4 theSun | WEDNESDAY APRIL 29 2009

news without borders

Six from Pakistan family

among nine drown off Johor
JOHOR BARU: Six members of a
family from Pakistan holidaying in
Malaysia were among nine people
who drowned early yesterday when
a boat carrying 10 people capsized
off Johor in the South China Sea.
The only survivor of the tragedy,
were in the boat have yet to be
identified.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement
Agency (MMEA) Southern Region
enforcement chief First Admiral
(Maritime) Che Hassan Jusoh said
MMEA was notified about 9am of
the cause of the accident while the
rescued boy was in a weak state.
He also said all the bodies had
been brought to the Sultan Ismail
Hospital.
The high commission said the
Pakistan family was from Quetta in

which occurred in waters off Teluk
Ramunia near here, was a 14-year-
old boy from the family, whom the
Pakistan High Commission in Kuala
Lumpur identified as Aqeel Qirkeel.
The high commission, in a
statement, identified the dead
members of the family as Hameed,
Qasim Ali, Jumah Khan, Zainab,
Zulqarnain (a boy) and Sidiqqa (a
baby girl).
The three other persons who
the incident in waters 3.2 nautical
miles south of Teluk Ramunia.
“Acting on the information, the
MMEA sent two speedboats to the
area, also to assist two speedboats
of the Marine Operations Force,” he
said in a statement.
The bodies of the nine victims
were recovered between 4.40am
and 3pm.
Che Hassan said MMEA had yet
to identify the dead and ascertain
Pakistan, and had flown into Kuala
Lumpur on April 18 on a social visit
to Malaysia.
It said the family was travelling
from the south of Johor to Teluk
Ramunia on an excursion trip in a
small boat when the boat capsized
three miles south of Teluk Ramunia
towards the South China Sea.
It also said efforts were being
made to send the bodies to Quetta
after the post mortem. – Bernama
BERNAMAPIC
Tuanku
Mizan
meeting
Uruguayan
President
Vazquez.
King ends state visit to Uruguay
MONTEVIDEO (Uruguay): The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan
Zainal Abidin and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah departed
yesterday from the Air Base 1 Carrasco International Airport, ending
Their Majesties’ five-day state visit here.
Present at the airport to bid farewell to Their Majesties were the
Uruguayan Ambassador to Malaysia Pablo Sader, and Uruguayan Sub-
director of Protocol and Ceremonies Alfredo Bogliaccini.
The special aircraft carrying the royal couple took off at 11.40pm lo-
cal time (11.40am in Malaysia) and headed for Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
The royal couple have been here since last week to reciprocate the
state visit to Malaysia by Uruguayan President Dr Tabare Vazquez Rosas
in November 2007.
It was also aimed at providing impetus for improving bilateral rela-
tions, and symbolises the warm and close ties of friendship between
the two countries.
Earlier, Tuanku Mizan and Tuanku Nur Zahirah attended a state
banquet hosted by Vazquez in his official residence in honour of the
visit. – Bernama

Increase in tourist arrivals

by Hemananthani Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PUTRAJAYA: There has been a 2.2%
increase in tourist arrivals here
from January to March compared
with the corresponding period last
year, said Deputy Tourism Minister
Datuk Sulaiman Taib.
Speaking to reporters after
officiating the 6th Malaysia Inter-
national Conference on Languages,
Literatures and Cultures, Sulaiman
said the bulk of the tourists were
from the Middle East and Asia.
“There is a large increase in ar-
rivals from these areas where we
have been promoting heavily.”
He said there was a whop-
ping 325.3% increase in tourists
from Iran, Bangladesh (113.7%),
Uzbekistan (113.1%), United Arab
Emirates (95.2%), Saudi Arabia
(93.8%), Syria (76.6%), Qatar (71.9%)
and Pakistan (66.6%).
China recorded only a 0.7%
increase.
There were also marginal
increases in tourist arrivals from
North America and Canada (9.9%).
“The number of tourists from the
United States, however, dipped by
1.5%,” said Sulaiman.
Asked if the current swine
flu would divert more tourists to
Malaysia as an alternative travel
destination, Sulaiman said the
pandemic might reduce the number
of North American travellers.
“They (North Americans) will be
highly scrutinised when they travel
overseas, just like how Asians were
scrutinised during the SARS pan-
demic. However, it might divert
tourists from Europe to come to
Asia,” he added.

Report on KLH docs Hamimah to be

sent to ministry
KUALA LUMPUR: A report on
two doctors in Kuala Lumpur Hos-
pital’s (HKL) emergency depart-
ment who allegedly shirked their
responsibilities while on duty was
sent to the Health Ministry yes-
terday, said HKL assistant director
(medical) Dr P. Kuldip Kaur.
“We are now awaiting the
decision and follow-up direc-
tions from the ministry,” she told
reporters after a programme “The
Inspector-General of Police’s Visit
To The Hospital” in conjunction
with the 202th Police Day.
Kuldip Kaur was commenting
on a report on Monday about
two doctors in the emergency
department who were “caught”
by Deputy Federal Territory Minis-
ter Datuk M. Saravanan reading a
newspaper and attending to per-
sonal matters instead of attending
to some 20 waiting patients.
She declined to comment
when asked if the two doctors
were still on duty. – Bernama
retried
KUALA LUMPUR: After five
years and 45 witnesses gave
evidence, Dr Hamimah Idruss,
who is charged with receiving
RM41.33 million from illegal ac-
tivities, will have to be retried.
Sessions court judge S.M.
Komathy Suppiah ordered the
trial to start again on May 27
because the previous judge,
Akhtar Tahir, has been posted
to the High Court.
Hamimah’s case received
wide media coverage in early
2004 for being the first to be
charged under the Anti-Money
Laundering Act 2001.
She was alleged to have
committed the offence in April
2003 and if convicted, she is li-
able to a fine of not more than
RM5 million or imprisonment
not exceeding five years.
She is also charged with
10 counts of abetment in
document forgery involving
US$12 million (RM45.6 million).
– Bernama