Month: June 2024

PUTRAJAYA, Road tax (LKM) rates for zero emission vehicles (ZEV) or electric vehicles are set based on the power of the electric motor and it will come into force on January 1, 2026, announced Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

Loke said the new fee is 85 per cent lower than the existing rate which aims to encourage the people to switch to the use of ZEV vehicles.

He said all fee rates for ZEV vehicles will be reviewed at least every five years to ensure effectiveness in achieving the objectives of the transition to ZEV as well as the impact on government revenue.

“The fee rate will increase in line with the increase in electric motor power. The increase in electric motor power will represent an increase in the purchase price, size, segment and weight of the vehicle.

“The new LKM fee rate set only applies to ZEVs in the PBEV (battery electric vehicle) and FCEV (fuel cell electric vehicle) categories,” he said at a press conference to announce the new LKM fee rate for electric vehicles (EV) here today this.

In February 2022, the Road Transport Department (RTD) announced the incentive offer of full road tax exemption for EV vehicles from Jan 1 2022 to Dec 31 2025.

Following that, on March 30, Loke reportedly said the government would announce the road tax rate for ZEVs in the near future and assured that the amount to be paid would not be burdensome as it wanted to encourage the use of ZEVs in Malaysia.

Regarding the block rate setting, Loke said it is set at a motor power range of 100,000 watts.

For example, Loke said block 1 is for ZEVs that have electric motor power from 1 watt to 100,000 watts and block 2 is between 100,001 watts and 210,000 watts.

He said the minimum road tax rate for block 1 is RM20 while the maximum rate is RM70.

“For block 3, the minimum fee rate is RM305 and the maximum fee rate is RM575,” he said.

Sharing a comparison of the ZEV road tax rate before and after the amendment, Loke said that the BYD Dolphin Premium Standard Range vehicle with a capacity of 130 kilowatts (kW) will onl
y be charged a fee of RM120 compared to the existing fee of RM624.

He said, for the Tesla Model Y with a capacity of 220kW, it is RM305 compared to the existing fee of RM2,583.

He said the government will gazette the road tax rate for the ZEV vehicle segment in the near future to make it easier for buyers to make references.

According to Loke, the new rate gives a signal to ZEV vehicle manufacturers to make Malaysia a vehicle production hub.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, A special committee set up to monitor in detail the care of trees in the capital will hold its first meeting this month.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa said though the inaugural meeting has been scheduled for this month, the date has yet to be decided.

“We will invite the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) to attend (the first meeting),” she told the media after witnessing the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and Supply Agreement of Renewable Energy (SARE) between Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) here today.

Dr Zaliha said among the stakeholders in the special committee were non-governmental organisations (NGOs), arborists (woody plant experts) and experts from the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM).

When asked about KPKT’s proposal on the need for local authorities (PBT) to have arborists in service to improve landscape management in each municipal area, Dr Zaliha said the
proposal was well received but PBTs in the Federal Territories would like to have arborists as well as outside expertise.

On May 20, Dr Zaliha was reported to have said that a discussion related to the implementation and care of trees in Kuala Lumpur will be held soon with a special committee that has been established.

The formation of the special committee was following several tree falling incidents due to heavy rain and strong winds, including on May 7 which claimed a man’s life and damaged 17 vehicles and part of the monorail track in Jalan Sultan Ismail.

Other incidents happened on May 13 in which a fallen tree in Jalan Pinang caused a police vehicle, escorting the Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusof, to be damaged; and on May 25 involving toppled trees in several locations in Kuala Lumpur which caused vehicles to be damaged and roads to be blocked.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) International Congress has commenced with the slogan ‘Revolutionizing patient care through the power of data science’, from May 31 to June 3, in Valencia, Spain.

According to EAACI in a statement, experts have gathered to discuss the latest advancements in allergies, which represent a significant public health issue, encompassing a variety of conditions, during the four-day event.

EAACI President, Stefano Del Giacco in a statement said: ‘In the field of precision medicine, identifying genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to allergies and using specific biomarkers have improved the management of some types of allergies, allowing the development of more personalised treatments.’

Meanwhile, its Vice President, Mohamed Shamji said Big Data in Allergology enables the collection and analysis of large amounts of clinical, genetic, and environmental data, which are used to identify risk factors and allergy patterns.

‘We are at a time of great and promising advances, though not without challenges,’ concludes Shamji.

Artificial intelligence (AI) enhances allergy diagnosis through advanced analysis of clinical data and plays a crucial role in developing new treatments by identifying therapeutic targets and optimising molecules.

EAACI is the primary source of expertise in the field of allergy, asthma and clinical immunology, with over 15,000 members from more than 124 countries and over 50 National Allergy Societies.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, The preliminary drought report on the 2024 crop sector by the Department of Agriculture recorded that 2,972 farmers in Kelantan were affected involving the destruction of ??7,467.42 hectares from March to May 15.

State Agriculture, Agro-food Industry and Commodities Committee chairman Tuan Mohd Saripudin Tuan Ismail said the Department of Agriculture will apply for a proposed aid of more than RM5.56 million through the allocation of the Rice Crop Disaster Fund and the Agricultural Disaster Fund to ease the burden of farmers affected by crop damage.

“Besides, the Menteri Besar of Kelantan (Datuk Mohd Nassuruddin Daud) has also approved an immediate aid allocation of RM300,000 to build tube wells, water pump aid and other needs to help irrigate affected padi fields and farmers throughout Kelantan,” he said.

He was replying to a question by Mohd Syahbuddin Hashim (BN-Galas) who asked about the actions taken by the state government to help rice farmers affected by the drought in Kelantan at the St
ate Legislative Assembly meeting at Kota Darulnaim Complex, here, today.

Commenting further, Tuan Mohd Saripudin said that among the efforts made by the state government to deal with the drought disaster in Kelantan, especially in helping the padi farmers, was to arrange a rice planting schedule according to the irrigation scheme and canal cleaning and digging canals to ensure the smooth movement of water for usage by farmers.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, The first interim report on the study to establish Malaysia’s Gig Economy Commission will be tabled at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong said the report was prepared in collaboration with the ministry and Universiti Malaya.

“This is a framework information paper that we have created for now and after this we will get additional inputs from the Cabinet, then we will make further study and the final paper will be completed in August,” he told reporters.

He was met after officiating the launch of the Self-Employed Social Security Scheme (SKSPS) contribution sponsorship and the exchange of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Social Security Organisation (Socso) and Grab Malaysia, here, today.

In other developments, Sim said the extension of the employee registration and contribution period by employers for a month until June 30 saw an increase of almost 50 per cent in the number of registrations and contributions.

He hoped that more employers
would come forward to register and pay their employees’ contributions before the end of this month.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency