Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun should look into the mirror before false making accusations of “unrestrained land sale” in Penang

In a statement on Thursday, the MCA Vice-President, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun accused Penang of being “unrestrained in its sale of land”. She referred to the 2016 Auditor-General’s (AG) report to show that a substantial portion of the state’s income came from the sale of land and land transfer fees.

Chew could not be more wrong in her baseless accusations.  In fact, exactly the reverse is true.

Despite the current Pakatan government’s ‘restrained’ sale of land, we have managed to receive income which far exceeds that received under the previous BN government’s policy of ‘unrestrained land sale’.  The statistics could not be more blatantly clear.

BN’s rule over Penang saw the sale of 3,661 acres of state land in the 15 years before 2008. Under Pakatan leadership, only 106.1 acres of state land was sold over the past 10 years.  If Chew didn’t fail her mathematics, she should have figured that Pakatan has barely sold 3% of what BN sold!

More pertinently, Penang lead by Pakatan received RM1.11 billion for its sale of 106.1 acres whereas the BN state government only raised RM1.06 billion from 3,661 acres of land.   In other words, the Penang state government today collected more money despite selling only a tiny fraction of the land sold by BN.  This was achieved simply because the Pakatan government carried out open tenders for its sale.

By the very fact that we have successfully sold these land for very substantially higher prices than the BN government, of course it would naturally result in a higher contribution from land revenue to the state coffers, as reported by the AG.

In addition, figures from the BN’s era from 2002 to 2007 AG’s report also showed the sale and transfer of state land was a key contributor to state. Hence, the only difference was Pakatan received much more despite selling much less.

What amazes me however, is the cheek Chew Mei Fun has to actually criticise Penang on the alleged ‘unrestrained land sale’.

As exposed earlier, even when Chew was the Member of Parliament for my current constituency, her party MCA acquired an acre of prime land from the then BN state government for a measly RM1 per square feet (psf) in 2007.  Today, the land is worth as much as RM400psf. Despite her refusal to take responsibility for the transaction, she admitted to being fully aware of it.  And this is just one of the hundreds and perhaps thousands of land which MCA has benefited from BN state governments across the country.

So the question for Chew is, what moral standing does she have to chide the Penang state government over land sale conducted via open tenders, when her own party has effectively abused its position in power to profit themselves and betray the trust the voters had placed in them?

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Najib’s toll ‘freebie’ election goodie to cost Malaysians billions of ringgit

In an interview with TV3 Nightline, Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said that PLUS would have to be compensated to the tune of RM102 million per year for abolishing the Batu Tiga and Sungai Rasau tolls and RM8 million for the Bukit Kayu Hitam toll. That’s a total of RM110 million per year just to PLUS. The compensation for the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) was said to be RM8 million, going to current concessionaire MRCB.

The above will cost the government RM118 million per year just to abolish these four tolls.

The concessions for all four tolls expire in 2038. Assuming if the compensation doesn’t increase over time, it will still cost a whopping RM2.36 billion.  However, this compensation amount will be even higher when the compensation is calculated based on forecast toll usage in the future.

Whether the compensation is given out in cash or through extensions of the concessions, the person footing the bill will still be the rakyat. That’s RM2.36 billion that could be used to benefit all Malaysians and not just help BN win over voters in the 3 states of Selangor, Kedah and Johor.

Let’s not forget that the government has already compensated toll concessionaires before when they have announced halting toll rate hikes in past Budget speeches. Each one of these populist moves only ends up costing the government and Malaysians more and more. The Prime Minister’s toll ‘freebie’ is no freebie at all.

If the Government is serious about making tolls more affordable for Malaysians, they’d take Pakatan Harapan’s advice. The Pakatan Harapan manifesto has called for the abolition of highway toll in stages via the restructuring and renegotiation of the toll agreements with the concessionaires.

Nearly all of these agreements contain clauses which allows the Government to expropriate these highways based on agreed formulas.  And in many circumstances, compensating toll concessionaires based on loss revenue as what the BN government is doing, costs a whole load more than just expropriating the highways outright.

For example, between 1990 to 2015, the compensation for Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP) already amounts to RM1.05 billion even though the actual cost of constructing the highway, including interest amounts to only RM1.3 billion.  And there’s 13 more years to the concession period for compensation to be paid and for the concessionaire to make outrageous profits.

We call upon the Najib administration to stop fleecing Malaysians with not-at-all-free “free” tolls and concessionaires who continue to make astronomical profits at the expense of the rakyat.

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Forum & Objection Townhall: Constituency Re-Delineation - How To Steal An Election?

DAP will be organising a Forum cum Objection Townhall on the Election Commission’s proposal to re-delineate the electoral constituencies in Malaysia.

The Objection Townhall will give Malaysians, especially those in the Klang Valley, the opportunity to register our protest by signing the objection forms we have prepared.

We call upon Malaysians to make your voice count as all objections to the EC Re-Delineation Proposal must be submitted by Oct 14.  Hence this event will in all likelihood be the last opportunity for you to state your stand and be part of the process to fight and reject the gerrymandering exercise.

The delineation of constituencies in Malaysia is already skewed.  That’s why in the 13th General Election, BN won only 48% of the votes but secured 60% of the Parliamentary seats.

So now, BN’s ingenious plan is to skew the electoral boundaries even further by shifting pro-BN voters from opposition strongholds into opposition and BN marginal seats.  The proposal by the Election Commission is the worst gerrymandering exercise ever seen in Malaysia’s history.

Malaysians must rise to object against the audacious attempt to now cheat us of our democratic rights to a free and fair election.  We must not let a corrupt government hang on to power via the abuse of power.

The Forum entitled “Constituency Re-Delineation – How to Steal an Election?” will feature distinguished speakers discussing various aspects of the re-delineation exercise.  They include:

• Tony Pua, MP for Petaling Jaya Utara
• Rafizi Ramli, MP for Pandan
• Dr. Mohd. Hatta Ramli, MP for Kuala Krai
• Maria Chin, Chairperson for Bersih 2.0
• Dr Ong Kian Ming, MP for Serdang
• Wong Chin Huat, Fellow, Penang Institute
• Michelle Ng, a lawyer who also leads dedicated legal team to assist DAP with re-delineation issues with the Election Commisson

The event will be held at The Club, 1 Club Drive, Bandar Utama on Wednesday, 12 October 2016 at 8pm.

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DAP Selangor menyokong calon Pakatan Harapan dalam PRK Sungai Besar meskipun ia menjadi pertarungan 3-penjuru dengan BN dan PAS

DAP Selangor akan memberikan sokongan penuh kepada calon Pakatan Harapan dalam pilihanraya kecil Sungai Besar bulan depan.

Kami juga berpandangan bahawa Pakatan Harapan mesti meletak calon dalam pertarungan ini meskipun ia menjadi satu pemilihan 3-penjuru dengan Barisan Nasional (BN) dan PAS.

Saya telah mengunjungi kawasan parlimen Sungai Besar dan bersesi dialog dengan akar-umbi cawangan-cawangan DAP di pekan Sungai Besar dan Sekinchan pada hari Ahad yang lalu.

Suara akar-umbi yang mencerminkan kehendak penyokong parti terutamanya di kawasan perbandaran adalah jelas. Mereka tidak akan, dan tidak mahu menyokong parti PAS sebagai wakil pembangkang melawan BN. Malah, ada yang menyebut bahawa kalau terpaksa undi antara BN dan PAS, ada kemungkinan mereka akan memilih BN atas kekecewaan terhadap PAS. Mereka menganggap bahawa PAS telah mengkhianati undi mereka pada pilihanraya yang lalu kerana mereka telah mengkuburkan Pakatan Rakyat.

Apatah lagi, Malaysia kini dilandai satu krisis gergasi yang tidak pernah berlaku dalam sejarah negara. Skandal RM55 bilion 1MDB dan “donation” Dato’ Seri Najib Razak berjumlah RM4.2 bilion yang telah menjadikan Malaysia sebagai bahan jenaka yang cukup memalukan di seluruh dunia.

Isu-isu ini sepatutnya menjadi fokus kepada pilihanraya-pilihanraya kecil di Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar supaya ianya menjadi satu undi keyakinan terhadap pimpinan Dato’ Seri Najib Razak. Akan tetapi, rakyat tiada keyakinan bahawa parti PAS akan menyuarakan bantahan yang cukup nyaring dan pendirian yang cukup teguh terhadap skandal-skandal ini.

Malah, Presiden PAS, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang telah berkali-kali menegaskan bahawa beliau tidak berniat untuk menumbangkan Dato’ Seri Najib Razak. Sebaliknya, beliau berkata bahawa Dato’ Seri Najib Razak perlu terus diberikan peluang untuk memimpin negara sebagai Perdana Menteri dan PAS hanya ingin menjadi “penasihat” kepada UMNO-Barisan Nasional.

Oleh sebab itu, adalah wajib supaya Pakatan Harapan diwakili dalam pilihanraya kecil ini supaya penyokong Pakatan Harapan yang begitu ramai dapat memilih parti yang benar-benar menentang kerajaan BN yang rakus dan rasuah.

Akibat keengganan Presiden PAS untuk berunding dengan Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali, cadangan PKR untuk meletakkan calon PKR di Sungai Besar bagi memastikan pertarungan satu-lawan-satu tidak akan terjadi.

Dengan itu, DAP Selangor akan memberikan sokongan seratus-peratus kepada calon Parti Amanah Negara yang mewakili Pakatan Harapan dalam pemilihan tiga-penjuru di Sungai Besar.

Walaupun ada pihak yang bimbang bahawa pemilihan tiga-penjuru berkemungkinan melemahkan undi pembangkang, kami percaya bahawa pengundi yang pintar akan tetap memberikan undi kepada Pakatan Harapan. Ini adalah kerana hanya gabungan politik Pakatan Harapan antara PKR, DAP dan Amanah mampu dan berpeluang untuk menewaskan BN dalam pilihanraya. Manakala PAS, secara tersendiri, tiada kemungkinan langsung untuk menubuhkan kerajaan. Oleh itu, pengundi Sungai Besar tidak akan membazirkan undi kepada parti yang tiada berkemampuan untuk membentuk kerajaan untuk mengganti BN.

Kami yakin bahawa dengan satu kempen yang berfokus dan cergas, Pakatan Harapan akan dapat memikat hati pengundi dan mencapai satu kemenangan pilihanraya kecil bersejarah yang akan menggempar bumi politik Malaysia.

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Kenyataan Majlis Pimpinan Tertinggi Pakatan Harapan mengenai Laporan PAC Terhadap 1MDB

1. PH menyeru supaya Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Negara (PAC) membentangkan Laporan Ketua Audit Negara secara serta-merta kepada Parlimen.  PH percaya bahawa kalau pihak Menteri-Menteri Barisan Nasional tidak percaya 1MDB dan Dato’ Seri Najib Razak tidak bersalah, memang tiada keperluan supaya Laporan Ketua Audit Negara dirahsiakan dan disembunyikan daripada ahli-ahli Parlimen.


2. PH mengetuk 1MDB kerana tidak memberikan kerjasama kepada Jabatan Audit Negara (JAN) dan gagal menyerahkan dokumen-dokumen penting seperti penyata bank, salinan perjanjian dan bukti pemilikan syarikat-syarikat berkenan kepadanya.


3. PH memahami bahawa tanpa dokumen-dokumen tersebut, pihak Ketua Audit Negara tidak dapat mengesahkan transaksi, wang tunai dan asset 1MDB sejumlah US$7 bilion yang disimpan di luar negeri.  Jumlah ini adalah termasuk US$1.03 bilion yang dibayar kepada Good Star Limited dan US$3.51 bilion yang dibayar kepada Aabar Investment PJS Limited.  Ketua Audit Negara memaklumkan bahawa beliau tidak dapat mengesahkan pemilik saham sebenar syarikat-syarikat ini.


4. PH kecewa pihak Menteri Kewangan gagal mengarahkan 1MDB untuk bekerjasama penuh dengan JAN dan PAC.  Kegagalan tersebut telah menjadi kekangan kepada JAN dan PAC untuk menyiapkan siasatan secara menyeluruh, termasuk siasat sama ada US$681 juta yang dideposit kedalam akaun peripadi Perdana Menteri berpunca daripada 1MDB. 


5. PH juga mendapat bahawa Ketua Setiausaha Perbendaharaan, Tan Sri Irwan Serigar telah memberi keterangan bahawa Kementerian Kewangan langsung tidak terlibat dalam segala keputusan dalam 1MDB dan segalanya diluluskan secara langsung oleh pihak Perdana Menteri.  Perkara ini juga telah disahkan oleh Jabatan Audit Negara bahawa Artikel 117 Lembaga Penubuhan Syarikat memberikan kuasa mutlak kepada Perdana Menteri.  Oleh sebab itu, adalah jelas bahawa Dato’ Seri Najib Razak perlu bertanggungjawab kepada segala  masalah, penyalahguna kuasa dan penyelewenganyang telah berlaku dalam 1MDB.


6. Setelah mengaji Laporan PAC dan Hansard yang dikemukakan, PH berkepastian bahawa PAC tidak pernah membincang dan membuat sebarang keputusan yangmendapati bahawa Dato’ Seri Najib Razak tidak bersalah.


7. PH menyeru supaya pihak berkuasa, termasuk Polis Diraja Negara (PDRM) dan Suruhanjaya Pencegah Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) mengambil tindakan terhadap Datuk Shahrol Halmi dan lain-lain yang berkaitan atas penemuan-penemuan PAC dan Ketua Audit Negara, termasuk jumlah US$7 bilion yang tidak dapat disahkan. 

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