Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Projek Diraja Lojing

Lojing jadi pusat pertanian hawa sejuk
Oleh ANGELINA SINYANG

CAMERON HIGHLANDS 15 Feb. 2006 - Kerajaan Kelantan akan membangunkan kawasan tanah tinggi Lojing yang terletak di sempadan Kelantan-Perak dekat sini sebagai pusat pertanian tanaman berhawa sejuk.

Projek pembangunan yang dinamakan `Projek Diraja Lojing' itu akan dilaksanakan dalam tahun ini dan bakal menjadikan Kelantan, pengeluar produk tanaman berhawa sejuk baru di negara ini.

Bagi menjayakan projek tersebut, tanah tinggi Cameron Highlands yang terkenal sebagai kawasan penanaman sayur-sayuran, buah-buahan dan bunga-bungaan berhawa sejuk akan dijadikan pusat rujukan bagi projek itu.

Ketua Pengarah Institut Penyelidikan dan Kemajuan Pertanian Malaysia (MARDI), Dr. Abd. Shukor Abd. Rahman berkata, rancangan pertanian baru itu sudah dimaklumkan kepada pihaknya oleh Sultan Kelantan, Tuanku Ismail Petra dan Raja Perempuan Kelantan, Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid.

``Sultan dan Raja Perempuan Kelantan memaklumkan bahawa kerajaan negeri mahu membuka kawasan pertanian berhawa sejuk di Lojing dan meminta MARDI memberi nasihat serta membawa pelabur masuk ke situ.

``Cadangan pembangunan yang dinamakan `Projek Diraja Lojing' itu turut melibatkan pembukaan sebuah ladang strawberi kerana kesesuaian tanaman itu dengan iklim di kawasan berkenaan,'' katanya pada sidang akhbar selepas menemani Sultan dan Raja Perempuan Kelantan melawat Taman Agroteknologi MARDI Cameron Highlands di sini semalam.

Dalam lawatan selama dua jam itu, Tuanku Ismail dan Tengku Anis telah dibawa melawat tapak tanaman strawberi, kilang memproses produk berasaskan strawberi dan kilang teh.

Semasa lawatan, baginda berdua berkenan bertanya mengenai tanaman strawberi dan perkembangan MARDI di Cameron Highlands khususnya tentang penyelidikan di kawasan tanah tinggi itu.

Mengulas lanjut `Projek Diraja Lojing', Dr, Abd. Shukor berkata, MARDI tidak tahu berapa luas kawasan pertanian yang akan dimajukan kerana ia terletak dalam bidang kuasa kerajaan Kelantan dan pihak istana.

Lagipun, katanya, projek itu masih di peringkat awal dan kawasan yang dikenal pasti untuk dibangunkan belum lagi diteroka dan dibersihkan.

``Bagaimanapun, Sultan berkenan mengurniakan tapak pertanian seluas empat hektar kepada MARDI untuk dibangunkan bagi projek penanaman strawberi.

``Justeru, MARDI akan menggunakan modul kilang memproses produk strawberi di Cameron Highlands untuk melatih pengusaha yang berminat membuka pelaburan di Lojing nanti.

``Dalam projek penanaman strawberi ini, pelaburan yang diperlukan ialah RM200,000 bagi setiap hektar tetapi MARDI hanya mengeluarkan 15 peratus kerana kos selebihnya ditanggung oleh pelabur,'' katanya.

Kata beliau, MARDI akan membawa pakar dalam penanaman strawberi dari ibu pejabatnya di Serdang, Selangor ke Lojing untuk memberi tunjuk ajar dan nasihat apabila diperlukan.

Dr. Abd. Shukor memberitahu, Lojing yang terletak di kawasan cerun bukit iaitu pada ketinggian 800 hingga 1,000 meter dari aras laut memang sesuai untuk tanaman strawberi kerana suhunya sejuk sekitar 15 hingga 20 darjah celsius.

Katanya, teknik penanaman MARDI yang menggunakan sistem fertigasi membolehkan pokok strawberi berbuah selepas tiga bulan ditanam dan boleh bertahan selama tiga tahun.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Woh power station and Jor dam

Seven stations under one control
Monday February 13, 2006

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Seven power stations here will be operated under one control centre in the near future to increase their efficiency.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) vice-president for generation Abdul Razak Abdul Majid said the remote operations centre would be completed in two years' time and would be based at the Jor power station.

"The setting-up of the operations centre coincides with the current desilting works at Ringlet Lake and the rehabilitation work at the Jor and Woh (Sultan Idris II) power stations as we want to maximise the capacity of power generation.

“We will be using high-speed supervisory control and distribution automation (Scada) operations to control the seven power plants here to increase work efficiency,” he told the media during a tour of the power plants recently.

Abdul Razak said three or four operators would be manning the centre during each of the five working shifts.

He said among the functions of the centre were to monitor progress at the power plants, to control flooding and to monitor for abnormal rise in water levels at dams.

Among the seven power plants, the Jor and the Woh power plants were the largest and supply 250 Megawatts of electricity to the people in the area.

On Feb 5, TNB had temporarily shut down its 37-year-old Woh power station and Jor dam for a two-month maintenance repair exercise.

Uncontrolled development over the years had caused 75% of Ringlet Lake, which is part of the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam, to become silted causing the Habu power station to be affected and increasing the risk of floods to residents living downstream. -- The Star.

MAINTENANCE EXERCISE: Rehabilitation works being carried out at the Jor power station in Cameron Highlands recently.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Ringlet Lake desilting on schedule

Lake desilting on schedule
Wednesday February 8, 2006
By Florence A. Samy


CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Work to dredge and desilt Ringlet Lake is on schedule but the sediments have yet to be transported to the dumping ground as land clearing approval is still pending.

Uncontrolled development over the years had caused 75% of Ringlet Lake to be silted, increasing flood risks, especially to some 3,000 residents living and working in the Bertam Valley downstream.

A total of 80.9ha of the nearby Sungai Jasin and Sungai Jenik forest reserve have been de-gazetted and allocated by state authorities for the dumping of the lake’s dried silt and sediments.

Some 1,000 trees would be tagged and felled to make way for the dumping site and the Environmental Impact Assessment had been approved, said Datuk Md Sidek Ahmad, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) senior vice-president for operations.

He said only 21.85ha would be used to dump 2.2 million cubic metres of sediments dredged from the lake and dried at a nearby decanting area.

The lake is part of the 41-year-old Sultan Abu Bakar Dam that enables TNB’s Jor and Woh power station to generate 250 megawatts of electricity. This is the first time that such massive desilting activities are being carried out.

“Once desilting is complete, the lake’s capacity will increase from the present 25% to 100%, enabling it to cope with future siltations and act again as a flood mitigation,” he told the media during a tour of the desiliting area on Monday.

The desilting, which began on July 6 last year, would cost TNB about RM130mil and would be completed by Dec 11 next year.

Tanah Rata assemblyman Choong Ching Yan said development in the Cameron Highlands had reached saturated point and there were activities to make farmers aware of soil erosion and land clearing risks.

“We have increased the number of state land office officials from eight to 16 to ensure hillslopes are not cleared illegally for agriculture purposes.”

Deputy Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, who was also present, said all parties including state and federal authorities, farmers and housing developers had to work together to minimise erosion and prevent massive siltation from occurring. -- The Star.

MASSIVE DESILTING: Silt and sediments from the Ringlet Lake being transported via small tunnels to this nearby decanting area before its left to dry.


Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Woh power station closed for repairs

Woh power station closed for repairs
Tuesday February 7, 2006
By Teoh Teik Hoong


Aerial view of Sultan Abu Bakar Dam in Cameron Highlands.
Aerial view of Sultan Abu Bakar Dam in Cameron Highlands.



CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s Woh power station off the Tapah-Cameron Highlands route was shut down on Feb 2 for a two-month maintenance and repair exercise.

Cameron Highlands Tenaga general manager Mohd Safian Ismail said the shutdown was part of Tenaga’s life extension programme to rehabilitate and prolong the usage of the dam and power stations in the area.

“During the shutdown from Feb 2 to April 2, we will close the Woh power station to drain the underground tunnel.

“We will be inspecting the tunnel and carry out maintenance and repairs on the upper valve chamber,” he said, adding that this was the first such exercise carried out since the dam was built 40 years ago.

He said the upper valve chambers of the Jor power station would also have to be replaced as the wear and tear from sedimentation had escalated the cost of maintenance and repair work.

Safian said that most of the old electrical parts of the facility at Jor, Woh and even Habu would be replaced.

He said that desilting work at the lake and the repairs to the power stations were meant to restore power generation capacity, maximise the lake's storage capacity and reduce the risk of flooding downstream during rainy spells.

“We will divert water from the tunnels and this will cause some inconvenience to villages between Jor and Woh before the water flows into Sungai Batang Padang in Tapah.

Water supply and quality at Tapah may be affected slightly as the water intake points are located at Woh and just after Jor.

Safian said that Tenaga planned to visit villages in the area, made up mostly of orang asli settlements, to inform them of the plans.

“We will constantly monitor the progress of the diversion and repairs to avoid inconvenience to people there,” he said. -- The Star.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Tour De Langkawi at Cameron Highlands News

Monday February 6, 2006

French outfit rider wins hill climb for first Tour of Langkawi victory


CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Saul Raisin of the French outfit, Credit Agricole, got his first victory in the 2006 Tour of Langkawi when he took Stage Three here Sunday.

In the race which saw the Tour's first big climb at Cameron Highlands, Raisin outsprinted Russian David George 100m from the finish to take the chequered flag.





CATCHING UP ON THE NEWS: Team Ceramica Panaria-Navigare riders, Ruben Bongiorno (right) and Richeze Maximiliano (left) reading about their exploits in Stage Two of the Tour of Langkawi at Cameron Highlands yesterday. – BERNAMApic
Raisin and George arrived at Brinchang crosed the line in identical times of 4'3: 55, ahead of the other 112 riders in the fray.

“I did not expect to win today's race because it was a hard race especially in the final climbing,” said Raisin after the race.

“At the last 4km before the finishing line, I broke away from the leading group of 14 riders and was followed closely by George,” he said.

George, riding for the South African national team, grabbed the yellow jersey as the overall winner yesterday, with a three-day time of 9'47:06s.

George, 30 has a 40-second advantage over Gabriele Missaglia in the overall standings.

Meanwhile, Lill Darren, also representing the South Africa national team finished third in yesterday, surprisingly outclassing the more established riders to win the King of the Mountain competition.

The Russian took the jersey from Francesco Bellotti of Credit Agricole after accumulating 35 points, ahead of his teammates George (31 points) and Edward Clancy of Great Britain team (20 points).

Takashi Miyazawa of the Japanese national team achieved a hattrick when he emerged for the third consecutive day as the best Asian rider overall with a 2:45 seconds lead over Hossein Askari from Giant-Asia team.

The Japanese national team also took the top spot in the Asian team category from Wismilak after registering a combined time of 30'07:30s, 12 minutes and 10 seconds ahead of the Giant-Asia team who were in the second spot.

Malaysia's best finisher was national rider Suhardi Hassan who recorded 4'14:36s to finish in 31st place followed by Shahrulneeza Razali (36th) and Ahmad Fallanie Ali (37th)

The Malaysian team remained in third place among the Asian teams, 16 minutes 41 seconds behind the Japanese.

Stage four today will be flagged off in Tapah and will end 142.2km away in Kuala Selangor. – Bernama

Source: The Star Online

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Camerons Road Closure

In conjunction with the 3rd leg of Telekom Le Tour De Langkawi on Sunday 5th February, two stretches of roads leading to Cameron Highlands will be closed in stages. Cameron Highlands OCPD Deputy Supt Ahmad Termizi Abd Haq said the Kampung Raja-Simpang Pulai stretch would be closed from 11am while the Kampung Raja-Brinchang road would be closed from 1pm.

Source: The Star, Saturday 4th February 2006.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Thousands visit Buki Larut (Maxwell Hill) to view tulips

Thousands visit hill to view tulips
Friday February 3, 2006
Story and picture by Raslan Baharom


TAIPING: Blooming tulips on Bukit Larut have been drawing thousands of holidaymakers to the hill this past week.

A local resident, SJK (C) Pokok Assam teacher Mary Ng, 40, who accompanied a group of relatives from Kuala Lumpur to the hill yesterday said she was impressed by the blooms.

“The tulips are beautiful and I feel proud that we can grow tulips here.

“Now, there is no need to go overseas to see such flowers,” she said while admiring the tulips at Cendana Hut, the tulip-growing site, which is about 1,128m above sea level.

Another visitor Nor Rashid Osman, from Selangor, said he had come to Bukit Larut after reading newspaper reports on the tulip-growing project.

But Nor Rashid, 36, who was accompanied by his wife Zalina Mohd Nayan, 32, and their children Noratikah, eight and Noralia Akmal, seven, said more could be done to draw visitors.

“The tulip-growing project is a good start to draw visitors to the hill but I hope the authorities explore growing other highland crops such as strawberries as is being done in Cameron Highlands,” said Nor Rashid.

Despite the hill’s rich flora and fauna, Nor Rashid said he was unable to get in touch with anyone who could organise outings into the jungle.

He said he was also given the run-around when he wanted to book the jeep service to go up the hill.

“I came here on Tuesday afternoon and was told that I should come back at 8.30am the following day to book the jeep service to make the journey up the hill,” he said.

A spokesman from the Larut Matang and Selama district office, which runs the jeep service, said seven jeeps were used to ferry passengers up the hill.

“The jeeps had carried more than 300 visitors daily and in the past eight days, more than 2,400 people had gone up the hill,” he said.

He also said all of the accommodation facilities on the hill were fully booked throughout the week. -- The Star.

PRETTY PETALS: A group of visitors admiring the lovely purple blooms at the tulip-growing site at Cendana Hut in Bukit Larut.

Fraser's Hill as the other highlands alternative

The Sun: Hot spell takes it toll...The weather must have been pretty hot to cause a forest fire along the new Simpang Pulai-Cameron Highlands road. It was quickly dealt with by the firefighters. It took them about 2 hours to douse it. No harm done.

Usually during the February month of Chinese New Year it was when the climate around Malaysia gets the hottest. Right, this would be a good time to go to some highlands to get oneself cooled down and escape from the heat of the tropics.

Fortunately this year the heat was somewhat tamed down with frequent rain.

The Fraser's Hill Clock Tower at the central square, one of the most taken landmark in Fraser's Hill.This time around, my family decided to go to the other highland, the Fraser's Hill for a change. It is smaller than Cameron Highlands, but no less the interesting. One still could find some interesting activities, like jungle trekking, archery, golf, visiting the Jeriau Waterfalls or go boating at Allan's Waters. Or one could bring along your own games and activities like what my family members did by bringing their own Mahjong set and VCD/DVD together with the portable player.

And me? Well, I'm not about sitting around the Silverpark Apartments gauging myself with Chinese New Year tidbits and watching videos. So I went around exploring Fraser's Hills on my own.

I hope to put up some write up about other highlands in Malaysia, and hopefully the information would be helpful to others who might want to try an alternative to Camerons.

Ok. Enough of blogging and time to gauge myself with leftover CNY tidbits. That's the problem with buying CNY stuffs for visiting guests but in the end have to finish it all off later before it expires!