Taklimat Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia

Salam sejahtera.

Taklimat Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) peringkat Daerah Tuaran telah diadakan hari ini (9 Disember 2011) di Dewan Tun Hamdan, Tamparuli. Taklimat ini merupakan inisiatif Kementerian Kewangan Malaysia melalui Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN), Kota Kinabalu.

Entri ini bertujuan memberi penerangan kepada anda yang belum menghadiri mana-mana taklimat seumpama ini.

Bantuan Tunai RM500 kepada ketua keluarga isi rumah yang berpendapatan bulanan RM3,000 ke bawah akan memberi implikasi kewangan dianggarkan sebanyak RM2.6 bilion yang akan memberi memanfaat kepada 5.2 juta isi rumah.

Borang pendaftaran akan diedarkan mulai 10 Disember 2011 (Sabtu) dengan tempoh permohonan sehingga 10 Januari 2012.

Pembayaran BR1M akan dilaksanakan dalam beberapa majlis penyampaian selama tempoh dua bulan, mulai 15 Januari 2012. Sekiranya penerima tidak dapat menghadiri majlis penyampaian tersebut, baucar boleh dituntut di Pejabat Daerah. Baucar-baucar tersebut boleh ditunaikan di cawangan-cawangan Bank Simpanan Nasional, BSN.

Berikut adalah ringkasan kepada taklimat BR1M peringkat Daerah Tuaran dan difahamkan bahawa format taklimat-taklimat di daerah lain seluruh negara telah diselaraskan bagi tujuan keseragaman:-

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Tarikh: 9 Disember 2011
Masa: 9.00am - 12.00 tengahari
Tempat: Dewan Tun Hamdan, Tamparuli, Sabah
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BILIK OPERASI KHAS
Talian Hotline 1-800-222-500 akan mula beroperasi pada 7 Disember 2011
Pegawai MOF akan bertugas dari 9 pagi – 5 petang, (Isnin-Jumaat)
Pejabat SUK dan Pejabat Daerah mewujudkan Bilik Operasi Khas

Dirasakan taklimat sedemikian amat penting memandangkan rakyat Malaysia yang layak mahupun yang tidak layak masih tertanya-tanya tentang cara memohon dan di manakah mereka boleh berbuat demikian.

Akhir kata, jumlah bantuan RM500 tidaklah banyak jika dibandingkan dengan kos sara hidup sekarang tetapi seperti kata orang, kalau dah diberi tu ambik saja lah!

Geothermal Power Plant Soon

Kota Kinabalu: A local company is set to pioneer renewable energy in the State by tapping into geothermal sources in Tawau.

Green Energy Sdn Bhd (TGE) which inked a deal with Sabah Electricity Board (SESB) on Tuesday, aims to generate in the next two years 30MW of electricity for Tawau and its surrounding areas for up to 100 years.

Its RM400 million geothermal power plant at Apas Kiri, which will be connected to the Sabah electricity grid, will also be Malaysia's first renewable energy power plant using geothermal energy resources.

TGE Project Director Andrew Amalados said work will commence Wednesday and is scheduled for completion by December 2014, is one of the cleanest forms of renewable energy with carbon footprints very much lower than of coal, fossil oil and natural gas.

Read the news further at Daily Express.

The four Renewable Energy type that enjoy special tariff system in Malaysia are Biogas, Biomass, Small Hydro power, and Solar PV. The special tariff is an incentive to catalyse the generation of renewable energy. Geothermal power is not one of the renewable energy sources under the national FiT policy.

Geothermal power is, however, categotised as renewable due to the sustainability of the source of thermal energy and it is much greener compared to coal, fossil fuel and natural gas. As such, initiatives by individuals and enterprises in harnessing energy from geothermal quaify for certain financial incentive from the government as well as global recognition by international organisations.

Image source.

Put in simple term, geothermal energy is generated from the temperature derived from earth. As shown in the above image, high pressure steam is obtained from underground geothermal hot reservoir, is contained and managed, then used too drive the power plant turbines to generate electricity. Recovered fluid is injected back to earth and the cycle is repeated.

The first ever geothermal power plant in the country is being built and operated in Sabah by Tawau Green Energy Sdn Bhd with vital info as follows:

Location : Apas Kiri, near Tawau Hills Park
(about 20km from Tawau town)
Cost : RM400 million
Generating capacity : 30MW
Energy tapping : via 12 wells, 1800m to 2000m deep
Build up area : 20 hectares
Expected completion : 3 years (due in 2014)
Tenure : 21-year power purchase agreement with SESB

Image from Tawau Green Energy website.

30MW is not much compared to Sabah's total current demand of 772MW but it will certainly help in stabilising the quality of power supply in the East Coast. Higher available capacity means lesser interruption of power at the consumer end.

Hopefully so.

Personal Injury Solicitor

I took this picture 2 days after the train-lorry collision near Kota Kinabalu International Airport on 30th October 2011 and it reminds me of the few personal accident insurance policies I have signed up for.

It reminds me of a fellow Kota Kinabalu blogger (I can't really recall which one) mentioning the importance of life insurance while at the same time thinking about injuries sustained by the passengers of the ill-fated train. For those who have Personal Accident insurance (PA), I suppose it is a straight forward contact-your-agent-and-sit-wait kind of process they have to go through. I read about Personal Injury Solicitors which is available in other countries, to handle cases involving insurance claim due to negligence of other party. This ensures that nobody unduly suffers from somebody else’s mistake.

I am not saying or passing a judgement that one party or another in the above case is at fault. I'm just wondering if we have this kind of service provider in our country. You know, something like in some countries, solicitors/lawyers look for some faults and collaborate with a willing person to take some legal action and benefit from there. This is an extreme example but, yeah, someone like a helper to 'solicit' on our behalf.

Can anyone, especially insurance agent/solicitor enlighten us?