KUALA LUMPUR - Catuan bekalan air wajar dilaksanakan di kawasan-kawasan yang paras empangannya berada pada lingkungan 50 peratus berikutan musim kering yang dijangka melanda negara sehingga Mei ini.Presiden Persatuan Penyelidikan Air dan Tenaga Malaysia (AWER), S. Piarapakaran berkata, ini bagi memastikan bekalan air mentah sedia ada akan terus dapat bertahan dalam tempoh yang lebih lama."Langkah ini juga adalah bagi mengawal penggunaan air secara berlebihan kerana apabila berlaku catuan, secara automatik pengguna pun akan meminimakan penggunaan air dalam aktiviti seharian," katanya ketika dihubungi Bernama.Malaysia dijangka mengalami musim kering sehingga Mei ini dengan Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Kedah, Pahang dan Kelantan akan merekodkan hujan kurang daripada 25 peratus purata hujan tahunan bagi tempoh April-Mei ini.Tiga empangan merekodkan storan kapasiti dalam lingkungan 50 peratus iaitu Empangan Muda di Kedah (58.97 peratus) serta dua empangan di Johor iaitu Machap (55.61 peratus) dan Sembrong (54.07 peratus).

Read more: Musim kering: Wajar pertimbang catuan air

PUTRAJAYA 24 Mac - Orang ramai diingatkan agar berwaspada dengan kegiatan scam yang menggunakan nama Menteri Kewangan, Lim Guan Eng.Setiausaha Akhbar kepada Menteri Kewangan, Lutfi Hakim mendedahkan terdapat seorang individu menggunakan nama ‘Balu Kelvin’ di samping menggunakan emel ‘This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.’ telah menyamar sebagai Pengurus Perniagaan dan berkerja untuk Menteri Kewangan.“Pihak terlibat telah menghubungi individu tertentu melalui emel dan menawarkan mengaturkan pertemuan dengan Menteri Kewangan untuk tujuan perniagaan.“Perbuatan tersebut merupakan suatu penipuan oleh ‘Balu Kelvin’ itu yang menyamar sebagai pegawai kepada Menteri Kewangan,” katanya dalam kenyataan di sini hari ini.Sehubungan itu, ujar Lutfi, pihaknya telah membuat satu laporan di Balai Polis Jalan Tun Razak supaya siasatan dan tindakan lanjut dilakukan segera oleh pihak berkuasa.Ujarnya, perbuatan itu merupakan satu penipuan kerana menyamar sebagai pegawai menteri.“Perlakuan menipu dan menyamar tersebut merupakan kesalahan di bawah pelbagai seksyen dalam Kanun Keseksaan termasuklah Seksyen 417 dan 419,” katanya. - UTUSAN ONLINE

Read more: Waspada scam guna nama Guan Eng

KLUANG - Kerajaan negeri berkemungkinan melaksanakan pembenihan awan awal bulan hadapan sekiranya cuaca panas dilihat berlarutan sehingga menjejaskan paras air di semua empangan di negeri ini.Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pelaburan, Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Utiliti negeri, Jimmy Puah Wee Tse berkata, bagaimanapun pembenihan awan itu akan melihat kepada kesesuaian lokasi dan juga dari segi kos.
"Memang, saya baru bincang, ia (pembenihan awan) satu usaha yang mungkin kita akan buat. Buat masa ini, kerajaan negeri bersama agensi-agensi berkaitan sentiasa membuat pemantauan dan akan melihat kepada keadaan cuaca terutamanya pada minggu ini."Sekiranya cuaca minggu ini tidak membantu, maka awal bulan hadapan kita kena tengok berkemungkinan melakukan pembenihan awan,"katanya kepada pemberita selepas melawat Empangan Machap dekat sini hari ini. - Bernama

PETALING JAYA: The current heatwave has led to reptiles, particularly snakes, “intruding” into houses to seek respite from the heat and in search of water.According to snake expert Steven Wong, natural water sources such as ponds and puddles tend to dry up during hot spells but this precious resource could be found in water catchment areas such as drains.“These areas remain wet, so reptiles which in general prefer humid areas seek out places with high humidity levels,” he said.Wong, who runs the herpetofauna special interest group at the Selangor branch of the Malaysian Nature Society, said the heat would drive some snakes out of their natural habitat in search of cooler surroundings.Wong said more venomous species such as the Sumatran Spitting Cobra and Monocled Cobra are also quite tolerant of human habitation and would venture into urban dwelling in search of mice.

Snakes which preferred dark spaces are likely to take shelter in places with no direct sunlight such as burrows or rubbish stacks, he said.Wong said snakes have been known to hide in other areas such as upturned flower pots and pipes which have gaps and crevices for them to enter.A snake expert with the Fire and Rescue Department said snakes are shy creatures and would prefer to avoid any contact with humans.“They are just as afraid of us as we are of them,” said Senior Fire Officer II Noor Fazida Tina Mohamad Noor.Noor Fazida Tina, who is part of the department’s King Cobra Squad which deals with the removal of snakes from human dwellings, said other than the hot spell, the destruction of their natural habitats have also driven snakes to look for more conducive dwellings.“Peat and forest fires rob these animals of their homes, so naturally they would move to seek better shelter,” she said.

Read more: Heat drives snakes to enter homes in search of water

PETALING JAYA: More needs to be done to ensure water security for the country, say water experts.Association of Water and Energy Research (Awer) president S. Piarapakaran said that at present, Malaysia’s water security was still inadequate.“Water security is to ensure there is enough supply of water – both raw and treated water.“With the increasing population and economic activities, we need more water to meet demand.“We will (also) face harsher wet and dry conditions,” said Piarapakaran when contacted.He said that there was a need to increase the raw water reserve margin and to reduce non-revenue water, which referred to treated water that was lost before it reaches consumers, due to factors such as leakage.The increase of the water reserve margin and the decrease of non-revenue water will help boost the country’s treated water margin, he said.

“This will further buffer us from water rationing (in the future),” he added.He said that there were several factors that were adversely affecting water security in the country.“Unfortunately, we are losing forest cover fast and this affects water security,” he said, adding that government agencies and stakeholders also needed to step up on delivering solutions, instead of just preparing reports and plans.“We need to prepare to mitigate now or it will be too costly to do it in the near future,” he added.Water quality and modelling specialist Dr Zaki Zainudin said that the government needed to think “out of the box” in terms of boosting the country’s water security.“I am of the opinion that we need to think out of the box; and do away with conventional thinking in terms of tapping water resources.“For example, we have many polluted rivers such as Sungai Klang.

Read more: ‘Improve water security’