Sabah News Flash

Health Minister to Discuss Zika at WHO Regional Meet

The World Health Organization (WHO) will be having its 67^th Regional Committee for the Western Pacific meeting and according to Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam, Zika will be one of the important matters to be discussed mainly because of the rise of Zika cases in the region.  The meeting will be held in Manila on October 10.

A seventh Zika-case involving a 60-year-old woman from Kota Kinabalu was recorded last Wednesday.  An evaluation of the woman’s activities before contracting the disease revealed that she has not visited any Zika-infected country and was never in touch with any Zika patient.  Her family is also unaffected.  Dr Subramaniam said that there is a possibility that the strain is of local origin.

He reiterated his call for taking extra precautions and fighting against the Aedes mosquito.  As of Friday last week, the country had more than 80,000 dengue cases with 182 deaths. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a travel advisory restraining travel to 11 nations, Malaysia included.  But Dr Subramaniam says that it is normal for countries to issue these advisories.  Even Malaysia is advising its citizens against traveling to well-known Zika-infected areas.

MASwings Celebrates 9^th Anniversary

In commemoration of its 9^th anniversary, MASwings is offering big discounts to Sabah and Sarawak sectors in its “MASwings RM62 JUST4U Promotion”.  It is an all-inclusive one-way fare for all its domestic routes to those who will be traveling from October 3 to November 30, with the usual on-board refreshments and 20kg baggage allowance.  This is part of the airline’s way of saying “Thank You“ to its patrons.

Coordination Among Stakeholders to Curb Crime

As the number of kidnapping cases rises in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage senior lecturer Dr Zaini Othman calls on all stakeholders to coordinate with each other against cross-border crimes.  The government, through the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom), has spent millions of ringgit for the security of the area but this is not enough.  He said that the ESSCom cannot do it alone and it needs the support and involvement of all the stakeholders.

More Flights to Davao City, Philippines

Eden David, Department of Toursim (DOT) – Mindanao officer in charge, announced that as part of the agency’s targets for improved air connectivity and increased foreign tourist arrivals, they are in the planning stage with international airlines for more international direct flights to Davao City, Philippines especially within the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).  These flights might include Kota Kinabalu-Puerto Princesa, Palawan-Cebu route.

Last April 29 -30, the city was host to the Airline Operators Council (AOC) outboard meeting and some 20 international airlines attended.  According to DOT- Davao Director Roberto Alabado III, this probably led them to look into possible flights to Davao because they were able to assess the capacity for expansion of the Davao International Airport and found out that it has the capacity to accommodate their airlines should they decide to have flights there.