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The Buwau98 Chronicles
Health deputy director-general Datuk Dr Ramlee Rahmat assured the people that government hospitals and clinics, as well as private hospitals were prepared to handle out breaks of influenza A.
The latest case involves a female friend of the 21-year-old male student who was quarantined at Sungai Buloh Hospital on Friday after it was confirmed that he had the virus.
The two were on Malaysia Airlines flight MH091 from Newark, New Jersey, United States, which arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday.
Dr Ramlee said all passengers who were on the same flight were duty bound to report to the health authorities.
“The state health departments have been directed to track them down,” said Dr Ramlee yesterday.
In the worst-case scenario, Dr Ramlee said action could be taken against them under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.
Of the 192 passengers and 15 crew members on board the flight, 119 (81 Malaysians and 38 foreigners) are still in the country.
How isolated Kapit will be?Malaysia has reported its first influenza A(H1N1) case involving a student who returned from the United States two days ago.
NREB Controller of Environmental Quality Dr Penguang Manggil in stating this said the board viewed the matter seriously and was taking steps to curb the problem.
He warned industries as well as individuals not to re-sort to indiscriminate open burning, adding that during the dry spell bushes and forests caught fire easily.
Penguang made the remarks when contacted in Kuching yesterday.
According to him, the NREB is monitoring the hot spots through satellite and GPS to ensure the culprits could be identified and action taken against them.
He said the board had restricted the number of permits issued to the industrial sector in the state for open burning.
If the current dry spell kept on, he said, NREB would continue to reduce the number of permits issued as part of the efforts to see the haze situation is under control.
He warned that offenders could be slapped with a maximum compound of RM30,000 under the NREB Ordinance 1993.
He said if brought to court they were liable to a fine of RM30,000 or three years in jail or both.
Meanwhile, he said NREB enforcement officers in all divisions are monitoring the hot spot areas to ensure all parties adhered to the set conditions on open burning activities.
“I’ve instructed all my officers to be on the alert for open burning activities, especially those involving the plantation sector to avoid occurrence of haze,” he added.
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