KOTA KINABALU – Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) menerusi Pusat Kajian Bencana Alam (NDRC) berhasrat untuk menyelaras dan memperkukuh kerjasama bersama Agensi Pengurusan Bencana Negara (NADMA) khususnya dalam aspek pengurusan bencana negara.

Perkara itu dinyatakan NDRC ketika menerima kunjungan delegasi NADMA yang diketuai Timbalan Ketua Pengarah Dasar NADMA, Zamakhsari Hanipah baru-baru ini.

Menurut Pengarah NDRC, Prof. Madya Ts. Gs. Dr. Carolyn Melissa Payus, satu perbincangan bersama NADMA yang dipengerusikan Dekan Fakulti Sains dan Sumber Alam (FSSA), Prof. Dr. Jualang @ Azlan Abdullah Gansau membincangkan hasrat kolaborasi dalam bidang penyelidikan serta program-program yang berkaitan dengan pengur usan bencana negara di peringkat rentas sektoral.

“Kunjungan seumpama ini dilihat dapat menggalakkan kolaborasi pihak akademia serta menerokai persefahaman pintar antara pihak NDRC UMS dengan pihak agensi kerajaan seperti NADMA ke arah memperkasa agenda pengurangan risiko bencana negara,” katanya.

“Kerjasama dengan pihak institusi pengajian tinggi seumpama ini merupakan langkah yang tepat dalam menyokong dasar pengurangan risiko bencana negara 2030.

“Maklumat penyelidikan dan juga program-program pengurangan risiko bencana (DRR) yang dijalankan oleh pihak NDRC UMS akan menjadi rujukan kepada pihak NADMA terutamanya berkaitan pengurusan bencana di peringkat Borneo,” ujar beliau.

Pada kunjungan tersebut, delegasi NADMA turut dibawa melawat Sistem Pemantauan Gempa Bumi, SEISCOMP3 di Makmal NDRC dan diberi penerangan mengenai fungsi teknikal SEISCOMP3 oleh Pegawai Penyelidik NDRC UMS, Eldawaty Madran.

Dalam perkembangan lain, Zamakhsari telah mempengerusikan satu Sesi Perbincangan Awal Inisiatif Pengurangan Risiko Bencana (DRR) di Negeri Sabah yang diselaraskan oleh NADMA di Pejabat Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri dan Penyelidikan, Jabatan Ketua Menteri (JKM) Sabah, dan turut dihadiri oleh Carolyn.

Dalam perbincangan tersebut, beliau menjelaskan NADMA telah melancarkan DRR Bencana Negara 2030 di peringkat persekutuan dan akan dilaksanakan di peringkat negeri yang seterusnya akan dipanjangkan di peringkat jabatan-jabatan serta daerah berkaitan.

“Justeru itu, Pelan Strategik DRR di peringkat negeri diperlukan bagi memeterai pelaksanaan Dasar DRR Negara 2030,

TOKYO, Feb 18 — The UN nuclear watchdog chief arrives in Japan on Tuesday for a trip that will include his first visit to storage facilities for soil contaminated in the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

It is the fifth official visit to the country by Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Workers at the wrecked plant on Japan’s north-east coast last week began dismantling wastewater storage tanks to free up space for tonnes of nuclear debris.

Grossi will tour the site on Wednesday, and will also be shown the contaminated soil that the government is currently discussing how to handle.

After the disaster, about 13 million cubic meters of soil and about 300,000 cubic meters of ash from the incineration of organic material was removed from the wider Fukushima region, as part of decontamination efforts.

For comparison, the Tokyo Dome arena, where US pop superstar Taylor Swift performed last year, has a capacity of 1.24 million cubic metres.

The soil is being kept at interim storage facilities, over a total area of 16 square kilometre.

Japan plans to recycle roughly 75 per cent of the removed soil — the portion found to have low radioactivity levels.

If this material is confirmed safe, authorities want to use it for civil engineering projects, including building embankments for roads and railways, the government and the IAEA say.

The remaining soil will be disposed of outside Fukushima region ahead of a 2045 deadline.

The government has said it intends to confirm the disposal site this year, with Fukushima’s regional governor reportedly urging them to come up with a plan quickly.

“Japan’s approach for recycling and disposing of soil and radioactive waste from decontamination activities... is consistent with IAEA safety standards,” the IAEA said in September in its final report on the soil issue.

The Fukushima plant was hit by a huge earthquake-triggered tsunami in March 2011 that killed 18,000 people.

The most dangerous part of the complex Fukushima plant clean-up — removing around 880 tonnes of radioactive fuel and rubble from three stricken reactors — has only just begun, with one tiny sample removed by a robotic claw.

During Grossi’s visit, experts from the IAEA and neighbouring countries including China and South Korea will also take seawater and fish samples “to further increase the transparency” of the process of releasing treated wastewater into the sea, an official from Japan’s energy agency said.

Plant operator TEPCO in August 2023 began discharging 1.3 million tonnes of collected groundwater, seawater and rainwater, along with water used for cooling the reactors.

The water release has been endorsed by the IAEA, and TEPCO says all radioactive elements have been filtered out except for tritium, levels of which are within safe limits.

But countries including China and Russia have criticised the release and banned Japanese seafood imports over safety concerns.

China in September said it would “gradually resume” importing seafood from Japan but this has yet to begin. — AFP

BINTULU (Feb 17): It was very challenging for some parents here as the new school session opened today.

The recent severe floods, described as the worst ever recorded in Bintulu, had left many families struggling to prepare their children for school. Many had lost essential items, including school supplies and uniforms.

Nonetheless, some schools are allowing parents to pay the fees in installments, providing some financial relief during this difficult time.

For Goretti Seda, she initially had all the school supplies ready, but later, she had to repurchase most of them, which were ruined in the floods. Even worse, the disaster also damaged one of their vehicles, which is now still awaiting repairs at a workshop.

“I now have to take my husband to his job site, followed by dropping my children off at school for both morning and afternoon sessions,” said this mother-of-three, all of whom are in primary school.

For Nur Helena Abdullah@Laging Jingut from Rumah Hennry Diman at Jalan Kuala Tatau, Sungai Sebemban, this year has been the most challenging for her family.

She has not been able to earn a living, and the rough seas make matters worse. Her family relies on producing smoked fish to make a living, but without any catch, there are no sales.

“I can only afford to pay the school fees and exercise books for now. God-willing, when we have more income, we’ll buy new school uniforms for the children,” said Nur Helena, adding that she was thankful that her children understood their situation.

Nur Helena has three children, all studying at SMK Kemena. Two of them are in Form 4, while the youngest has just entered Form 1.

Another parent, Nurhidayah Abdullah, said with limited funds, she could only buy books for her two children attending SMK Assyakirin Sungai Plan.

“I couldn’t afford other essentials such as PE (physical education) uniforms, calculators, and the PTA (parent-teacher association) fees.”

Nonetheless, she was thankful that none of her children’s school supplies bought earlier were damaged in the floods, which also affected her area.

“The school also provides flexibility in paying the fees in instalments, at the discretion of the class teacher,” said Nurhidayah. “My hopes are not high – I just want to be able to provide all the school necessities for my children.”

Meanwhile, Siti Khadijah Ramlan said her children’s school preparations were complete despite the financial challenges brought by the disaster.

“My husband and I run a home-based food business, and the floods had a significant impact since we had to ‘take a break’ for quite a while due to disrupted supplies at the supermarkets.

“Many roads were impassable roads, making it difficult for us to conduct the deliveries as usual.”

Siti Khadijah said their residential area was less affected, so there was no damage to property and school items for the children.

The management at their children’s schools, SK Bintulu and SMK Bintulu, also allowed instalment payments.

“We will focus on school supplies such as uniforms and stationeries and paying fees, as the first week does not have any learning activities yet.

“God-willing, once the business has recovered, we will settle the remaining payments.”

When contacted, Bintulu District Education officer Samri Suhaili confirmed that all primary and secondary schools in Bintulu opened as usual today, and the first day of school had been running smoothly.

SHAH ALAM – Sebanyak 80 kes pencemaran sumber air telah direkodkan di Selangor yang berpotensi untuk menyebabkan Loji Rawatan Air (LRA) henti tugas, pada tahun lalu.

Exco Kesihatan dan Alam Sekitar Selangor, Jamaliah Jamaluddin berkata, bagaimanapun kes pencemaran itu merekodkan kes positif apabila terdapat penurunan bagi kes kecemasan Kod Merah dengan hanya empat kes dicatatkan berbanding lima kes pada tahun 2023.

Katanya, kes kecemasan Kod Kuning (insiden pencemaran yang berjaya dikesan dan ditangani tanpa henti tugas LRA) adalah sebanyak 68 kes berbanding 49 kes pada tahun sebelumnya.

“Kejayaan ini hasil penyelarasan pemantauan proaktif dan intensif Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS) meliputi lebih banyak lokasi dan kawasan dikenalpasti ( berpotensi tercemar).

“Jadi, kita berjaya mengesan pencemaran dengan lebih awal dan menanganinya segera bagi mengelakkan gangguan operasi LRA,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan bengkel River Monitoring Program (RMP) di sini, hari ini.

Beliau memberitahu, rekod turut menunjukkan sebanyak lima buah sungai telah diiktiraf sebagai sungai bersih oleh Jabatan Alam Sekitar (JAS) pada tahun lalu yang antaranya Sungai Selangor, Sungai Langat, Sungai Sepang, Sungai Tengi dan Sungai Bernam.