KUALA LUMPUR: Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, mengarahkan agensi serta pihak berkaitan supaya segera turun padang untuk membantu pengurusan pascabanjir, termasuk di Johor dan Sabah.

Setiausaha Akhbar Kanan kepada Perdana Menteri, Tunku Nashrul Abaidah, berkata langkah susulan itu penting bagi meringankan beban ditanggung mangsa banjir, terutama menjelang sambutan Aidilfitri tidak lama lagi.

"Mengambil kira situasi di Johor dan Sabah yang kini beransur pulih, seharusnya semua pihak termasuk badan bukan kerajaan serta sektor swasta, menggembleng tenaga membantu mempermudahkan kesulitan dihadapi mangsa banjir.

"Bencana itu membawa kepada kerosakan harta benda, aset termasuk (menjejaskan) persiapan Aidilfitri yang disediakan sebelum ini," katanya pada Taklimat Harian Pejabat Perdana Menteri (PMO) yang disiarkan melalui Facebook PMO Malaysia, hari ini.

Dalam pada itu, Tunku Nashrul berkata, pertumbuhan Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK) 5.1 peratus pada 2024 yang melepasi unjuran awal kerajaan dan jangkaan penganalisis bebas, membuktikan reformasi ekonomi dilaksanakan Kerajaan Madani sudah mula membuahkan hasil.

Beliau berkata, Perdana Menteri melihat pertumbuhan itu yang didorong oleh pelaburan domestik tertinggi dalam tempoh sedekad, mencerminkan keyakinan pelabur terhadap hala tuju dasar negara.

"Nilai pasaran modal juga mencatat rekod baharu, iaitu mencecah RM4.2 trilion dengan kadar pertumbuhan hampir 11 peratus berbanding tahun sebelumnya.

"Ia bukan sekadar angka, tetapi petanda positif bahawa asas ekonomi kita semakin kukuh," katanya.

Bank Negara Malaysia dalam laporan Tinjauan Ekonomi dan Monetari 2024 yang dikeluarkan semalam berkata ekonomi negara berkembang kukuh 5.1 peratus tahun lalu berbanding 3.6 peratus pada 2023.

Menurut Suruhanjaya Sekuriti Malaysia (SC) dalam Laporan Tahunan 2024 pula, minat belian yang kukuh dalam bursa tempatan, selain peningkatan ketara jumlah tawaran awam awal serta pertumbuhan jumlah terkumpul pasaran bon dan sukuk, telah meningkatkan saiz pasaran modal kepada RM4.2 trilion pada 2024 daripada RM3.8 trilion pada 2023.

Bagaimanapun, Tunku Nashrul berkata, Anwar akur bahawa cabaran struktur masih wujud, justeru produktiviti negara perlu dipertingkatkan, daya saing diperkukuh dan ketahanan ekonomi dibina semula dengan berlandaskan prinsip manusiawi serta tatakelola yang baik.

"Kita tidak boleh berkompromi dengan ketirisan dan rasuah yang merugikan negara serta membantutkan pembangunan.

"Kerangka Ekonomi MADANI yang dilancarkan pada 27 Julai 2023 bukan sekadar pelan dasar, tetapi juga satu usaha bersama untuk membina ekonomi lebih adil, lestari serta menyeluruh supaya pertumbuhan yang dicapai dapat dikecapi oleh semua, bukan hanya golongan elit," katanya.

VIENTIANE: Air quality in Laos has worsened, with PM 2.5 fine particles reaching hazardous levels, affecting cities across the country, according to the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The air quality index in the northern province of Xayaboury has reached a hazardous level, with PM 2.5 concentration hitting 284 micrograms per cubic meter, exceeding the safety threshold of 50 micrograms per cubic meter, according to the report on Tuesday (March 25).

PM 2.5, the fine particulate matter that causes smog, is an air pollutant containing tiny particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers.

PM 2.5 can lodge in the lungs and enter blood vessels, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. - Xinhua

Chinese authorities said today they had controlled a leak of toxic heavy metal into a river, after media outlets reported that officials had known about the incident for days.

An emergency response was launched after detecting “abnormal water quality” in a section of the Lei River, officials in the central city of Chenzhou said on Sunday, without giving further details.

In a rare move, multiple news outlets later reported that authorities knew about elevated levels of thallium, a potentially harmful heavy metal, in the river as early as March 16.

The Chenzhou city government admitted that thallium concentrations were at least 13 times higher than normal on that day, in a further statement today, but said the incident “has now been controlled”.

Thallium is a tasteless, odourless heavy metal that can damage the nerves, liver, kidneys and other human tissues when consumed in significant quantities.

According to the Southern Metropolis Daily, river monitoring stations first detected the leak in a stretch of river between Chenzhou and nearby Hengyang, a city home to 6.5 million people in Hunan province.

The incident “caused inter-city pollution and threatened the safety of downstream drinking water”, the state-backed news outlet said. It added that officials quietly launched an emergency response the following day, seeking to “eradicate… the danger and uphold social stability”.

Authorities did not disclose the incident until Sunday’s statement, which said local water was “safe” to drink but did not provide details of the leak or the scope of the government’s response.

One resident who lives near an affected stretch of the Lei River, in Leiyang, told AFP today that her family has continued to use water from the tap despite health concerns.

“We’re definitely afraid,” 37-year-old Xiaoshu, who asked to be identified by a nickname, told AFP over the phone. “It’s fine for us adults, but what if children or the elderly drink it? What if they get sick?”

The mother of two said she had heard about the contamination online through articles shared in group chats and videos posted to Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.

“Everybody’s been talking about it,” she said, but admitted that local authorities never directly notified her of any water contamination.

Despite worrying about the water’s safety, Xiaoshu, who sells fishing equipment, said she has bought some bottled water but can’t afford to turn off the tap.

“Our family’s economic situation is what it is,” she said. “Wealthy people can use bottled water, but for regular folks like us, we can only do that for the water we drink and use tap water for everything else.”

Today, the Chenzhou government blamed a local cement factory for the leak, saying rainwater had washed dust containing thallium from a recently dismantled kiln into the river.

It said emergency responders had controlled the pollution source and treated river water to remove the thallium, adding that concentrations had soon returned to normal in downstream areas.

China has cracked down on environmental pollution in recent years, but industrial contamination remains common in many parts of the country.

Media coverage of such incidents has also dried up since President Xi Jinping came to power over a decade ago and tightened the government’s grip on the press.

Some today took to social media to lament the delayed government response. “It’s truly terrifying, this serious of a situation covered up for this long, and it’s even scarier that people may not be aware of the severity of the situation”, one user commenting under a post about the contamination wrote.

“If we must die let’s die together”, read another comment.

PEKAN – Kerajaan negeri berharap Kementerian Ekonomi dapat menyegerakan peruntukan khas bagi menangani isu hakisan pantai di negeri ini yang sudah di tahap kritikal.

Exco Kerja Raya Pengangkutan dan Kesihatan Pahang, Datuk Ir. Razali Kassim berkata, hakisan sepanjang hampir satu kilometer itu sudah ‘memakan’ rizab jalan Persekutuan.

Menurutnya Kerajaan Negeri berharap isu berkenaan mendapat perhatian dan keutamaan sewajarnya ekoran kesan hakisan melibatkan aspek keselamatan yang boleh mengancam nyawa orang ramai.

“Banyak lokasi pantai terjejas kerana pantai di negeri ini panjang, namun keadaan di hakisan pantai Sungai Api-api bertambah serius.

Menurutnya hakisan berkenaan di  jajaran FT03 Jalan Pekan – Nenasi Seksyen 255 bakal mengundang bahaya pengguna jalan di situ.

Tambah Ir. Razali perkara tersebut mendapat keprihatinan Sultan Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah yang menzahirkan kebimbangan terhadap isu hakisan pantai yang semakin kritikal di negeri ini.

“Semalam pun Tuanku sekali lagi bertitah supaya perkara ini disegerakan,” tambahnya.

Jelas beliau, kedudukan pantai yang terbuka dan terdedah secara terus memberi kesan lebih-lebih lagi terjadi kejadian air pasang setiap kali musim monsun.

“Memang kawasan ini terdedah laut yang terbuka, terdedah kerana pantai kita di Pahang panjangnya 2 98 kilometer.

“Bahkan pa  ntai dari Kelantan hingga Johor terkesan disebabkan hakisan ombak kecuali kawasan yang mempunyai pulau

Terdahulu pihak Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) Pahang telah memohon  peruntukan khas untu , penyuburan pantai (beach nourishment) dan lampu suar (beacon light). – MalaysiaGazette