JOHOR BAHRU - Seramai 9,383 peniaga bazar yang terjejas akibat banjir bakal menerima pengecualian penuh caj sewaan membabitkan jumlah keseluruhan RM1.07 juta.

Exco Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan negeri, Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor, berkata pengecualian itu melibatkan peniaga bazar Ramadan dan Aidilfitri yang terjejas.

"Sebanyak 8,081 peniaga bazar Ramadan menerima pengecualian sewa bernilai RM748,674.40 manakala 1,302 peniaga bazar Aidilfitri pula dikecualikan sewa berjumlah RM318,114," katanya.

"Inisiatif ini melibatkan sembilan pihak berkuasa tempatan (PBT) antaranya Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (MBJB), Majlis Bandaraya Iskandar Puteri (MBIP), Majlis Bandaraya Pasir Gudang (MBPG), dan Majlis Perbandaran Kluang (MPKu)," katanya dalam kenyataan pada Khamis.

Menurut Mohd Jafni, langkah terbabit bukan sahaja mengurangkan beban peniaga tetapi merancakkan kembali ekonomi setempat yang terjejas akibat bencana alam.

Dalam perkembangan berkaitan, beliau berkata, sebanyak 16 yayasan di bawah PBT negeri turut menyalurkan bantuan berjumlah RM1.13 juta kepada 6,940 ketua isi rumah (KIR) yang memerlukan terutama menjelang sambutan Aidilfitri.

Banjir melanda negeri pada minggu lalu disifatkan penduduk sebagai antara terburuk pernah melanda selepas bencana banjir besar 2006.

Bencana menyebabkan banyak rumah ditenggelami banjir sehingga ada mencecah paras bumbung selain menyebabkan peniaga di beberapa kawasan bazar berdepan kerugian terutama di Kota Tinggi.

Banjir yang melanda enam daerah berpunca daripada taburan hujan luar biasa mencecah 150 milimeter (mm), berbanding purata hanya 20 mm, ditambah dengan fenomena air pasang sekitar 3.0 meter.

KUALA LUMPUR: Thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds are expected in Kuala Lumpur and six other states until 3pm on Thursday (March 27), says the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).

In a statement on Thursday, it said that the affected states are Perli, Kedah (Langkawi, Kubang Pasu and Bandar Baharu), Penang, Selangor (Sabak Bernam, Kuala Selangor, Gombak, Petaling and Hulu Langat), Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan (Seremban), and Johor (Tangkak, Muar and Batu Pahat).

Warnings are issued when thunderstorms with rainfall intensity exceeding 20mm per hour are imminent or expected to last more than an hour.

The public is advised to visit www.met.gov.my or MetMalaysia’s official social media channels and download the myCuaca application for the latest accurate information.

SUCRE: Presiden Bolivia, Luis Arce mengisytihar darurat negara pada Rabu susulan hujan lebat dan banjir teruk di negara itu.

Bencana sehingga kini meragut lebih 50 nyawa manakala lebih 100,000 penduduk kehilangan tempat tinggal.

Kesemua sembilan wilayah di Bolivia terjejas, dengan satu diisytiharkan sebagai kawasan bencana dan tiga lagi dalam keadaan kecemasan.

Bolivia dengan populasi lebih 12 juta penduduk, lazimnya mengalami musim hujan dari November hingga Mac.

Menurut Perkhidmatan Meteorologi Bolivia, beberapa amaran oren dan merah untuk limpahan sungai, yang biasanya dikeluarkan pada Februari, dikeluarkan pada Mac tahun ini dan dilanjutkan sehingga April.

Pengisytiharan darurat membolehkan kerajaan membeli bekalan dan menggerakkan sumber dengan lebih mudah.

Ribuan anggota tentera dikerahkan untuk mengendali dan mengagih bantuan ke kawasan terjejas teruk.

ANDONG, South Korea (Reuters) -Wildfires raging in South Korea doubled in size on Thursday from a day earlier, as authorities called the blazes the country's worst natural fire disaster with at least 26 people killed and historic temples incinerated.

More than 33,000 hectares (81,500 acres) have been charred or were still burning in the largest of the fires that began in the central Uiseong county, making it the biggest single forest fire in South Korea's history. The previous record was 24,000 hectares (59,000 acres) in a March 2000 fire.

The military has released stocks of aviation fuel to help keep firefighting helicopters flying to douse flames across mountainous regions in the southeast of the country where fires have been burning now for nearly a week.

More than 120 helicopters have been deployed in three regions battling the blazes, the safety ministry said. South Korea relies on helicopters to fight forest fires because of its mountainous terrain. A helicopter pilot died on Wednesday after crashing while trying to tackle a blaze.

The wildfires that originated in Uiseong have been moving rapidly eastward, spreading almost to the coast, carried by gusty winds and with dry conditions aggravating the situation.

The Uiseong fire began spreading quickly on Wednesday, reaching the coastal county of Yeongdeok 51 km (32 miles) away in just 12 hours, said Won Myung-soo, director of satellite imagery analysis for the national forestry service.

While the meteorological agency has forecast some rain for the southwest, precipitation is expected to be under five millimetres for most of the affected areas.

"The amount of rain is going to be small so it doesn't look like it'll be big help in trying to extinguish the fire," Korea Forest Service Minister Lim Sang-seop told a briefing.

Experts have said the Uiseong fire showed extremely unusual spread in terms of its scale and speed, and that climate change is expected to make wildfires more frequent and deadly globally.

Higher temperatures amplified by human-caused climate change contributed to the existing seasonally dry conditions, "turning dry landscapes into dangerous fire fuel" in the region, the Climate Central group, an independent body made up of scientists and researchers, said in a report.

The wildfires have carved a trail of devastation through an area equivalent to about half the area of Singapore, ravaging everything in their path including historic temples and homes in the mountainous forest regions of North Gyeongsang province.

Teams of firefighters are on standby to protect the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Hahoe Village and the Byeongsan Confucian Academy in the city of Andong, if a blaze jumps the stream that flows around them.

The picturesque folk village has traditional Korean houses, many with thatched roofs, while the Confucian academy dates back more than 450 years.

The fires have already badly damaged other historic sites, including much of Gounsa Temple in Uiseong, which was built in 681.

"The buildings and remains of what Buddhist monks have left over 1,300 years are now all gone," said Deungwoon, the head of the Gounsa Temple.

(Additional reporting by Nicoco Chan and Hongji Kim in Uiseong and Jihoo Kim in SeoulWriting by Jack KimEditing by Ed Davies and Michael Perry)