theSun | TUESDAY JUNE 2 2009 5

news without borders

HAZY ... Only API readings above 100 are considered unhealthy.

Penang gets Parts of the peninsula were hit by the haze yesterday.
However, despite the gloomy atmosphere as shown
in the photo taken in Petaling Jaya yesterday, the Air
Pollutant Index (API) recorded by the Department of
Environment indicated that the air quality in all towns
As at 5pm yesterday Port Klang had the highest index
reading at 71 followed by Shah Alam (70), Petaling Jaya
(60), Kuala Selangor (61), and Kajang (57).
In Federal Territory, the readings were 65 (for
Cheras), 62 (Putrajaya), and 58 (Batu Muda) while
in Penang, the readings were 37 for Prai and 45 for

increased air links

and cities in the country was either moderate or good. Seberang Jaya.

by Himanshu Bhatt AirAsia’s inaugural flight between Pen-

newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: The federal government
has extended its liberalisation policy
for air services to Penang as part of a
long-term measure to spur the state’s
economy during the current global
financial downturn.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee
Keat said the state’s international airport
was one of 13 destinations in the country
that was being geared to have increased
air links, including to Singapore, in the
near future.
The ministry has already planned to
allow a record 84 flights a week between
Penang and Singapore by next year,
while a new direct flight to Chennai run
by AirAsia has also been approved for
launch within the next four months.
Ong said the increased connec-
ang and Singapore at the international
airport here yesterday.
Also present were Health Minister
Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, AirAsia Bhd
group CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes
and AirAsia Bhd chairman Datuk Aziz
Bakar.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng,
meanwhile, also launched a new SilkAir
service between Penang and Singapore
in the afternoon.
Together with Singapore Airlines’
daily service to Penang, the two sister
companies will now operate a total of
21 weekly services between Penang and
Singapore.
Ong noted that Penang currently had
only 49 flights a week to Singapore. AirAsia boss well after fainting at LCCT
He said the number would be in- SEPANG: AirAsia group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri
creased to 84 flights by allowing more Tony Fernandes is resting at home after being given a clean bill
airlines, including Tiger Airways, Firely, of health by doctors yesterday evening, after he fainted at the

tions, including to several new regional
destinations, would have significant
bearing on the tourism potential of
the state while boosting investor
confidence.
“I am always mindful of the needs
of the people, the industry and our eco-
nomic requirements at the moment. That
is a top priority,” he said after launching
Residents fail to get judicial review
KUALA LUMPUR: Residents of Kampung
Bukit Koman in Raub, who claimed to have
suffered health problems from the use
of cyanide in the Bukit Koman gold mine
project yesterday failed to get leave for a
judicial review to stop the project.
The project started in February.
High Court judge Lau Bee Lan dismissed
the residents’ leave application for a judi-
cial review of the director-general (D-G) of
environment’s decision in approving the
preliminary environmental impact assess-
ment (PEIA) report dated Jan 13, 1997, for
the proposal to mine for gold at the Bukit
Koman gold mine.
Their counsel, Jessica Ram Binwani, told
the media that Lau ruled that the residents
were late in filing the leave application
Four more suspected cases
and Jetstar Airways, to set up operations
here.
Ong added that plans for the RM250
million expansion of the Penang airport
was already under way with pre-qualifi-
cation process for consultants.
The expansion will include segregat-
ing passageways and halls for interna-
tional and domestic passengers.
which they should have done within 40
days of the issuance of the PEIA report.
She said the judge also dismissed with
costs all the reliefs sought by the residents
including an order to stop the project and
an order of certiorari to revoke the approval
of the report.
She would file an appeal against the
decision by this week, she said. More than
50 Kampung Bukit Koman residents were
present in court.
One of the residents told reporters that the
project was just 3m away from their houses.
According to the Action Committee
Against the Use of Cyanide in the mining
operations at Bukit Koman, the residents
of Kampung Bukit Koman were not assured
that the use of cyanide would not affect
Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) earlier the same evening.
AirAsia said in a statement issued yesterday that Fernandes
was taken to the Pusrawi Medical Centre at the KLIA main ter-
minal building after he fainted at the LCCT upon arrival on a flight
from Penang. Doctors examining him blamed it on exhaustion
and advised him to get some rest, it said.
Fernandes was returning from Penang after attending
AirAsia’s Penang-Singapore inaugural flight celebration
yesterday morning, it said. – Bernama
their health and pollute their environment,
and only realised the dangers of cyanide
after being informed by an overseas
cyanide expert who came to the mine.
The PEIA report was submitted by Raub
Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd (RAGMSB)
on Aug 27, 1996, and approved on 1997.
On March 21, 2008, four representatives
of the residents, Wong Kin Hoong, Chong
Sow Pin, Hue Fui How and Mustapha Hus-
sin filed for leave to seek a declaration that
the EIA report for the proposed mining and
extraction of gold from the old mine in Bukit
Koman, which was submitted by RAGMSB
to the director-general of environment, did
not meet the requirement and regulations
outlined in Section 34A of the Environment
Quality Act 1974. – Bernama
ZA
INFLUEN
Low-down
on new way
to treat piles
NEW DELHI: A leading Indian surgeon
will share knowledge with Malaysian
doctors on how to treat haemorrhoids
or commonly known as piles without
performing surgery.
Prof Dr Rama Kant, who is president
of the Association of Surgeons of India
(ASI), will be presenting a lecture titled
“Revolution in Management of Haemor-
Carlo rhoids by DGHAL and RAR – Can it write
becomes off surgery?” at the University Malaya
Blues Medical Centre later this week.
“At least 50% to 80% of people suffer
boss
from this (piles) at some point of time, it
pg 40 is a painful experience and many tend to
hide this problem.
“So the management and the treatment
of haemorrhoids is important, now we
can treat patients without any surgery,”
said Rama, who also chairs the Lucknow
College of Surgeons.
A(H1N1) He said using the DGHAL (Doppler
Guided Haemorrhoidal Arteries Ligator),

HO

surgeons could now treat patients more

TLINE

effectively and with less pain.

of A(H1N1) quarantined RAR is the recto anal repair method.

Under the DGHAL method, a
03

00

-8 3 miniature Doppler ultrasound device is

by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Four more suspected cases
of influenza A(H1N1) have been placed in iso-
lation wards in three hospitals in the country
for examination.
Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri
Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said the ministry
had recorded a total of 345 cases admitted
to isolation wards so far but only two cases
were positive, which had been reported on
May 15 and 16 after their return from the
United States.
He said as at 8am yesterday, there were
11 people who came into contact with the
A(H1N1) cases still under home quarantine
and they were in healthy condition without
the symptoms of contracting the disease.
He said in a statement that one who came
into contact with a case in Singapore ended
the home quarantine yesterday, while the
other six will end their quarantine today.
For the other four who came into contact
with cases in Hongkong, two will end the
quarantine on Thursday and the rest will be
on Friday,” he said, adding that there is no
local transmission here and the country is still
free from the disease.
Mohd Ismail added that a total of 9,161
visitors from 56 infected 881 00/
02
countries had been screened
on Sunday and only one had to
be referred to the hospital for examination.
He also advised the public to practise good
cough etiquette by covering one’s mouth
when coughing or sneezing, wash hands with
soap and water after coughing and for those
who are coughing and having cold to wear
the three-ply mask to avoid infecting other
people.
“Those who have fever, cough and cold
are advised to stay in the country to minimise
the chances of being infected when travelling
abroad,” he said.
inserted into the anus, and an audible
signal allows the surgeon to find the exact
location of the arteries supplying blood to
the haemorrhoids.
Piles are swelling and inflammation
of veins in the rectum and anus, due to
increased straining during bowel move-
ments, often caused by constipation or
diarrhoea.
“We have treated about 400 patients
in India in the last three years using the
non-surgery method.
“The complication rate is negligible,”
added Rama. – Bernama

2,000 leave flu ship
SYDNEY: Australian authorities on Monday
allowed about 2,000 passengers to disembark
from a cruise ship caught up in a high-seas swine
flu scare, as the number of cases in the country
jumped by nearly a third to 400.
Passengers who had been confined aboard
the Pacific Dawn cruise ship since last week,
when three crew members fell ill with swine
flu, began filing off the liner in Sydney after they
were cleared of the disease.
“No evidence of any additional cases of hu-
man swine influenza has been found on board
the Pacific Dawn and there has been no person-
to-person transmission on board,” said New
South Wales’ top health official Kerry Chant.
The ship had been at the centre of an outcry
after infected passengers were allowed to disem-
bark from an earlier cruise in Sydney, prompting
an explosion in Australia’s swine flu cases.
The three crew members who caught the dis-
ease have recovered but remain in quarantine,
P&O Cruises said in a statement.
Infected swine flu victims were allowed to
disembark with other passengers a week ago
when an earlier cruise ended in Sydney, the
statement added.
Two more cases in Vietnam
HANOI: Vietnam has confirmed two more
A(H1N1) flu patients, state-run television
quoted health officials as saying yesterday,
a day after the first case surfaced in the
Southeast Asian country.
VTV 1 reported a woman and her nine-
year-old child who had returned from a trip
to the United States on May 25 were con-
firmed to carry the A(H1N1) virus and were
being treated in two hospitals in the Ho Chi
Minh City.
The state broadcaster quoted Health Min-
istry spokesman Nguyen Huy Nga as saying
their condition had stabilised and fevers had
subsided.
On Sunday, Vietnam announced the first
case of H1N1 infection after a 23-year-old
Vietnamese student who returned from
the United States was tested positive for
the virus. State media reported yesterday
authorities were tracking nearly 200 pas-
sengers who were on the same flight with
the student from Hongkong to Ho Chi Minh
City on May 26.
Vietnam requires any suspected flu case
to be isolated for seven days. – Reuters