265) in the next sitting of Parliament or otherwise extend the EA to the state.

Its secretary Andrew Lo (picture) said it has proven time and again that having separate laws has resulted in workers in Sabah and Sarawak being left behind.

“While we are pleased that workers in West Malaysia will get the eagerly awaited better benefits, very regretfully workers in Sabah and Sarawak will be left out as the EA does not covered the two states as they have their own separated Labour Ordinances,” Lo said in a statement.

He was commenting on the passage of the amendments to Employment Act in Parliament recently.

The Sarawak Labour Ordinance was last amended in Parliament in 2004.

The Employment (Amendment) Bill 2021 tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on March 21 is to extend the application of the Employment Act 1955 (Act 265) to all employees regardless of salary earned.

Among others, tyhe amendments are to enable all workers in the country to receive the minimum benefits and protection prescribed under Act 265.

Lo said the SLOs of Sabah and Sarawak are hopeless antiquated as the previous improvement to the Employment Act in 14 years ago in 2008 had yet to be incorporated.

“We don’t even have provisions for sexual harassment prevention and part time workers, but are already in the existing EA,” he said.

He said the Premier of Sarawak has proudly claim that he want Sarawak to lead the country in   economic development, but he must also ensure that lead in the labour standards as well.

Peter John supports efforts for Sarawak to have control over issuance of citizenship to genuine natives

 By Simon Peter

KUCHING, March 11, 2022 - A well-known human rights activist expressed support for Sarawak to have control over the issuance of citizenship by the state government to stateless people born in Sarawak.

Picture: Human rights activist Peter John supports effort for Sarawak to have control over issuance of citizenship to genuine natives

Peter John said there are thousands of genuine natives in the remote rural areas who have remained stateless.

“This represents a clear failure of the federal authorities to understand the specific context of the state and its individual history and indigenous culture,” Peter said in a statement.

He noted that Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Datuk Sri Fatimah Abdullah has taken a step in urging Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg to take up the issue with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for Sarawak to have control on the issuance of Malaysian citizenship.

He said Sarawak should have control over the issuance of citizenship now it has regained its original status as an equal partner to Malaya and Sabah in the federation of Malaysia.

Peter, who has been assisting many stateless persons in Sarawak to apply for the Malaysian citizenship certificates, said he believes that the stateless issue can be solved if the state government is granted the control.

Peter, a committee member of the Global Human Rights Federation, said many parents in remote areas are also illiterate and ignorant on the urgency and importance of registering the births of their children.

He said the parents only realise the importance of birth certificate when they want to register their children to study in government schools or when their children apply for jobs in towns.

Peter said, without these documents, the children may not be admitted to government schools and they are denied free health services from the government clinics and hospitals.

He said these children should be granted the citizenship on the basis of written testimonies of their village chiefs or community leaders, without the use of birthday certificates and identity cards, as this system is closer to their practice of customary law or Adat, which itself is law in Sarawak.

He added there should not be a problem as the village chiefs or community leaders know everybody in their community.

He said the National Registration Department (NRD) should not insist that all applications for birth certificates and identity cards must provide written documents as proof that they are born in Sarawak. 

Speaking at the International Women’s Day on March 8, Fatimah urged  for the state government to be granted control over the issuance of citizenship to stateless persons born in Sarawak, especially children.

She said this was important because it would enable the affected children to have the same rights as children with Malaysian citizenship status, especially in education.

She said since the setting up of the special committee on citizenship under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution, a total of 969 applications for citizenship have been received from 2016 to October 22, 2021.

She said only 253 applications have been approved as of today, while the remaining are still under consideration.

“What is most regrettable is that while waiting for the decision of the federal Home Affairs Ministry, these children are denied receiving or enjoying children’s rights, such as education, health, employment opportunities and receiving welfare aids,” Fatimah said.

She urged Abang Johari  to bring up the issue with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob so that as an autonomous region, the state should be given a special power to solve the stateless issue by itself.

SEB: Fire at Permyjaya commercial unit in Miri was caused by illegal electricity connection at cryptocurrency mining centre

 By Mohamad Ahmad Sallehuddin

KUCHING, March 11, 2022 - An illegal electricity connection by a cryptocurrency mining centre is found to  have started a recent fire at double-storey commercial unit at Permyjaya in Miri, said Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) today.

Picture: The burnt illegal connection at the cryptocurrency mining centre in Miri

A statement issued by SEB said the fire not only caused extensive damaged to the premises but also 48 units of cryptocurrency mining servers.

“SEB was alerted after the firefighters responded to a distress call. The fire was successfully put out after an emergency shutdown was performed to disconnect the electricity supply to the premises for safety purposes,” the statement said.

It added in a follow up investigation and site inspection, SEB’s technical team found 48 units of burnt cryptocurrency mining servers and evidence of electricity supply connected illegally with direct tapping cables bypassing the electricity meter.

The statement said preliminary investigations indicate that the fire was caused by the unsafe illegal wiring connection, pointing out that cryptocurrency mining servers are energy-intensive machines operating 24 hours daily, often requiring cooling units to avoid them from overheating.

“Non-standard fuses and illegal wiring connections commonly used in power theft can easily overload the electrical system capacity, increasing the risk of short circuits, appliance damage, fires and even loss of lives in addition to disrupting the stability of supply in the area,” it said.

The statement said the estimated losses to have been incurred is more than RM13,000 per month in unregistered electricity consumption from this case and a police report has been lodged over this matter.

It said the premises owner and the tenant will be called to assist in the investigation.

SEB said since 2021, there were nine  fire cases linked to cryptocurrency mining recorded in Sarawak, with eight  of them from Miri alone.

“Even though there were no fatalities in all these incidents, building owners and neighbours have incurred significant losses and property damage,” the statement said.

The statement reminded customers not to steal electricity as it is an illegal and a very dangerous act. Electricity theft is a criminal offence under Section 33(5) of the Electricity Ordinance, which carries a penalty of up to RM100,000 and/or five years jail if found guilty.

Together with the Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication (MUT) and the police, the utility company will continue to track down power thieves that steal electricity to maximise their profits at the expense of public safety.

“All SEB customers are reminded not to trust service providers claiming to be able to reduce electricity use or allow premises owner to enjoy unlimited usage of electricity through meter tampering.

“Meter inspection teams are trained to detect various electricity theft methods, including tampered meters, fake electricity meter covers and underground direct tapping as part of Sarawak Energy's efforts to curb power theft,” the statement said.

Citrawarna programme in Kuching sparks Covid-19 cluster, public's fear confirmed

 KUCHING, March 9, 2022 - The public’s fear that last month’s Citrawarna Keluarga Malaysia programme at the waterfront could lead to an outbreak of Covid-19 infections has now been confirmed.

Picture: More people could be infected with Covid-19 as an estimated 50,000 attended the Citrawarna Keluarga Malaysia programme last month

According to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in a statement, the programme has triggered a cluster, aptly named Citrawarna cluster, where 21 individuals were tested positive for Covid-19.

The number of positive cases could be more, and according to SDMC, an estimated 50,000 people attended and participated in the programme, who included federal and state ministers.

With such a large number of people, it is almost impossible to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs), where social distancing was not possible.

It is reported that a few VVIPs in Sarawak were already tested positive, but no details are available if they are infected while attending the programme.

The Citrawarna cluster was triggered by an index case,  a 45-year old local man who was tested positive for Covid-19.

He was screened on February 27 at a private hospital and was tested positive with Covid-19.

According to SDMC, another 32 other individuals were tested negative while the outcome on six other individuals are still pending.

Another 24 individuals, who have a history of attending the programme, were also reported to be Covid-19 positive.

SDMC has made an urgent appeal to  individuals who attended the programme to self-monitor their health conditions and do their own screening.

On another matter,  Sarawak registered 1,727 Covid-19 cases today, with Kuching contributing 584 of the total cases, followed by Miri with 281, Sibu 193, Bintulu 115 and Samarahan, 100 cases.

SDMC said out of 1,727 cases, 663 were in Category One and 1,051 in Category Two, 12 in Category Four and one, Category Five.

It said two individuals, a 72-year old man from Kapit, and a 60-year old woman from Mukah have died from Covid-19 infection.

It said they both health-related issues such as diabetes, kidney problems and high blood pressure.

Panggau Dayak twin towers expected to be completed by end of this year, says Uggah

 KUCHING, March 7, 2022 - Construction of  the nine- storey high "Panggau Dayak"  twin towers project is on course for  completion  by end of December this year.

Picture: Panggau Dayak twin towers are a joint venture projects between Dayak Culture Foundation and Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Dayak Cultural Foundation Board of Trustee chairman and Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said this after visiting the site at Ong Tiang Swee Road here today.

Joining him were DCF Board of  Managing Trustee Tan Sri Leonard Linggi Tun Jugah and its member Datuk Sri Dr  Stephen Rundi Utom.

He said the projects, on a two hectare site,  are a joint venture development between the foundation  and the Dayak Chamber of Commerce  and Industry (DCCI).

Each will have its own tower as their headquarter offices.

He added the project  including its  residency components cost RM103million.

"On behalf of DCF and the Dayak community, I would like to again express our gratitude to the state government under the leadership of Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi  Abang Johari Tun Openg.

"Firstly, the state government had alienated a prime site in the city to us  for this project.

"Then it had graciously allocated a sum of RM28million to support the construction.

"These had allowed us to carry out this project on time," he explained.

He was also very happy to note the project management had managed  its construction to proceed  on time despite the constraints brought by the Covid-19 situation in the last two years.

"This Panggau Dayak is  a symbol of the Dayak community participation in  the development of Kuching," he said.

Abang Johari  had officiated at the towers launching ceremony on  October 20, 2020.

Meanwhile according to the Panggau Dayak Sendrian Berhad  general manager Allistar Hilton Smith, the  project  had its  residency components  known as the PD Residence.

It consists of the "Kapitan" for the apartment and "The Grange", for the  condominiums blocks.

He said the "Kapitan"  is a  five-storey block  of 30 units of apartment.

He said its construction was expected to begin by the first quarter of next year.

For the 80 units  condominium, Allistar said  its construction was targetted toward   the  end of 2023.

"We are looking at a 30-month construction period for the apartment and the condominium blocks." he said.