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No. 4760 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Monday
May 18, 2009
TELLING IT AS IT IS www.sun2surf.com

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MACC probes
top ministry
official
by Tim Leonard
Quarantine for MOST ON
MH091
TRACED;
STUDENT

air passengers
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
ALSO TOOK
PETALING JAYA: A high-ranking official
of the Ministry of Science, Technology AIRASIA
and Innovation (Mosti) has been as-
signed a desk job pending completion of AK5358 TO
an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-
Corruption Commission (MACC) into
alleged irregularities in a programme
PENANG
he was handling.
The official, who was part of the
team that oversaw several government by Charles Ramendran Newark, New Jersey to KL International Airport ers at the ministry yesterday.
initiatives, including the Angkasawan newsdesk@thesundaily.com on Wednesday. The woman continued her jour- The woman, who is in the isolation ward in
space programme and the launch of ney to her hometown Penang on board AirAsia’s Penang Hospital, is being monitored and has not

RazakSAT, Malaysia’s second remote
sensing satellite, was transferred out at
the end of last month.
MACC director of investigations
Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul was unavail-
able for comment on the progress of
the investigation.
An official from the ministry con-
firmed the investigation and said the
official’s post has been filled by a senior
civil servant previously with the Works
P
UTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry is tracing
the passengers on two flights to help contain
the spread of the influenza A(H1N1) virus.
This follows the confirmation of Malay-
sia’s first two cases – both 21-year-old students
who returned from the United States – last week.
In addition, the health status of 100 other people
is being monitored.
The two students – a man and a woman – had
flown on Malaysia Airlines flight MH091 from
flight AK5358 from the Low Cost Carrier Termi-
nal (LCCT) in Sepang at 11am the same day.
Deputy Director of Health Datuk Dr Ramlee
Rahmat said there were 102 other passengers and
five flight crew members on the AirAsia flight.
“We have acquired the particulars of the all
the AirAsia passengers and crew members and
have notified the Health Department to pay them
a visit for the purpose of having them in ‘home
quarantine’ for monitoring,” Ramlee told report-
developed any symptoms of H1N1, he said. Four
members of her family and 15 crew members of
flight MH091 are also under home quarantine
and are reported to be in good health.
Ramlee said checks showed that of the 192
passengers of flight MH091, 73 had returned to
their respective countries. The ministry has noti-
fied the World Health Organisation to take steps
to look them up.
He said the remaining passengers – 81 Malay-
sians and 38 foreigners – are still in the country.

Ministry and the Rural and Regional
Development Ministry.
theSun learnt the MACC probe
centred on activities related to the pro-
motional and awareness campaigns of
the Angkasawan space programme.
However, it is not immediately
known if the probe was also linked to
the recent postponement of the launch
of RazakSAT, a RM150 million satellite
that was due for liftoff on April 21 but
was postponed because of “technical
problems”.
A statement by the ministry had
said the postponement was because
of problems with the launching vehicle,
Falcon 1.
Falcon 1 belongs to Space Explora-
tion Techology (SpaceX) and the satellite
was to have been launched from the
launch pad at Omelek on Marshall
Island.
The repair works are expected to
take at least six weeks.
The Angkasawan programme, un-
dertaken by the National Space Agency
and Mosti, was aimed at sending a
Malaysian to the International Space
Station on board Soyuz TMA-11.
BERNAMAPIX
Eighty Malaysians and 15 foreigners have been
Rela members, wearing face masks, guard the Immigration traced and placed under home quarantine, in-
depot for illegal immigrants in Juru, Penang, where an cluding the student who is in Penang Hospital,
outbreak of leptospirosis was reported last week. A her travelling companion, who is the isolation
detainee from Myanmar died of the disease – usually caused ward at Sungai Buloh Hospital, and a suspected
by exposure to water contaminated with urine from infected case who is also in hospital.
animals – on Tuesday. Two detainees are still in the intensive The whereabouts of a Malaysian and 23 for-
care unit and 21 others quarantined in hospital. See Page 3 eigners on board MH091 remains unknown and
efforts to trace them continue.
Ramlee said the male student is in a stable
condition. He is not suffering from cough or sore
throat but has a slight fever. His family is under
home quarantine and in good health, he said.
Asked if there is any particular factor, such as
the hot weather, contributing to the sudden surge
in infectious diseases, Ramlee said there is no
specific factor why diseases such leptospirosis,
meningitis and hand, foot and mouth disease
(HFMD) have simultaneously struck at several
locations.
“It is normal and these diseases are reported
and occur in isolation every now and then. We
are hearing about it more because we have come
out in the open revealing it. The most important
thing here is that we have identified the problem
and we are controlling and containing the dis-
eases,” he said.
» See also Page 3