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MIRI - Some 10,000 villagers from 13 Kedayan-Malay villages in northern Sarawak are up in arms over a move to evict them from their century-old settlements. They received the eviction notices from the Land and Survey Department recently asking them to move out by today, The Star reported.

The villages are located some 40km south of Miri City, along the Sarawak Second Coastal Highway near the Miri-Bintulu division boundary.

Yesterday, scores of villagers staged a demonstration by the road to tell motorists about their plight.

They unfurled banners and placards denouncing the eviction.

The crowd grew as passers-by joined in the protest. Two elderly Kedayan chieftains, Penghulu Sahar Pusha and Bengkil Bangkol, joined in the demonstration.

"This move to evict us is a huge shock. We have been living in these villages since 1910. We were told that they have plans to build a sawmill and develop oil palm plantations. We were informed that 1,800 hectares of our land had already been allocated for a sawmill. Where are we to go? This is our ancestral home. We have been here for almost 100 years," said Sahar.

Bengkil claimed that the developer had already cleared four cemeteries to build access roads. "We have sought urgent meetings with the relevant authorities to help us. We recently met Miri Land and Survey Department officials but they told us we have no right over the land because we only have provisional leases," said Bengkil.

"We protested saying that we have native customary rights because our ancestors have been there since 1910 but they refuse to withdraw the eviction notices," he added.

[ Source

MiriResortCity.com wishes a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri & Selamat Berpuasa to everyone.

27-28 Sep 2008 (Sat- Sun)

09:00 am - 06:00 pm

Miri Indoor Stadium

Entrance: Free

MIRI: The explosion that ripped apart a fuel-laden vessel in the Miri River and killed two crew members last week was possibly sparked off by human carelessness, initial investigations revealed.

A spark from welding work being done on the ship could have triggered the fire which resulted in a huge explosion at about 9am on Sept 13.

The ship, Ark 2, was berthed along the bank of the river, adjacent to a petrol-station, for servicing.

It was supposed to ferry hundreds of drums of fuel for people in the deep interior settlements.

State fire chief Mohd Shoki Hamzah said yesterday investigations and testing was still being carried out on board the wreckage to pinpoint the cause.

Miri police chief Asst Comm Jamaluddin Ibrahim said the initial probe showed that the fire and subsequent explosion happened when maintenance workers were carrying out servicing on board the ship.

“There must be strict compliance with safety measures on board such high-risk vessels,” he said.

Experts from the Sarawak and Brunei forensic departments were trying to identify a corpse found in Brunei’s Seria district, 50km from here, to determine if it was the vessel’s missing crew member Ting Huang Ung.

Ting went missing after the explosion and was believed to have been thrown into the river from the impact of the blast.

Brunei police found the body near Kuala Belait.

The other crew killed in the blast, Richard Emang, was found floating near Bintulu, 250km south of Miri two days ago.

Source

Original news of the explosion here.

Royal Brunei 747-400 flying circuit over Miri. They've been doing this on and off for quite some time. Apparently, they're practicing over here because Miri Airport airspace is so sparse.

At about 10am today (15th September 2008), just about less than an hour ago a snatch-and-run occurred from the bank in town center. The 2 snatch thieves ran off on bike, but crashed into a (or possibly several) cars, before fleeing on foot.

One was caught, the other ran away with the money. At this moment, the other one is still on the loose, and is said to be wearing an orange shirt. The stolen cash is said to be RM10K.

This pic was taken just right after the robber was caught.

Please note: most of what was written above were from hearsay from members of the public and some of what I saw myself. This information may not be entirely accurate.

Explosion on river-barge kills one
By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: An explosion ripped apart a fuel-laden river-barge in the heart of the city here, killing a crew member of the barge and injuring several others.

The barge, similar in size to a 60-tonne fishing vessel, was torn apart by the blast which occurred at about 9am Saturday.

The barge was docked along the banks of the Miri river adjacent to a petrol-station near the Krokop Industrial Estate.

It was loading several hundred drums of fuel for transportation into the interior when an explosion occurred.

Luckily, the vessel was docked inside the river and was more than 20 metres away from the petrol station.

The explosion caused a massive fire on board the vessel. The impact of the blast rocked nearby buildings, but did not cause any other serious injuries.

Workers on board the barge jumped into the river, but one of them, a youth, was found drowned at about 1pm. Another suffered burns while the rest were slightly injured.

Miri Police chief Asst Comm Jamaluddin Ibrahim said the cause of the blast was still being investigated.

In Sarawak, river-barges are used to transport fuel to interior outposts for sale to longhouse, sawmills and riverine towns and villages.

[ Source ]

About 20+- years ago, Miri town was rocked by another early morning explosion - the infamous Public Bank Gas Leak Explosion in town center. There were many similarities to today's incident - the explosion occurred during morning, near the busy town, and some casualties.

This morning I was driving and saw an odd column of smoke rising from town and thought nothing of it - until a friend from near the explosion called me up and informed me about it.

Today is Unlucky September 13th. Condolences to the families of the victim and injured.

For info sharing…

Open the windows after you enter your car

In brief, the above article says: According to research done by a U.C., the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener will emit Benzene, a cancer causing toxin (carcinogen). In addition to causing cancer, it poisons your bones, causes anemia, and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer. May also cause miscarriage.

Acceptable Benezene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft. A car parked indoors with the windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benezene. If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benezene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level. The people inside the car will inevitably inhale an excess amount of the toxin.

It is recommended that you open the windows and door to give time for the interior to air out before you enter. Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver, and is difficult for your body to expel.

( I got this email from a very good friend of mine )

MIRI: More than 400 personnel from the police and other enforcement agencies carried out a massive offensive in northern Sarawak against criminals and illegal immigrants.

The operation headed by the police also involved immigration officials, the army and general operations force personnel.

Miri police chief Asst Comm Jamaluddin Ibrahim said that police stepped up anti-crime operations after Miri registered a sharp jump in the crime index lately.

“We carried out house-to-house searches and found it effective in flushing out crooks.

“We carried out raids in places where we identified our targets.

“Police personnel on foot patrols were deployed in the city to beef up our presence,” he said.

ACP JAmaluddin said that highway patrol units, tourist police and traffic police were used in areas short of staff.

“We searched 625 vehicles, 783 homes and dozens of entertainment outlets and made more than 200 arrests.

“The suspects are believed to be involved in various crimes in and around Miri,” he said after a recent briefing for Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh here.

ACP Jamaluddin said the police wanted to reduce the crime index of 15% to 5% by the end of the year.

He considered the 15% rate as high, noting that it had increased because of difficult economic times faced by certain people, which prompted them to resort to crime.

[ Source ]

My take:

Please keep it that way, not only just because crime skyrocketed. Thank you, Mr. Police.