Latest news with #RM38
Borneo Post
8 hours ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
Sarawak govt's RM1 mln contribution completes funding for St Peter's Church
Uggah (second left) presents the RM1 million cheque to Poh (centre) as additional aid for the construction of St Peter's Church, Padungan. Also seen are (from left) Unifor director Datuk Georgina Apphia Ngau, St Peter's Church Rector Rev Vincent Chin, and Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian. – Photo by Chimon Upon KUCHING (June 28): The Sarawak government has contributed an additional RM1 million to the building fund of St Peter's Church, Padungan, marking the final financial boost needed to complete the RM38 million construction of the new church. The cheque was handed over during the church's official opening ceremony today, in a gesture of continued support for religious harmony and development in the state. 'On behalf of the Sarawak government, we will be handing over a RM1 million cheque to the church in further aid to the building fund,' said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg in a text of speech read by Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas. Abang Johari congratulated the Catholic community on the successful completion of the iconic house of worship. 'This is not just a place for prayer and reflection, it is a symbol of vision, resilience, and deep-rooted faith. 'Located in the very centre of Kuching, the presence of St. Peter's Church, among other religious houses in close proximity, is a powerful testament to the religious harmony and unity that Sarawak is so proud to uphold,' he said. The church's completion was made possible through a combination of donations, government funding, and community support, with much of the fundraising effort taking place amid the challenges of the pandemic. Poh speaks to reporters when met at the event. – Photo by Roystein Emmor Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuching Datuk Dr Simon Poh said the total cost of the building was RM38 million. 'Yes, so from the overall initial planning it was RM38 million and then you know the pandemic knocked out all the donors and pledgers so we had to start from zero again,' he said. Poh acknowledged the critical role of the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor), which had earlier contributed RM2 million through two separate cheques presented in the past two years. 'And then today is the final cheque,' he said. According to him, the RM1 million presented today brought the total contribution from the Sarawak government through Unifor to RM3 million. 'With this last RM1 million, today we received a total of RM3 million from the Sarawak government through Unifor. We have enough just to cover everything and pay everything so tomorrow we will consecrate the whole church together,' he said. While some minor funding is still needed for furnishings and interior work, Poh said the contract sum for construction is now fully covered. 'The smaller things like furnishing and interior work still need to be done, but the building, the contract sum, everything is cleared. With the last RM1 million coming in, we can cover everything,' he added. The Archbishop noted that support had come not just from Catholics but from many other communities and faiths in Sarawak. 'This church stands more than just the church for the Catholic because people from all walks of life are looking and saying wow this is in Kuching. It's amazing that we don't need to go to Europe to see a very nice church here,' he said. Poh said the church had become a new landmark symbolising unity and mutual respect among Sarawakians. 'This became a landmark for a sign of our desire for harmony, contributing to society and building a better Sarawak for peace, for harmony, as a model for other parts of Malaysia and for the world,' he added. Built entirely using local materials and expertise, the church also showcases Sarawak's growing capabilities in architecture and construction, said Poh. 'This is the beginning of something that's possible. So Anak Sarawak out there, those graduating in a few years, by 2030, they can come back. We believe Sarawak will provide employment and continue contributing to peace, harmony, and progress.' The consecration of the new St Peter's Church is scheduled to take place tomorrow. building fund douglas uggah embas sarawak government St Peter's Church
Borneo Post
19-06-2025
- Business
- Borneo Post
Bina Puri eyes first profit since 2019, pins hopes on Sarawak jobs
Bina Puri says it has since focused its efforts on completing these loss-making jobs to ease the burden on future profits. KUCHING (June 19): Bina Puri Holdings Berhad (Bina Puri) is banking on a string of infrastructure jobs in Sarawak to stage its first financial turnaround since 2019. According to TA Securities Bhd (TA Securities) in a note, the pandemic and movement control orders had severely impacted the company's operations especially legacy low-margin infrastructure and building contracts, of which many were forced to halt. Management said it has since focused its efforts on completing these loss-making jobs to ease the burden on future profits. To note, the company posted core losses of RM95 million and RM11 million in FY23 and FY24 respectively. For the first nine months of FY25, its core loss narrowed to just RM38,000. According to management, the company did not secure any new local contracts between 2019 and late 2022. That changed after Chai Chan Tong joined the company in December 2022, acquiring a 20.4 per cent stake and injecting RM14.8 million in fresh capital. He later raised his stake to 23.7 per cent by subscribing to rights shares in April 2023 and took full control of the board following his redesignation as managing director in October 2023. Under Chai, turnaround momentum picked up, with the company securing two road projects in Sarawak in 2023, in Dalat and Samarahan with a combined value of RM176.5 million. In November 2024, it won another Sarawak contract worth RM113.3 million involving water pipeline construction, civil, and structural works. 'From these job wins, it is suffice to say that the company is a strong contender in Sarawak, especially on those small public infrastructure jobs like road, bridge and waterpipe project valued at less than RM200 million,' said TA Securities. The house added that the company is optimistic about securing RM500 million worth of new contracts each year on the back of Chai's strong network and experience in the state. Management guided that competition for sub-contract works in Sarawak remains mild that allows the company to maintain its operating margin at a reasonable five per cent. 'Currently, the company is actively negotiating and tendering for new jobs worth RM3.8 billion in Sarawak,' added the house. As of the first quarter of FY25, Bina Puri's outstanding order book stood at RM551 million with nearly RM230 million of that secured under the current management. These newer jobs are expected to carry higher margins compared to the RM325 million backlog from before Chai's leadership. Importantly, the completion of several unprofitable projects such as the Malaysian Embassy in Moscow, a dual-lane road in Southern Iraq, and the near-completion of the Nepal Supreme Court building, is expected to ease pressure on the company's earnings. The Bangkok high-speed rail project, though far from completion, has already been sub-contracted on a fixed-sum basis to China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) thus reducing financial exposure. Looking ahead, TA Securities projects a turnaround in FY25 with a core profit of RM7.8 million. This is expected to grow by 69.2 per cent to RM13.2 million in FY26 and by 11.4 per cent to RM14.7 million in FY27. All told, FY25 is seen as a critical year for Bina Puri's new management to prove its ability to complete legacy projects while securing new, higher-margin jobs especially in Sarawak to support long-term prospect. It also advises risk-averse investors to adopt a wait-and-see approach as the company transitions under its new leadership. Bina Puri construction corporate news
Daily Express
10-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Former Sabah Ports director fined RM700,000 for bribery
Published on: Tuesday, June 10, 2025 Published on: Tue, Jun 10, 2025 By: Cynthia D Baga Text Size: KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah Ports and Harbour Department (JPDS) director Abel Ongkunik, 52, was fined RM700,000 after pleading guilty to 15 bribery charges involving towing services. Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga imposed fines between RM38,000 and RM58,000 per charge, totaling RM700,000 — an amount Abel has already paid. Advertisement The charges involved bribes totaling RM632,296.03 received from two companies between 2017 and 2018 during his tenure as JPDS director. The bribes were linked to approvals for towing services and licences within the Kimanis port limit, with funds deposited into accounts of three companies in various bank branches. The charges were framed under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum two-year jail term, a fine, or both. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
The Sun
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
Tesla's self-driving future faces threat from China rivals
AUSTIN: Chinese electric-vehicle makers led by BYD beat Tesla in the competition to produce affordable electric vehicles. Now, many of those same fierce competitors are pulling into the passing lane in the global race to produce self-driving cars. BYD shook up China's smart-EV industry earlier this year by offering its 'God's Eye' driver-assistance package for free, undercutting the technology Tesla sells for nearly US$9,000 (RM38,000) in China. 'With God's Eye, Tesla's strategy starts to fall apart,' said Shenzhen-based BYD investor Taylor Ogan, an American who has owned several Teslas and driven BYD cars with God's Eye, which he called more capable than Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' (FSD). It's not just BYD. Other Chinese auto and tech companies are offering affordable EVs with FSD-like technology for a relative pittance. China's Leapmotor and Xpeng, for instance, offer systems capable of highway and urban driving in US$20,000 vehicles. A slew of Chinese firms are chasing the same technology, an industry push backed by China's government. BYD's assisted-driving hardware costs are far lower than Tesla's, according to analyses performed for Reuters by companies that dismantle and analye vehicles for automakers. The comparisons, which have not been previously reported, show that BYD's costs to procure components and build a system with radar and lidar are about the same as Tesla's FSD, which doesn't have such sensors. That undercuts Tesla's unusual technological approach, which aims to save costs by nixing such sensors and relying solely on cameras and artificial intelligence. The rising competition from Chinese smart-EV players is among the chief problems confronting Tesla CEO Elon Musk after his rocky tenure as a Trump administration advisor as he refocuses on his business empire – as Tesla vehicle sales are tanking globally. Tesla did not respond when reached for comment about its Chinese competitors. Previously, Musk has described Chinese car companies as the most competitive in the world. Chinese competition was one factor driving Tesla's strategic pivot away from mass-market EVs last year, when Reuters reported it had killed plans to build an all-new EV expected to cost US$25,000. Musk has since staked Tesla's future instead on self-driving robotaxis, the hopes for which now underpin the vast majority of the automaker's stock-market value of roughly US$1 trillion. Now Tesla faces the same stiff competition on vehicle autonomy from many of the same Chinese automakers who undercut its affordable-EV plans. Adding to the challenge are tech firms including Chinese smartphone giant Huawei, which supplies autonomous-driving technology to major Chinese automakers. Short of full autonomy, today's driver-assistance systems offer a critical competitive edge in China, the world's largest car market, where Tesla sales are falling amid a protracted price war among scores of homegrown EV brands. Tesla is further handicapped by China's regulations preventing it from using data collected by Tesla cars in China to train the artificial intelligence underpinning FSD. BYD investor Ogan, of Shenzhen-based Snow Bull Capital, has a front-row seat to China's autonomous-tech battleground. He recently drove several BYD models equipped with God's Eye, he said, and didn't have to take over driving in any of them while traveling the congested streets of Shenzhen, a bustling southern China megalopolis of 18 million people. Another notable smart-EV player in China is Huawei, experts say. Huawei lends its technology and branding to a half dozen automakers including heavyweights Chery, SAIC and Changan, and has lower-profile partnerships with more than a dozen other carmakers, Huawei representatives said. Reuters journalists rode in an Aito M9 – a luxury electric SUV from Seres with Huawei driver-assistance technology – as it navigated Shenzhen roadways in April. With a driver's hands off the wheel, the vehicle exited a highway seamlessly into a congested urban zone, where the M9 proceeded cautiously and slowed to a crawl as a construction worker appeared like he might walk into the roadway. At one point the vehicle turned right and slowly drifted left to avoid two men unloading boxes from a parked truck. The vehicle then parallel parked itself at Huawei's Shenzhen headquarters. – Reuters
The Star
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Star
Lessons from big cities that cut back cars
CITIES around the world trying to limit driving have faced objections – namely that the measures would limit personal freedom, cost too much, destroy commerce or have negligible effects on air quality. Now the first data from these experiments in New York, London and Paris has trickled in. They offer some clues about whether cutting speed limits, charging traffic for entering a city centre and penalising drivers of the most polluting cars can reduce congestion and improve air quality, without causing too much disruption. These lessons are helpful because cities, where problems with traffic and poor air quality are frequently more severe than in less urban areas, are often moving more quickly in restricting vehicle emissions than countries or states. In Europe, cities are outpacing laws and national regulations to cut traffic pollution, according to the think tank Transport & Environment. As of April this year, 35 cities have committed to introducing 'zero emissions zones' – where diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles will be banned. Still, early results from some cities show reducing traffic is not enough. Take Oslo, which has pioneered lower speed limits, car-free zones and improvements to public transport, walking and cycling. Norway's widespread adoption of electric cars has also helped reduce smog. But the city still suffers from high levels of particulate pollution from tire wear, wood-burning stoves and dust from gravel and salting on icy roads. While restricting fossil-fuelled vehicles won't solve those problems, there is evidence that it helps clean the air and has other benefits too. Here's what policy makers and city dwellers can learn from other early adopters. > New York The city introduced a policy on Jan 5 charging cars up to US$9 (RM38) a day to enter certain parts of Manhattan. Travel time data from the first three months of the charging zone suggests commuting times are down on some of the busiest routes, in particular the bridges and tunnels that connect Manhattan with New Jersey, Brooklyn and Queens. A site run by student brothers Joshua and Benjamin Moshes has been tracking travel times based on Google Maps traffic data on various routes affected by the New York congestion pricing since the policy was introduced in January. They found travel times have also dropped during weekends, while there's been little change on other routes going from one part of Manhattan to another. That suggests people are choosing to take public transport or cutting out less urgent travel, they say. In Boston and Chicago, which the Moshes use as a control, traffic levels have not changed significantly. > Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo introduced 50kph speed limits on the city's outer ring road in October 2024, despite opposition from France's transport minister and conservative opponents. A report from the city's urban planning department found that the new, lower speed limit, introduced on Oct 1 last year, has already had some positive effects. In the following five months, air quality improved by 12% and traffic accidents dropped by 17%, compared to the same period in the previous year. There are also signs that congestion is lower. Hidalgo, who has said she won't seek re-election next year, isn't finished with her plans to reduce car traffic and encourage walking and cycling in Paris. Her office also banned motorised through-traffic from the city centre in November. Local workers, residents and taxis are still able to drive into the zone, but anyone passing through to go somewhere else will be fined €135 (RM651) once enforcement begins. > London The city's ultra-low emission zone has been in place for over five years. The restrictions, which place a daily charge on driving old gasoline or diesel vehicles, initially covered a small area of the city centre. It was subsequently expanded to cover an almost 1,554km square area, making it the largest in the world. London has had a separate congestion charging zone, which means almost everyone who drives into the city's core must pay, since 2003. When London mayor Sadiq Khan announced the expansion in 2022, the decision was met with warnings that high street shops would wither away and small businesses would struggle to survive. ULEZ, as the area is known for short, became a contentious topic in local elections, and Khan's opponent, from the right-wing Conservative Party, made it a central part of her pitch to voters in the mayoral election last year. (Khan won). In March, the mayor's office released data suggesting that ULEZ had a positive impact on air quality, while causing little disruption to shops in the outskirts of London, an area which was only included in the zone in August 2023. In particular the change has cut emissions of nitrogen oxides, air pollutants linked to lung problems, asthma and inflammation, by between 33% and 39%, while footfall and spending in shops has not dropped, according to data from Mastercard Inc. Almost 97% of vehicles driven within the zone are now compliant with the emissions standards, the report said. Vans, which were much more likely to be caught up by the changes, have been slower to switch, but over 90% are now compliant, compared with just 12% in 2017, before the zone was introduced. 'Everyone in the capital is now breathing cleaner air because of ULEZ,' said Christina Calderato, Transport for London's director of strategy, commenting on the report. — Bloomberg News/TNS
