Eyes on Miri

Sarawak closer to producing anti-HIV, cancer drugs

MIRI: Two researches carried out by the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) on drugs obtained from local plant species to fight Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and cancer were now in their final stages.

The anti-HIV drug, obtained from Calanolide which is contained in the latex of Bintangor or Calophyllum tree, was now in the clinical trial stage that, among others, would test its side-effects before the drug could be available commercially.

The tests would still take sometime to be completed and would be carried out in collaboration with foreign researchers.

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Move to curb drink-driving in Sarawak

MIRI: Sarawak police will step up enforcement on the streets and highways throughout the state to deter alcohol abuse among motorists.

The police force in every town in the state’s 12 divisions and in the cities of Miri and Kuching will be equipped with breath-analysers and screening devices to detect motorists who are drunk or who have high level of blood alcohol.

“Reckless driving caused by drunkenness is very high. We must curb alcohol abuse.

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My take:

Come on! Why only now? We all know drinking & driving around these parts are insanely high, especially during festive seasons. I've noticed this since I started driving many years ago. And even then, news of accidents involving drunk drivers go way back to when I was a child. It's one reason I don't stay out late at nights on these occasions - we've seen too many incidents regarding drunk drivers killing innocent drivers, and they seemingly getting away with it.

The big question is, will you really take action or it's all just talk?

MIRI: The state authorities have started sending clean water to schools and settlements in the drought-hit Ulu Baram district in the interior of northern Sarawak.

SK Puyot and 10 longhouses, with total population of 3,000, are the first to get the water supply after they appealed to Baram District Officer Joseph Balayong.

The clean water sources ran dry a few days ago.

[ Source ]

Bruneians Owe Miri Council RM16,000 In Parking Compound

Some 445 Brunei-registered vehicle owners have owed the Miri City Council RM16,000 in outstanding parking compound since 2002. This was highlighted by Miri's Mayor Lawrence Lai, the Borneo Post reported yesterday.

For the convenience of motorists from Brunei, the council has set up counters at its multi-storey car park during weekends and the public holidays. The counter will open from Sam to 4pm.

Errant motorists owe Miri City Council RM4.4 million in outstanding parking compound in that period of time. The outstanding amount involved 109,44 Malaysian registered vehicles and 698 from other foreign registered vehicles owe RM24,000 in outstanding compound.

Lai thus urged motorists to pay their outstanding compound to the council as parking fees and assessment rates were among the main contributors to the council's revenue. "The council is giving a three-month grace starting May I with a 50 per cent discount to encourage defaulters to pay up," he said.

However, the response has been poor with only RM129,000 in outstanding compound collected in May, he stated, adding that as a last resort the council might take legal action against the defaulters after the expiry of this grace period.

A penalty of RM300 would be imposed on motorists after their cases are brought to court, he stated.

Full news here

My take:

I'm not at all surprised. The coupon-ticketing system has too much discrepancies. If you park properly and mis-scratch the date or time or just made some sort of honest mistake, you get a fine, you have to pay the full fine of RM15! Add to the cost of the coupon with the mistake that would be about RM15.40. If a person did NOT put a coupon, he pays a fine with gross amount of about RM15.

That's 0.40 cents LESS than the person that made an honest mistake!!!!

Sure, you can go to have this disputed, but you'd have to head over to the Council building for this, and when you're there, you have to pay for another parking there! And assuming you DON'T make a mistake there, you have to dispute with the complaints counter, which if they say they can't do anything about it, then you'd have to take it to whoever is in charge of that. Assuming they waive the fine, there's all this cost incurred to your time. It's THAT frustrating. So if you're from across the border it's understandable why you'd just resort to hopping across the border back home instead of having to deal with all these stupid little time-consuming things like us poor locals have to.

However, those who park in yellow lines, or park their cars like an idiot (parking in 2 spots, or even 3, double parking, or improperly - see picture ) will get away with it.

So - tough luck. Perhaps the council should think about some more effective way of promoting things like this.