Bernama News in brief, Wednesday June 9

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9  -- The following is a compilation of Bernama News-in-Brief today:

Communications and multimedia services must be declared as basic necessities for all consumers especially in empowering the digital economy.

Malaysian Digital Economy Consumer Association (myDigitalConsumer) secretary-general Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah, in a statement, said the time-line to achieve 100 per cent household access to broadband services must be fixed.

He said the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic forced all quarters to shift to various digital technology-based practices. 

“The standard and practices of cashless transactions must be improved as an incentive in the use of digital technology in careers and lives,’’ he added.

-- BERNAMA

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The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) today handed out ‘MAFI Prihatin” aid to front liners at the COVID-19 Integrated Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC) at the Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS), today.

According to a statement from the MAFI corporate communication unit, the contributions were handed over by deputy Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah to PKRC MAEPS director Dr Shahabuddin Ibrahim.

The MAFI Prihatin aid were contributions from corporate social responsibility initiatives of various departments and agencies under the ministry such as the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) which contributed ‘Agromas ready to eat’ products. 

“There was also rice sponsored by MARDI Corporation, aimed at helping to lighten the burden of the frontliners who are also impacted by COVID-19,” said the statement.

-- BERNAMA

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The Information Department has been urged to play a more proactive role in helping the government to disseminate information on the importance of the COVID-19 vaccines to the people especially those in the rural areas.

Former Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian said the effort was necessary because the majority of the people in the rural areas were not yet aware or had not obtained information on the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.

In addition, he said the rural areas were often faced with the problem of telecommunication network access causing several information channels, such as television and cellphones, to fail to function well.

“So, we must use the Information Department to go to the villages and disseminate the information by distributing leaflets, using loud speakers and to have discussions with sub-district and village heads.

“The approach may appear to be like returning to the past but the impact is effective. Don’t just depend on the Ministry of Health alone to disseminate information,” Osman, who is also Kempas state assemblyman, told reporters in Johor Bahru today.

-- BERNAMA