theSun | MONDAY MARCH 16 2009 9

news without borders

EARTHREPORT
RM5,000 rebate only for Week Ending March 13

American drought
THE US weather agency NOAA warned that the first two months
of 2009 have brought the driest start of any year nationwide

roadworthy ‘junks’ “The test is aimed at ensuring that the

Press Digest
by Kong See Hoh
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
OWNERS of ‘junk’ cars may not be able to
enjoy the RM5,000 discount given by Pro-
ton under the auto-scrapping scheme.
Proton managing director Datuk Syed
Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd Tahir told
Nanyang Siang Pau that the scheme ap-
plies only to cars that pass Puspakom’s
(Computerised Vehicle Inspection Cen-
tre) roadworthiness test.
He said the scheme is open to cars of
any make that have been registered with
the Road Transport Department (JPJ) but
owners must first get their vehicles tested
by Puspakom.
The roadworthiness test, costing about
RM20, can be done in one day.
old cars (participating in the auto-scrap-
ping scheme) are still roadworthy.
“As long as the car, regardless of its
make, passes the Puspakom test, the
owner can get RM5,000 rebate (for buy-
ing a new Proton car).”
That means even if the junk is worth
only several hundred ringgit, as long as it
is certified fit for the road, its owner will
enjoy the RM5,000 rebate.
Syed Zainal Abidin said Proton will
first apply to JPJ to cancel the registration
of old cars “traded in” under the scheme
before disposing them, including for
recycling.
In general, to recycle a vehicle means
cannibalising it for parts that are still in
tip-top condition or can be reconditioned
to function well.
Syed Zainal Abidin said the main
benefits that Proton will derive from the
scheme is government incentives and
profit from sales of new vehicles.
Meanwhile, Federation of Automotive
Workshops Owners Association of Ma-
laysia president Cho Chee Seng said that
given Malaysians’ habit of not repairing
their cars until necessary, the 10-year-old
cars may have to be sent to the workshop
before they can pass the Puspakom test.
The roadworthiness test requires a
vehicle to have:
» a good body, without rust;
» an engine that is in good condition and
not emitting smoke;
» a good braking system; and
» all lights that are of reasonable bright-
ness.
For an old car to pass the test, it may
mean forking out RM300-400 to change a
set of lights or RM2,000-2,500 to replace
the engine with a reconditioned one,
making the scheme unattractive.
since keeping records began in 1895. While recent rains in
California have eased that state’s severe drought, the lack of
precipitation elsewhere is troubling farmers and firefighters.
The National Interagency Fire Centre in Boise has logged 11,814
wildfires so far this year – the most for any two-month period in
a decade and nearly 3,700 more than average.
Texas has suffered some of the worst effects of what is being
called “exceptional” drought conditions in parts of the state.
Ranchers have been forced to sell their cattle because fields are
too parched to feed them. Roughly 3,400 wildfires have burned
in Texas since the beginning of the year.
Saudi sandstorm
A RARE wintertime sandstorm enveloped the Saudi capital of
Riyadh and other parts of the desert kingdom, sending dozens
of residents to hospitals with respiratory ailments. Cars and
houses were covered by the yellow Saudi sand, which also
forced the capital’s international airport to shut down for a few
hours. The handful of people who ventured outdoors while the
howling sandstorm raged wore surgical face masks or kept
handkerchiefs over their noses and mouths, according to local
media. The blinding storm also struck neighbouring Kuwait,
briefly halting oil exports and forcing the closure of the Persian
Gulf emirate’s three ports. Meteorologists say that much of the
Saudi peninsula has not received rain for a third winter in a row,
making desert sand so loose that it is easily whipped up into
sandstorms by strong northwesterly winds.

20 bodyguards protecting Speaker Sivakumar Vulture malaria

PERAK State Assembly Speaker
V. Sivakumar, the man who is
the centre of attention following
the power grab early last month,
said he is now accompanied by
four to 20 bodyguards whenever
he is in the public.
He told Sin Chew Daily in an
interview that he has lost confi-
dence in the political situation
in the country and is worried
about his personal safety and
that of his family. As such, he
is accompanied by bodyguards
wherever he goes, he said.
“Frankly speaking, until now
I have not received any phone
threat or offer (to jump ship),
possibly because they know I
am one who subscribes to the
principles of democracy; or that
they cannot reach me due to the
tight security (around me).
“After I was elected the
Tronoh assemblyman and be-
fore I was made the Speaker, I
did receive crossover offers.
They stopped after I lodged a
police report and since being
appointed the Speaker.”
He said: “After the incident
(power grab), I became very
careful. I would not talk to others
or take calls anyhow. Probably
because of that, they cannot
reach me.
Sivakumar joined DAP in
1997. In 1999, he contested the
Channing state seat but was
unsuccessful.
INDIA’S endangered vulture population now faces another
threat that may kill those birds that survived poisoning by a
now-banned livestock drug. The country’s Centre for Cellular
and Molecular Biology (CCBM) told the tabloid Mail Today yes-
terday that the scavenger birds are succumbing to a new strain
of avian malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes.
Wildlife experts had been puzzled as to why the vultures
continued to die long after the drug Diclofenac was no longer
being distributed and used in livestock. – Universal Press Syn-
dicate