Malaysia’s drastic decline in Transparency International’s Corruption Barometer exposes the bare-bones underneath the razzmatazz of the “Fighting Corruption” NKRA.
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has staked his premiership on 6 National Key Result Areas (NKRA), of which “Reducing Corruption” was one of the most important, if not the most. Over the past four years, the Prime Minister and his team has razzled and dazzled Malaysians and foreigners over the “efforts” and “successes” in achieving the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the NKRA.
In 2011, Pemandu had boasted that the initiatives taken have shown tremendous results in eradicating the crime of corruption. The Government also pointed out that “the effectiveness of the actions taken is being slowly felt and acknowledged by the general public”.
Pemandu had cited that according to the Transparency International (TI-M) Global Corruption Barometer Survey (GCB), corruption rate in Malaysia has slightly increased from 48% in 2010 to 49% in 2011, proving the improvements. In fact, the Reducing Corruption NKRA director Datuk Hisham Nordin told Bernama in April, that the NKRA has exceeded the target of the KPI set to fight corruption in the country.
However, in the latest GCB report, the people's perception of the government's effectiveness in combatting corruption has plunged significantly from 49% previously in 2011 to a shocking low of 31%. This is a far cry from the official objective of the NKRA to raise Malaysia’s GCB to 70% by 2015. The last time the perception of effectiveness of the government in this area was this low was in 2009, at 28% when the Prime Minister first launched the NKRAs with much fanfare.
According to the survey, only a miserable 14% of respondents thought that corruption in the last two years had decreased, 39% thought that it had increased and 47% thought that it remained unchanged.
The survey indicates that Malaysians are perhaps seeing through all the razzmatazz, the song and dance and the gorgeous packaging for the NKRA after more than 3 years, discovering that nothing much has really changed. Very little effort is placed in punishing the corrupt among the rich, powerful and politically-connected, while every effort is made to thwart whistleblowing and exposes by opposition politicians and civic-minded individuals.
What rubs salt to wound is the fact that the annual budget allocations to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) before and after 2009 respectively have increased by leaps and bounds over the past decade. In 2003 when we were best placed over the decade in the TI Corruption Perception Index (CPI) at number 33 in the world, the budget for ACA was RM67.7 million.
In 2008 before Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi handed over the reigns to Datuk Seri Najib Razak, we were then ranked 47th in the world with a budget of RM146.7 million. In 2012, after the “massive” MACC reforms, the “Reducing Corruption” NKRA and an increased budget of RM211.2 million, we are now ranked a lowly 56th in the world.
It would appear that the bigger the budget and more staffing and resources given to MACC, the more corrupt Malaysia has become.
If Datuk Seri Najib Razak is serious about fighting and reducing corruption, then his administration must certainly get their act together with the necessary political will to slaughter all sacred cows. It is time to do away with the razzmatazz and multitude of self-praise and excuses for the lack of action, to ensure that those guilty of corruption, particularly of grand corruption are punished accordingly. Frivolous and sorry remarks by the Prime Minister’s new recruit, the former TI-M President, Datuk Paul Low like “political stunts had led to numerous baseless graft complaints being filed [which] had in turn caused the low rate of probes by MACC” isn’t helpful at all to the cause against corruption.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Jaminan Hishamuddin Untuk KLIA2 Tidak Meyakinkan
Menteri Pengangkutan Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein telah memberikan jaminan bahawa lapang terbang kos rendah KLIA2 akan bermula operasi pada 2hb Mei 2014 dan tidak akan ditunda lagi. Malangnya jaminan beliau langsung tidak menyakinkan kerana beberapa jaminan serupa telah diberikan oleh Menteri-Menteri sebelum ini.
Malah, Perdana Menteri sendiri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak telah mengumumkan selewat-lewatnya pada 5hb Januari tahun ini bahawa KLIA2 akan sedia beroperasi pada 28hb Jun, walaupun kerja-kerja pembinaan akan siap pada bulan Mei, sebulan sebelum pelancaran.
“Ia sepatutnya siap Mei ini. Saya sudah menyuarakan pandangan kita tidak perlu tergesa-gesa membuka KLIA2 (apabila ia siap). Tetapi sebagai mana disasarkan, saya memutuskan ia harus bertepatan tarikh pembukaan KLIA (sebelum ini) iaitu pada 28 Jun (1998).”
Pengarah Urusan MAHB Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad pada masa yang sama mengalu-alukan keputusan Perdana Menteri dan berkata semua isu berkaitan dengan lapangan terbang baru itu dijangka diselesaikan sebelum tarikh pembukaan.
Akan tetapi, bukan sahaja KLIA2 tidak dapat dilancarkan pada bulan lalu, projek tersebut ditunda selama 1 tahun akibat pembinaan yang lewat. Kalaulah jaminan daripada Perdana Menteri pun tak boleh pakai, rakyat Malaysia tidak mungkin dapat menerima jaminan Menteri Pengangkutan yang baru bahawa KLIA2 dapat siap 1 tahun kemudian secara bulat-bulat.
Kita dapat perhati bahawa sikap MAHB selama ini adalah untuk menuding jari kepada pihak lain selama ini tanpa mengakui bahawa keputusan-keputusan MAHB untuk memindahkan tapak KLIA2 dan juga ketidakcekapan pengurusan projek telah menyebabkan penundaan projek berkali-kali sejak tarikh asal pada September 2011, lebih kurang 2 tahun yang lalu.
Sehingga minggu lalu, MAHB melalui Pengurus Besarnya, Datuk Azmi Murad telah menyalahkan pihak AirAsia kerana berkeras dalam permintaan mereka untuk sistem bagasi berotomatik, pihak Jabatan Penerbangan Awam yang meminta supaya satu menara kawalan baru dibina dan pihak kontraktor terminal utama, UEM-Bina Puri JV atas kelewatan pembinaan.
Kesemua pihak di atas telah menafikan tuduhan daripada MAHB dan rakyat masih berkabur dan tidak mendapat kebenaran dalam skandal yang telah memakan perbelanjaan sebanyak RM4 billion ini.
Akan tetapi, yang paling penting sekali adalah percanggahan antara penundaan selama 1 tahun projek dan kadar persiapan pembinaan yang dikatakan sudah mencapai tahap 93%. Jika KLIA2 pada keseluruhannya telah mencapai persiapan 93%, mengapa kita memerlukan 1 tahun lagi sebelum lapangan terbang yang baru ini dapat dilancarkan?
Kami nak tanya kepada pihak MAHB mengapa kontraktor-kontraktor lain untuk Menara Kawalan (Control Tower), kawasan persinggahan kapal terbang (apron) dan juga landasan penerbangan (runway), yang kesemuanya masih belum siap hari ini, tidak pernah dibangkitkan oleh MAHB? Apakah sebabnya kontraktor-kontraktor ini yang termasuk KUB Berhad tidak dikenakan “Liquidated Ascertained Damages” (LAD), seperti tindakan yang diambil ke atas UEM-Binapuri?
KUB, iaitu kontraktor untuk landasan penerbangan, telah mengakui pada 6hb Jun 2013 bahawa kerja hanya siap 80% sahaja. Adakah kontraktor-kontraktor tertentu diberikan layanan istimewa atau perlindungan luarbiasa oleh MAHB?
Sehingga hari ini, walaupun perkara ini telah dibangkit berkali-kali, pihak MAHB atau kementerian masih tidak menjawab bila kerja-kerja Control Tower, apron dan runway akan disiapkan.
Sikap kerahsiaan daripada MAHB dan kementerian menunjukkan bahawa segala jaminan yang diberi oleh kedua-dua pihak adalah jaminan kosong dan ada isu-isu besar yang ingin dikuburkan supaya rakyat tidak akan mengetahui kebenaran atau pihak yang bersalah tidak akan dikenakan sebarang hukuman.
Oleh itu, tindakan Datuk Seri Hishamuddin untuk menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa baru, yang sepatutnya ditubuhkan 2 tahun yang lalu, yang akan diketuai oleh Timbalan Menteri Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi untuk memantau projek KLIA2, merupakan tindakan yang tidak mencukupi.
Kami sekali lagi menyeru supaya Datuk Seri Hishamuddin akan menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa siasat yang BEBAS untuk memberikan kebenaran kepada rakyat Malaysia yang cukup kecewa dengan kedudukan KLIA2. Jika MAHB menganggap bahawa mereka tidak bersalah, mereka patut menyetujui cadangan daripada Pakatan Rakyat kerana siasatan tersebut akan membuktikan kepada semua bahawa mereka telah menjalankan tanggungjawab mereka secara telus dan cekap. MAHB sepatutnya berani kerana benar.
Malah, Perdana Menteri sendiri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak telah mengumumkan selewat-lewatnya pada 5hb Januari tahun ini bahawa KLIA2 akan sedia beroperasi pada 28hb Jun, walaupun kerja-kerja pembinaan akan siap pada bulan Mei, sebulan sebelum pelancaran.
“Ia sepatutnya siap Mei ini. Saya sudah menyuarakan pandangan kita tidak perlu tergesa-gesa membuka KLIA2 (apabila ia siap). Tetapi sebagai mana disasarkan, saya memutuskan ia harus bertepatan tarikh pembukaan KLIA (sebelum ini) iaitu pada 28 Jun (1998).”
Pengarah Urusan MAHB Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad pada masa yang sama mengalu-alukan keputusan Perdana Menteri dan berkata semua isu berkaitan dengan lapangan terbang baru itu dijangka diselesaikan sebelum tarikh pembukaan.
Akan tetapi, bukan sahaja KLIA2 tidak dapat dilancarkan pada bulan lalu, projek tersebut ditunda selama 1 tahun akibat pembinaan yang lewat. Kalaulah jaminan daripada Perdana Menteri pun tak boleh pakai, rakyat Malaysia tidak mungkin dapat menerima jaminan Menteri Pengangkutan yang baru bahawa KLIA2 dapat siap 1 tahun kemudian secara bulat-bulat.
Kita dapat perhati bahawa sikap MAHB selama ini adalah untuk menuding jari kepada pihak lain selama ini tanpa mengakui bahawa keputusan-keputusan MAHB untuk memindahkan tapak KLIA2 dan juga ketidakcekapan pengurusan projek telah menyebabkan penundaan projek berkali-kali sejak tarikh asal pada September 2011, lebih kurang 2 tahun yang lalu.
Sehingga minggu lalu, MAHB melalui Pengurus Besarnya, Datuk Azmi Murad telah menyalahkan pihak AirAsia kerana berkeras dalam permintaan mereka untuk sistem bagasi berotomatik, pihak Jabatan Penerbangan Awam yang meminta supaya satu menara kawalan baru dibina dan pihak kontraktor terminal utama, UEM-Bina Puri JV atas kelewatan pembinaan.
Kesemua pihak di atas telah menafikan tuduhan daripada MAHB dan rakyat masih berkabur dan tidak mendapat kebenaran dalam skandal yang telah memakan perbelanjaan sebanyak RM4 billion ini.
Akan tetapi, yang paling penting sekali adalah percanggahan antara penundaan selama 1 tahun projek dan kadar persiapan pembinaan yang dikatakan sudah mencapai tahap 93%. Jika KLIA2 pada keseluruhannya telah mencapai persiapan 93%, mengapa kita memerlukan 1 tahun lagi sebelum lapangan terbang yang baru ini dapat dilancarkan?
Kami nak tanya kepada pihak MAHB mengapa kontraktor-kontraktor lain untuk Menara Kawalan (Control Tower), kawasan persinggahan kapal terbang (apron) dan juga landasan penerbangan (runway), yang kesemuanya masih belum siap hari ini, tidak pernah dibangkitkan oleh MAHB? Apakah sebabnya kontraktor-kontraktor ini yang termasuk KUB Berhad tidak dikenakan “Liquidated Ascertained Damages” (LAD), seperti tindakan yang diambil ke atas UEM-Binapuri?
KUB, iaitu kontraktor untuk landasan penerbangan, telah mengakui pada 6hb Jun 2013 bahawa kerja hanya siap 80% sahaja. Adakah kontraktor-kontraktor tertentu diberikan layanan istimewa atau perlindungan luarbiasa oleh MAHB?
Sehingga hari ini, walaupun perkara ini telah dibangkit berkali-kali, pihak MAHB atau kementerian masih tidak menjawab bila kerja-kerja Control Tower, apron dan runway akan disiapkan.
Sikap kerahsiaan daripada MAHB dan kementerian menunjukkan bahawa segala jaminan yang diberi oleh kedua-dua pihak adalah jaminan kosong dan ada isu-isu besar yang ingin dikuburkan supaya rakyat tidak akan mengetahui kebenaran atau pihak yang bersalah tidak akan dikenakan sebarang hukuman.
Oleh itu, tindakan Datuk Seri Hishamuddin untuk menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa baru, yang sepatutnya ditubuhkan 2 tahun yang lalu, yang akan diketuai oleh Timbalan Menteri Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi untuk memantau projek KLIA2, merupakan tindakan yang tidak mencukupi.
Kami sekali lagi menyeru supaya Datuk Seri Hishamuddin akan menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa siasat yang BEBAS untuk memberikan kebenaran kepada rakyat Malaysia yang cukup kecewa dengan kedudukan KLIA2. Jika MAHB menganggap bahawa mereka tidak bersalah, mereka patut menyetujui cadangan daripada Pakatan Rakyat kerana siasatan tersebut akan membuktikan kepada semua bahawa mereka telah menjalankan tanggungjawab mereka secara telus dan cekap. MAHB sepatutnya berani kerana benar.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Police Says Crime Falling, But Blames EO for Rising Crime?
How can the repeal of Emergency Ordinance (EO) be the cause of rising crime, when our official crime index was at its peak before the EO was repealed?
The repeal of the Emergency Ordinance (EO) at the end of 2011 has been blamed by both the Government and the Royal Malaysian Police as the sole cause of rising crime in Malaysia, particularly in the urban centres.
The repeal of the Act has denied the Police the power to detain “suspects” without trial. The Police has gone on the record that because they can’t put this criminals away bypassing the criminal justice system, these criminals are hence walking free in our streets to create havoc, resulting in the rising crime rate.
The issue at hand is whether the repeal of the EO is indeed the cause of rising crime, or has it become the convenient whipping boy for the Police to cover up the lack of professionalism and competence in solving crime cases as well as prevent crime incidences?
Despite all the sound and fury, the Police has yet to present a shred of evidence that the recent spate of rising crime is due to “hardened criminals” released from the Simpang Renggam detention centre. It does not appear that the police has caught anyone involved in the recent spate of armed robberies which points strongly to the repeal of the EO as being the “cause”.
In fact, if we were to study the crime statistics over the past decade, it will actually show that during the years when the EO was in place, crime was still rising aggressively.
As shown in the Chart above, the Malaysian crime index was rising rapidly from 2003 to 2008. At the peak, with the crime rate rose by 34.0% from 2004 to 2007. During this period, the EO was readily available at the Police’s disposal and yet, crime was seemingly unstoppable.
After the launch of the “Reducing Crime” National Key Result Area (NKRA) in 2009, the official crime index according to the Government has dropped significantly, from 209,417 in 2009 to 157,891 in 2011. This was attributed under the Government Transformation Plan to greater allocation of resources to patrolling and fighting street crimes. The “achievement” if true, was never ever attributed by the Police to perhaps, the increased use of the EO to detain alleged criminals without trial.
While we dispute the accuracy and completeness of the Police crime index, the Police has presented that crime levels in 2012 was the lowest in a decade at 145,891 or a decline of 7.6% from 2011. Most tellingly, the decline of crime, according the police’s own statistics, was achieved despite the fact that the EO was repealed during the year.
Hence, based on the above official crime statistics presented by the Police themselves, how can the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi, now claim that the cause of rising crime is almost entirely due to the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance?
We call upon both the IGP and the Home Minister to heed Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s advice when he announced the repeal of the EO, that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence.” Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib asked the police to now “provide evidence to charge them in court”.
The focus of the debate to fight rising crime must be on how to improve the professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness of the Police in fighting crime. It should not be on how new laws to allow for detention without trial can be drafted to overcome police incompetence.
The repeal of the Emergency Ordinance (EO) at the end of 2011 has been blamed by both the Government and the Royal Malaysian Police as the sole cause of rising crime in Malaysia, particularly in the urban centres.
The repeal of the Act has denied the Police the power to detain “suspects” without trial. The Police has gone on the record that because they can’t put this criminals away bypassing the criminal justice system, these criminals are hence walking free in our streets to create havoc, resulting in the rising crime rate.
The issue at hand is whether the repeal of the EO is indeed the cause of rising crime, or has it become the convenient whipping boy for the Police to cover up the lack of professionalism and competence in solving crime cases as well as prevent crime incidences?
Despite all the sound and fury, the Police has yet to present a shred of evidence that the recent spate of rising crime is due to “hardened criminals” released from the Simpang Renggam detention centre. It does not appear that the police has caught anyone involved in the recent spate of armed robberies which points strongly to the repeal of the EO as being the “cause”.
In fact, if we were to study the crime statistics over the past decade, it will actually show that during the years when the EO was in place, crime was still rising aggressively.
As shown in the Chart above, the Malaysian crime index was rising rapidly from 2003 to 2008. At the peak, with the crime rate rose by 34.0% from 2004 to 2007. During this period, the EO was readily available at the Police’s disposal and yet, crime was seemingly unstoppable.
After the launch of the “Reducing Crime” National Key Result Area (NKRA) in 2009, the official crime index according to the Government has dropped significantly, from 209,417 in 2009 to 157,891 in 2011. This was attributed under the Government Transformation Plan to greater allocation of resources to patrolling and fighting street crimes. The “achievement” if true, was never ever attributed by the Police to perhaps, the increased use of the EO to detain alleged criminals without trial.
While we dispute the accuracy and completeness of the Police crime index, the Police has presented that crime levels in 2012 was the lowest in a decade at 145,891 or a decline of 7.6% from 2011. Most tellingly, the decline of crime, according the police’s own statistics, was achieved despite the fact that the EO was repealed during the year.
Hence, based on the above official crime statistics presented by the Police themselves, how can the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi, now claim that the cause of rising crime is almost entirely due to the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance?
We call upon both the IGP and the Home Minister to heed Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s advice when he announced the repeal of the EO, that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence.” Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib asked the police to now “provide evidence to charge them in court”.
The focus of the debate to fight rising crime must be on how to improve the professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness of the Police in fighting crime. It should not be on how new laws to allow for detention without trial can be drafted to overcome police incompetence.
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
Datuk Paul Low Fears PAC Abused for Political Mileage
Datuk Paul Low’s trivialisation and politicisation of the Public Accounts Committee chairmanship confirms his BN partisanship and stains his reputation for transparency and accountability
The Pakatan Rakyat state government has made an offer for the Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) opposition leader to chair the powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to create a first world assembly, in the interest of check and balance, transparency and accountability. The unconditional offer has been rejected by the Selangor opposition leader, Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias.
I have written to implore the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to instruct Selangor BN to accept the post to prove that he is serious about his transformation programme to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world” and his pledge to ensure transparency and accountability.
I have made the call on the Datuk Seri Najib Razak to do so, regardless of whether he will offer the Parliament’s PAC chairmanship to Pakatan Rakyat, although he should if he is serious about a first-world parliament.
However, the new Minister in the Prime Minister’s department, Datuk Paul Low has been quick to the draw to dismiss the idea as unnecessary and unimportant. He told the Malay Mail that because “Malaysia, unlike other Commonwealth countries, may not have the political maturity to have an opposition member chair its parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC).”
The Minister seemingly without any political affiliation now claims that “such positions could be abused for political mileage”.
He said that “it depends on political maturity. To what extent can politicians give constructive criticism? Overseas, the opposition joins constructive and bipartisan discussions, so maybe they can do it there.” Low said that in Malaysia the opposition would have to note that the seat was meant to be used for constructive criticism and not just to condemn the government.
Datuk Paul Low’s negative response only proves that he has completely shedded his impartial non-governmental organisation (NGO) skin and has fully embraced BN partisanship. It appears that the former Transparency International President for the Malaysian chapter is now be more worried about the government being condemned for its abuses and scandals, than about uncovering the wrongs of the abuses and scandals.
Datuk Paul Low is indeed correct to note that “overseas, the opposition joins constructive and bipartisan discussions”. But that is because in their parliaments, dozens of bipartisan select committees are set up to discuss the drafting of laws in the country. Here in Malaysia, the BN government will not set up of any such committee to deny the involvement of opposition politicians in the law-making process. BN treats the Parliament like a rubber stamp where whatever amendments sought by the other side of the fence, regardless of whether it is constructive or otherwise, gets rejected by the tyranny of the majority.
The Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Government, by Datuk Paul Low’s own definition, obviously has greater political maturity compared to the BN Federal Government. The state government welcomes criticism, positive or negative, constructive or political, from the BN opposition to improve itself further. After all, if the state government is completely transparent and accountable, the PAC chairman will have no issue or basis to “condemn the government”.
Datuk Paul Low further provided the flimsy excuse that “it was not imperative that an opposition member chair the parliamentary PAC, which already consisted of those from both sides of the political divide and with the chairman serving just as a facilitator”.
His excuse not only trivialises the position of the PAC chairman who gets the say to set the agenda, the excuse doesn’t make any sense. If indeed the chairman is just a facilitator, then why not give it to the Opposition, why shouldn’t BN accept the role in Selangor?
Malaysians had hoped that Datuk Paul Low will set new standards for transparency and accountability in the new Najib Cabinet. Instead, as shown in the previous issues on the set up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) and the declaration of assets by Cabinet Ministers, not only will no new standards be set, Datuk Paul Low has disappointingly become the apologist for the BN administration to justifyt its opacity and abuses.
Monday, July 08, 2013
Home Minister and Inspector General of Police Should Stop Being Crybabies over EO
When the Emergency Ordinance (EO) was repealed in 2011, the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak announced that it had to be done away with as “technological improvements has rendered exile less then useful a deterrent to crime”.
In a speech to civil servants at the Razak School of Government in July 2012, he said that “in the old days, it was easy, if someone was bad, we just catch them and send them to places like Pasir Puteh, or maybe Jerantut. But nowadays, it is useless as no matter how far you send them, with their cellphones, they can still do their work (commit crime).”
In fact the Prime Minister went so far as to call for the Malaysian police must now change they way they work. He said that “now police must train themselves how to look for evidence.” Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention, Dato’ Seri Najib asked the police to now provide evidence to charge them in court.
Earlier in April 2012, Dato’ Seri Najib also argued in his speech at the the installation of Sultan of Kedah Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah as the 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong that “the Government believes that after more than half a century of practising democracy since Independence, Malaysians have reached a high level of maturity… In view of this, we are now ready to enter a new era where the function of Government is no longer seen as limiting freedom of the individual but, instead, of ensuring that the basic rights as enshrined in the Constitution are protected”.
However, now both the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar are telling us that we need a return of the EO, or something similar to the EO with elements of detention without trial, in order to arrest rising crime in the country.
It appears that both Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi and Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar are telling both the Prime Minister and Malaysians at large that the Royal Malaysian Police, after being “pampered” by the EO for the past 42 years, are completely unable to “look for evidence.. and provide evidence to charge [criminals] in court”.
The Home Ministry appears to be fighting hard to reverse the political reforms put in place by Dato’ Seri Najib, by claiming that the rising rate of crime nationally was due to the lack of preventive laws to tackle these criminals and insiting that “the police must be given enough power” to deal with these “criminals”.
According to a Berita Harian report yesterday, Tan Sri Khalid also said that those who had criticised the police in its crime-busting capability should back this new law.
Malaysians are telling Tan Sri Khalid and all the supporters of the EO that criticising the police in its crime-busing capability is a call for them to improve their efficiency and professionalism. It is certainly not a call to provide the police with unreasonable powers to detain “suspects” without those accused for crime a day in court.
There have been many case of abuse of the EO in the past where youths in their teens were first detained for 60 days and subsequently banished to Johor, Kedah and Pahang separately for two years, simply for alleged motorcycle theft. These abuses and injustice occurs because the police force is so short handed in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), that they banished most of them to various detention centres throughout the country without ever completing their investigations, or collecting the necessary evidence to charge these suspects in a court of law. The police were in effect, a law unto themselves.
We must never let these incidents of injustice happen again. The Home Minister have announced that Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low and Nancy Shukri will lead in the drafting of the replacement EO Bill. We call upon both of these Ministers to strongly reject any attempts to insert vague clauses with allows the Police discretionary powers to detain a person for any period of time without a fair trial.
In this case, we strongly endorse the Prime Minister’s call that “the police must now train themselves how to look for evidence… Instead of just catching suspects and chucking them into EO detention”. The IGP should stop whining incessantly about the inability to throw any suspect he likes into detention and start whipping the Royal Malaysian Police into shape, particularly by undertaking the reforms recommended in the 2005 Tun Dzaiddin Royal Commission of Inquiry Report.
Saturday, July 06, 2013
BN Selangor Rejects PAC Chairmanship: An Abdication of Duty
For the second term running, Barisan Nasional (BN) state assemblymen are again abdicating from their duties to the rakyat to act as an effective opposition to check and balance the Pakatan Rakyat state government.
For this new term, the unconditional offer to chair the powerful Public Account Committee (PAC) has been offered to the state Opposition Leader, Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias. However the latter has indicated that he will not take up the position giving the ridiculous excuse that the offer was “politically motivated”.
BN has also rejected the PAC chairmanship offer in 2008, after initially accepting it then. However, after being firmly entrenched to the state opposition with fewer numbers for the second term, it is time for them to accept their role and perform their functions dutifully.
There is no point in the BN opposition making all sorts of wild allegations against the state government when the Pakatan Rakyat are giving the PAC chairmanship to BN on a silver platter. As the chairman of the PAC, he will be able to set the agenda for the PAC meetings, review alleged misconduct and controversies, secure all relevant documents and interview any officer involved including State Executive Councillors.
Hence we find it completely inexplicable that BN is rejecting the position for the second time, unless the rejection is “politically motivated”. BN is rejecting the position because it does not want to endorse the practice of transparency and accountability.
Despite the slew of rhetoric and slogans in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) to increase transparency and accountability, the BN government led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak has consistently refused to accept the first world parliamentary best practice of an opposition leader leading the PAC.
Hence even though the unconditional offer of the PAC chairmanship is to promote first world legislative assemblies, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has instructed that the position not be accepted because it will make him look bad in the Parliament.
It appears that Datuk Seri Najib Razak will not be able to live down the fact that a Pakatan Rakyat government accepts a BN PAC Chairman, while he is unable to practise what he preach in the Parliament. The Prime Minister obviously fears a Pakatan-led PAC in Parliament which will be more pro-active and meticulous in uncovering various abuses, scandals and corruption in the BN government.
We call upon the Ministers in-charge of GTP, Datuk Idris Jala and Datuk Paul Low to play their part to push the Government to not only accept the PAC chairmanship in Selangor, but also to offer the Parliament’s PAC chairmanship to Pakatan Rakyat. Datuk Seri Najib Razak must realise that he lost the trust of 51% of the rakyat in the last general election due to a poor record in transparency and accountability. By offering the PAC chairmanship to Pakatan Rakyat, he will be able to prove that he is indeed walking the talk about fighting corruption and abuse of power.
However, regardless of whether the Parliament’s PAC chairmanship position is offered to Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must at the very least instruct Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias to accept the Selangor state assembly’s PAC chairmanship, to act its role as a responsible opposition in ensuring transparency and accountability.
There is no more valid excuses that Selangorians can accept in the rejection of the role. In fact, the failure of accepting the role will only permanently cement BN as the opposition in Selangor for the 14th General Election. The rakyat will be able to tell that Pakatan Rakyat governments practice what we preach, while the BN Governments led by the Prime Minister is only good with the song and dance, with no earnest effort in making real transformation.
For this new term, the unconditional offer to chair the powerful Public Account Committee (PAC) has been offered to the state Opposition Leader, Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias. However the latter has indicated that he will not take up the position giving the ridiculous excuse that the offer was “politically motivated”.
BN has also rejected the PAC chairmanship offer in 2008, after initially accepting it then. However, after being firmly entrenched to the state opposition with fewer numbers for the second term, it is time for them to accept their role and perform their functions dutifully.
There is no point in the BN opposition making all sorts of wild allegations against the state government when the Pakatan Rakyat are giving the PAC chairmanship to BN on a silver platter. As the chairman of the PAC, he will be able to set the agenda for the PAC meetings, review alleged misconduct and controversies, secure all relevant documents and interview any officer involved including State Executive Councillors.
Hence we find it completely inexplicable that BN is rejecting the position for the second time, unless the rejection is “politically motivated”. BN is rejecting the position because it does not want to endorse the practice of transparency and accountability.
Despite the slew of rhetoric and slogans in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) to increase transparency and accountability, the BN government led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak has consistently refused to accept the first world parliamentary best practice of an opposition leader leading the PAC.
Hence even though the unconditional offer of the PAC chairmanship is to promote first world legislative assemblies, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has instructed that the position not be accepted because it will make him look bad in the Parliament.
It appears that Datuk Seri Najib Razak will not be able to live down the fact that a Pakatan Rakyat government accepts a BN PAC Chairman, while he is unable to practise what he preach in the Parliament. The Prime Minister obviously fears a Pakatan-led PAC in Parliament which will be more pro-active and meticulous in uncovering various abuses, scandals and corruption in the BN government.
We call upon the Ministers in-charge of GTP, Datuk Idris Jala and Datuk Paul Low to play their part to push the Government to not only accept the PAC chairmanship in Selangor, but also to offer the Parliament’s PAC chairmanship to Pakatan Rakyat. Datuk Seri Najib Razak must realise that he lost the trust of 51% of the rakyat in the last general election due to a poor record in transparency and accountability. By offering the PAC chairmanship to Pakatan Rakyat, he will be able to prove that he is indeed walking the talk about fighting corruption and abuse of power.
However, regardless of whether the Parliament’s PAC chairmanship position is offered to Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must at the very least instruct Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias to accept the Selangor state assembly’s PAC chairmanship, to act its role as a responsible opposition in ensuring transparency and accountability.
There is no more valid excuses that Selangorians can accept in the rejection of the role. In fact, the failure of accepting the role will only permanently cement BN as the opposition in Selangor for the 14th General Election. The rakyat will be able to tell that Pakatan Rakyat governments practice what we preach, while the BN Governments led by the Prime Minister is only good with the song and dance, with no earnest effort in making real transformation.
Friday, July 05, 2013
Tan Sri Rozali Ismail Deserves RM33.4 million Pay-off?
Was the Puncak Niaga Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group joking when they claimed its Executive Chairman Tan Sri Rozali Ismail fully deserved the RM33.4 million in fees despite the company’s losses in recent years?
I nearly fell off my chair when I read in the news reports that the Puncak Niaga (PNHB) Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG) chairperson, Muhammad Imran Abdullah claimed that its Executive Chairman, Tan Sri Rozali Ismail fully deserved his RM33.4 million payout.
He told reporters that "it was tabled at the PNHB's annual general meeting, we approved it” and added that “we are only concerned with our dividends and returns”, without elaborating further.
This group, which was interestingly formed coincidentally only 1 week ago, did not seem to notice that Puncak Niaga is under serious financial stress and has not performed well over the last 5 years.
On paper, PNHB recorded a net profit of RM233 million for the financial year 2012. However, it should be highlighted that PNHB achieved profitability only because it recognised a RM1,024 million “water tariff compensation” from the Selangor State Government.
This compensation is never agreed to by the state government because PNHB and its subsidiary, SYABAS has failed to fulfil its obligations under the water concession agreement. The failure includes but is not limited to SYABAS’s failure to repair and replace aging pipes, and consequently to reduce the percentage of non-revenue water in Selangor. In fact, the “compensation” is being disputed in court and hence should not be recognised as “revenue” for PNHB in the first place.
Without the compensation payment, PNHB would have made massive losses of up to RM791 million.
For the previous financial year 2011, PNHB made net losses of RM83 million, despite recognising RM458 million in “water tariff compensation”. Hence the total losses without the “compensation” would have been as high as RM541 million. The above figures are found in the PNHB Annual Report 2012, on pages 150 and 198 respectively.
http://www.puncakniaga.com.my/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=9JfmWsBvRVE%3d&tabid=127#zoom=100&scrollbar=0
Going back further, PNSB made losses of RM92 million (2010) after recognising “water tariff compensation” of RM419 million (2010). The above figures are summarised in the Table 1 below.
Table 1: Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd Profits & Water Tariff Compensation 2008-2012
2012 2011 2010
Net Profit/Loss after Tax 232,680,075 (83,130,994) (91,589,556)
Water Tariff Compensation 1,023,940,987 458,150,923 418,717,266
Estimated Net Loss without Compensation (791,260,912) (541,281,917) (510,306,822)
Therefore, without recognising the disputed and highly controversial “water tariff compensation” from the Selangor state government, the losses in PNHB in 2012 would have been RM250 million worse than in 2011.
As such, PNSB has been making consistent losses in recent year and only managed to eke out a profit in 2012 purely because of a massive increase of recognised “water tariff compensation” from less than RM500 million in prior years to a massive RM1,024 million in 2012.
Given such underlying performance in the company, does the MSWG really believe that Tan Sri Rozali Ismail fully deserves the RM33.4 million payoff? In fact under normal MSWG circumstances, they should logically be calling for the company’s top management to be axed, and not in this case, lucratively rewarded!
Or is the MSWG which was only hastily formed last week meant to serve the interest of PNHB’s largest shareholder, and its executive chairman in the light of an impending takeover of PNHB by the Selangor government?
The RM33.4 million payout to Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is a serious issue because it involves Puncak Niaga and its subsidiary, Syabas, which have been awarded monopolistic concessions by the Barisan Nasional governments to operate water treatment plants and to distribute water in the state of Selangor. Water is an essential basic utility for every single Malaysian and we are completely flabbergasted that these concessions have been abused to outrageously enrich inidividuals who are cronies of the BN regime.
Therefore Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) must investigate this payout immediately and take all necessary actions to protect the interest of Malaysians. In fact, the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water must immediately stop all extraordinary and non-operational payouts in the water concessionaires pending the restructuring exercise, particularly if these companies still owe billions of ringgit to the Federal Government.
I nearly fell off my chair when I read in the news reports that the Puncak Niaga (PNHB) Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG) chairperson, Muhammad Imran Abdullah claimed that its Executive Chairman, Tan Sri Rozali Ismail fully deserved his RM33.4 million payout.
He told reporters that "it was tabled at the PNHB's annual general meeting, we approved it” and added that “we are only concerned with our dividends and returns”, without elaborating further.
This group, which was interestingly formed coincidentally only 1 week ago, did not seem to notice that Puncak Niaga is under serious financial stress and has not performed well over the last 5 years.
On paper, PNHB recorded a net profit of RM233 million for the financial year 2012. However, it should be highlighted that PNHB achieved profitability only because it recognised a RM1,024 million “water tariff compensation” from the Selangor State Government.
This compensation is never agreed to by the state government because PNHB and its subsidiary, SYABAS has failed to fulfil its obligations under the water concession agreement. The failure includes but is not limited to SYABAS’s failure to repair and replace aging pipes, and consequently to reduce the percentage of non-revenue water in Selangor. In fact, the “compensation” is being disputed in court and hence should not be recognised as “revenue” for PNHB in the first place.
Without the compensation payment, PNHB would have made massive losses of up to RM791 million.
For the previous financial year 2011, PNHB made net losses of RM83 million, despite recognising RM458 million in “water tariff compensation”. Hence the total losses without the “compensation” would have been as high as RM541 million. The above figures are found in the PNHB Annual Report 2012, on pages 150 and 198 respectively.
http://www.puncakniaga.com.my/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=9JfmWsBvRVE%3d&tabid=127#zoom=100&scrollbar=0
Going back further, PNSB made losses of RM92 million (2010) after recognising “water tariff compensation” of RM419 million (2010). The above figures are summarised in the Table 1 below.
Table 1: Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd Profits & Water Tariff Compensation 2008-2012
2012 2011 2010
Net Profit/Loss after Tax 232,680,075 (83,130,994) (91,589,556)
Water Tariff Compensation 1,023,940,987 458,150,923 418,717,266
Estimated Net Loss without Compensation (791,260,912) (541,281,917) (510,306,822)
Therefore, without recognising the disputed and highly controversial “water tariff compensation” from the Selangor state government, the losses in PNHB in 2012 would have been RM250 million worse than in 2011.
As such, PNSB has been making consistent losses in recent year and only managed to eke out a profit in 2012 purely because of a massive increase of recognised “water tariff compensation” from less than RM500 million in prior years to a massive RM1,024 million in 2012.
Given such underlying performance in the company, does the MSWG really believe that Tan Sri Rozali Ismail fully deserves the RM33.4 million payoff? In fact under normal MSWG circumstances, they should logically be calling for the company’s top management to be axed, and not in this case, lucratively rewarded!
Or is the MSWG which was only hastily formed last week meant to serve the interest of PNHB’s largest shareholder, and its executive chairman in the light of an impending takeover of PNHB by the Selangor government?
The RM33.4 million payout to Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is a serious issue because it involves Puncak Niaga and its subsidiary, Syabas, which have been awarded monopolistic concessions by the Barisan Nasional governments to operate water treatment plants and to distribute water in the state of Selangor. Water is an essential basic utility for every single Malaysian and we are completely flabbergasted that these concessions have been abused to outrageously enrich inidividuals who are cronies of the BN regime.
Therefore Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) must investigate this payout immediately and take all necessary actions to protect the interest of Malaysians. In fact, the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water must immediately stop all extraordinary and non-operational payouts in the water concessionaires pending the restructuring exercise, particularly if these companies still owe billions of ringgit to the Federal Government.
Thursday, July 04, 2013
RM33.4 million Golden Parachute for Tan Sri Rozali Ismail?
Is the outrageous RM33.4 million payout to Tan Sri Rozali Ismail a pre-emptive golden handshake in anticipation of the Selangor state takeover of water concessionaires in the state?
Right-thinking Malaysians are completely outraged by the shocking RM33.4 million remuneration package for the executive chairman of Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd and its subsidiary, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selanagor, Tan Sri Rozali Ismail.
Malaysians are outraged because Tan Sri Rozali’s companies have been awarded monopolistic concessions by the Barisan Nasional governments to operate water treatment plants and to distribute water in the state of Selangor. Water is an essential basic utility for every single Malaysian and we are completely flabbergasted that these concessions have been abused to outrageously enrich inidividuals who are cronies of the BN regime.
As a comparison, the remuneration package of the Chief Executive Officer of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), the country’s biggest utility is only RM7 million. For the financial year 2012, TNB recorded a revenue of RM35.85 billion compared to only RM2.5 billion of Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd.
What makes the RM33.4 million award to Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is the fact that Puncak Niaga is heavily laden with billions of ringgit of debt, and had to be bailed out by the Government repeatedly in the last few years.
Because Puncak Niaga and Syabas was unable to repay their RM1.3 billion and RM2.9 billion respectively and these debts were “taken over” by the Federal Government in 2011 in order to prevent these companies from defaulting. Based on the 2012 Puncak Niaga financial statement, the Group has RM937 million in near-term loans and borrowings, and RM4,719 million in non-current loans and borrowings.
What is more, Puncak Niaga carries in its books a RM304 million debt to the Government due to soft loans given the its group of companies to carry out its concession obligations in the state of Selangor. This does not include the fact that the Federal Government has also provided grants amounting to RM726 million to Syabas, including the latest RM120 million granted in January this year.
For the Selangor residents, the excessive remuneration package for Tan Sri Rozali is rubbing salt on the people’s wounds as Syabas has failed to consistently provide quality water supply and services to its consumers particularly over the past 2 years. This year, Syabas has admitted that it has received a staggering 4,186 complaint calls daily since the start of the year as a result of constant water disruption, usually relating to poor pipe and reservoir maintenance.
We would like to question the company and the Federal Government if this RM33.4 million payout is a pre-emptive “golden handshake” payment to the Executive Chairman of Puncak Niaga in anticipation of the impending Selangor state government’s take over of water concessionaires in the state.
Since the last general election where the people of Selangor voted overwhelmingly in favour of Pakatan Rakyat despite BN using “water” as its key campaign message, it appears that the Federal Government may concede to the wishes of the people to return to water management rights to the state government. The Selangor Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has announced in the Selangor State Assembly earlier this week that he has received a letter from the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the latter has finally agreeed for the state to take over water concessionaires, although details are still lacking at this point of time.
We call upon Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) to investigate this payout immediately and take all necessary actions to protect the interest of Malaysians. In fact, the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water must immediately stop all extraordinary and non-operational payouts in the water concessionaires pending the restructuring exercise, particularly if these companies still owe billions of ringgit to the Federal Government.
At the same time, the Selangor State Government must deduct all inapppropriate and “unapproved” expenses, such as this RM33.4 million “durian runtuh” for Tan Sri Rozali Ismail by these concessionaires from the proposed acquisition cost of these companies. Cronies of Barisan Nasional must not profit unfairly beyond what they have already earned to date, at the expense of the rakyat, especially under Pakatan Rakyat’s watch.
Right-thinking Malaysians are completely outraged by the shocking RM33.4 million remuneration package for the executive chairman of Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd and its subsidiary, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selanagor, Tan Sri Rozali Ismail.
Malaysians are outraged because Tan Sri Rozali’s companies have been awarded monopolistic concessions by the Barisan Nasional governments to operate water treatment plants and to distribute water in the state of Selangor. Water is an essential basic utility for every single Malaysian and we are completely flabbergasted that these concessions have been abused to outrageously enrich inidividuals who are cronies of the BN regime.
As a comparison, the remuneration package of the Chief Executive Officer of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), the country’s biggest utility is only RM7 million. For the financial year 2012, TNB recorded a revenue of RM35.85 billion compared to only RM2.5 billion of Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd.
What makes the RM33.4 million award to Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is the fact that Puncak Niaga is heavily laden with billions of ringgit of debt, and had to be bailed out by the Government repeatedly in the last few years.
Because Puncak Niaga and Syabas was unable to repay their RM1.3 billion and RM2.9 billion respectively and these debts were “taken over” by the Federal Government in 2011 in order to prevent these companies from defaulting. Based on the 2012 Puncak Niaga financial statement, the Group has RM937 million in near-term loans and borrowings, and RM4,719 million in non-current loans and borrowings.
What is more, Puncak Niaga carries in its books a RM304 million debt to the Government due to soft loans given the its group of companies to carry out its concession obligations in the state of Selangor. This does not include the fact that the Federal Government has also provided grants amounting to RM726 million to Syabas, including the latest RM120 million granted in January this year.
For the Selangor residents, the excessive remuneration package for Tan Sri Rozali is rubbing salt on the people’s wounds as Syabas has failed to consistently provide quality water supply and services to its consumers particularly over the past 2 years. This year, Syabas has admitted that it has received a staggering 4,186 complaint calls daily since the start of the year as a result of constant water disruption, usually relating to poor pipe and reservoir maintenance.
We would like to question the company and the Federal Government if this RM33.4 million payout is a pre-emptive “golden handshake” payment to the Executive Chairman of Puncak Niaga in anticipation of the impending Selangor state government’s take over of water concessionaires in the state.
Since the last general election where the people of Selangor voted overwhelmingly in favour of Pakatan Rakyat despite BN using “water” as its key campaign message, it appears that the Federal Government may concede to the wishes of the people to return to water management rights to the state government. The Selangor Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has announced in the Selangor State Assembly earlier this week that he has received a letter from the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the latter has finally agreeed for the state to take over water concessionaires, although details are still lacking at this point of time.
We call upon Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) to investigate this payout immediately and take all necessary actions to protect the interest of Malaysians. In fact, the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water must immediately stop all extraordinary and non-operational payouts in the water concessionaires pending the restructuring exercise, particularly if these companies still owe billions of ringgit to the Federal Government.
At the same time, the Selangor State Government must deduct all inapppropriate and “unapproved” expenses, such as this RM33.4 million “durian runtuh” for Tan Sri Rozali Ismail by these concessionaires from the proposed acquisition cost of these companies. Cronies of Barisan Nasional must not profit unfairly beyond what they have already earned to date, at the expense of the rakyat, especially under Pakatan Rakyat’s watch.
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Menteri Pengangkutan Tidak Mengambil Berat Skandal RM4 bilion KLIA2
Jawapan Menteri Pengangkutan kepada soalan skandal RM4 bilion KLIA2 menonjolkan sikap tidak kesah ke atas isu ketirisan, kebertanggungjawaban dan pembaziran dalam projek kawalan kementerian
Dalam soalan lisan saya bertarikh 1 Julai 2013, saya telah meminta Menteri Pengangkutan menyatakan tarikh baru KLIA2 akan disiapkan dan impak kos kepada MAHB atas kelewatan projek tersebut.
Menteri Pengangkutan telah menjawab bahawa walaupun tarikh pembukaan KLIA2 telah ditunda ke 2 Mei 2014, “kelewatan KLIA2 tidak langsung menjejaskan keuntungan MAHB kerana ianya tidak ada kesan langsung pada urusan perniagaan syarikat MAHB”.
Menteri juga berkata bahwa “kelewatan tersebut juga tidak menjejaskan operasi dimana syarikat masih mengekalkan “Triple A” rating… berdasarkan agensi penarafan RAM Rating Services Sdn Bhd.
Jawapan yang ringkas di atas, terhadap skandal KLIA2 yang kos telah meningkat dari peruntukan awal sebanyak RM1.7 bilion ke anggaran RM4 bilion sekarang menunjukkan bahawa Menteri Pengangkutan langsung tidak mengambil berat atau serius untuk mengatasi masalah ini. Apatah lagi, projek gergasi ini telah ditunda berkali-kali sejak tarikh siap bina asal yang dijadualkan pada September 2011.
Kalau benar-benar “kelewatan KLIA2 tidak langsung menjejaskan keuntungan MAHB”, maka biarlah pembinaan KLIA2 mengambil masa 3 sehingga 4 tahun lagi. Apa perlunya kita nak tergesa-gesa menyiapkan lapangan terbang “kos rendah” yang baru ini? Jawapan Menteri adalah langsung tidak masuk akal dan menyifatkan sikap tidak bertanggungjawab ke atas pelaburan dan perbelanjaan syarikat milik kerajaan.
Walaupun saya bukan Menteri, saya boleh senaraikan beberapa impak yang serius ke atas keuntungan MAHB. Jika kos pembinaan KLIA2 terus meningkat akibat kelewatan projek, keuntungan MAHB tak mungkin tak terjejas. Adalah perlu ditekan di sini, bahawa Menteri juga telah mengelak daripada memberikan sebarang jaminan kos tidak akan melebihi RM4 bilion seperti yang telah diumumkan sebelum ini, walaupun beliau disoal.
Kedua, MAHB telah pun mengambil pinjaman sebanyak RM3.1 bilion untuk menampung kos pembinaan KLIA2 dan mereka perlu membayar faedah tiap-tiap tahun kepada pihak peminjam. Tanpa pendapatan daripada KLIA2 yang telah ditunda pembukaannya melebihi 2 tahun, ini sekali lagi menjejaskan secara langsung keuntungan MAHB.
Ketiga, oleh kerana LCCT sekarang hanya mampu menampung pengguna seramai 15 juta orang, MAHB juga kehilangan peluang untuk meningkatkan keuntungan syarikat daripada berjuta-juta pihak pengguna yang baru melalui peningkatan jumlah kapal terbang yang boleh menggunakan kemudahan baru di KLIA2.
Keempat, kelewatan dan peningkatan kos pembinaan KLIA2 hanya akan memberikan kesan negatif kepada rancangan kerajaan untuk menjadikan Kuala Lumpur sebagai hub penerbangan kos rendah di perantauan Asia.
Akhir sekali, MAHB dapat mengekalkan “Triple A” rating bukannya kerana MAHB berada di “kedudukan kewangan yang baik” tetapi kerana agensi-agensi penarafan faham bahawa, jika ada apa-apa kekurangan dari segi kewangan, pihak kerajaan Malaysia sudah tentunya akan memberikan bantuan “bailout” kepada MAHB. Tambahan pula, walaupun kos KLIA2 telah meningkat secara mendadak, kos ini hanya akan “dipindahkan” kepada pihak pengguna dengan “airport tax” yang lebih tinggi. Sebenarnya, cukai lapangan terbang telahpun meningkat sebanyak 28% pada November 2011 dari RM25 ke RM32 di LCCT untuk menanggung kos pembinaan KLIA2 yang meningkat.
Menteri Pengangkutan mesti bertanggungjawab ke atas skandal KLIA2 ini, terutamanya sebab Setiausaha Agung Kementerian Pengangkutan, Datuk Long See Wool merupakan Pengarah syarikat MAHB selama ini. Sekali lagi, kami berharap Menteri Pengangkutan yang baru, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein tidak akan bertidak serupa dengan bekas Menteri, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha yang tidak memberikan keprihatinan langsung kepada projek ini, dan menyebabkan KLIA2 terus bermasalah. Kami menyeru supaya Datuk Seri Hishamuddin akan menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa siasat yang bebas untuk memberikan kebenaran kepada rakyat Malaysia yang cukup kecewa dengan kedudukan KLIA2.
Dalam soalan lisan saya bertarikh 1 Julai 2013, saya telah meminta Menteri Pengangkutan menyatakan tarikh baru KLIA2 akan disiapkan dan impak kos kepada MAHB atas kelewatan projek tersebut.
Menteri Pengangkutan telah menjawab bahawa walaupun tarikh pembukaan KLIA2 telah ditunda ke 2 Mei 2014, “kelewatan KLIA2 tidak langsung menjejaskan keuntungan MAHB kerana ianya tidak ada kesan langsung pada urusan perniagaan syarikat MAHB”.
Menteri juga berkata bahwa “kelewatan tersebut juga tidak menjejaskan operasi dimana syarikat masih mengekalkan “Triple A” rating… berdasarkan agensi penarafan RAM Rating Services Sdn Bhd.
Jawapan yang ringkas di atas, terhadap skandal KLIA2 yang kos telah meningkat dari peruntukan awal sebanyak RM1.7 bilion ke anggaran RM4 bilion sekarang menunjukkan bahawa Menteri Pengangkutan langsung tidak mengambil berat atau serius untuk mengatasi masalah ini. Apatah lagi, projek gergasi ini telah ditunda berkali-kali sejak tarikh siap bina asal yang dijadualkan pada September 2011.
Kalau benar-benar “kelewatan KLIA2 tidak langsung menjejaskan keuntungan MAHB”, maka biarlah pembinaan KLIA2 mengambil masa 3 sehingga 4 tahun lagi. Apa perlunya kita nak tergesa-gesa menyiapkan lapangan terbang “kos rendah” yang baru ini? Jawapan Menteri adalah langsung tidak masuk akal dan menyifatkan sikap tidak bertanggungjawab ke atas pelaburan dan perbelanjaan syarikat milik kerajaan.
Walaupun saya bukan Menteri, saya boleh senaraikan beberapa impak yang serius ke atas keuntungan MAHB. Jika kos pembinaan KLIA2 terus meningkat akibat kelewatan projek, keuntungan MAHB tak mungkin tak terjejas. Adalah perlu ditekan di sini, bahawa Menteri juga telah mengelak daripada memberikan sebarang jaminan kos tidak akan melebihi RM4 bilion seperti yang telah diumumkan sebelum ini, walaupun beliau disoal.
Kedua, MAHB telah pun mengambil pinjaman sebanyak RM3.1 bilion untuk menampung kos pembinaan KLIA2 dan mereka perlu membayar faedah tiap-tiap tahun kepada pihak peminjam. Tanpa pendapatan daripada KLIA2 yang telah ditunda pembukaannya melebihi 2 tahun, ini sekali lagi menjejaskan secara langsung keuntungan MAHB.
Ketiga, oleh kerana LCCT sekarang hanya mampu menampung pengguna seramai 15 juta orang, MAHB juga kehilangan peluang untuk meningkatkan keuntungan syarikat daripada berjuta-juta pihak pengguna yang baru melalui peningkatan jumlah kapal terbang yang boleh menggunakan kemudahan baru di KLIA2.
Keempat, kelewatan dan peningkatan kos pembinaan KLIA2 hanya akan memberikan kesan negatif kepada rancangan kerajaan untuk menjadikan Kuala Lumpur sebagai hub penerbangan kos rendah di perantauan Asia.
Akhir sekali, MAHB dapat mengekalkan “Triple A” rating bukannya kerana MAHB berada di “kedudukan kewangan yang baik” tetapi kerana agensi-agensi penarafan faham bahawa, jika ada apa-apa kekurangan dari segi kewangan, pihak kerajaan Malaysia sudah tentunya akan memberikan bantuan “bailout” kepada MAHB. Tambahan pula, walaupun kos KLIA2 telah meningkat secara mendadak, kos ini hanya akan “dipindahkan” kepada pihak pengguna dengan “airport tax” yang lebih tinggi. Sebenarnya, cukai lapangan terbang telahpun meningkat sebanyak 28% pada November 2011 dari RM25 ke RM32 di LCCT untuk menanggung kos pembinaan KLIA2 yang meningkat.
Menteri Pengangkutan mesti bertanggungjawab ke atas skandal KLIA2 ini, terutamanya sebab Setiausaha Agung Kementerian Pengangkutan, Datuk Long See Wool merupakan Pengarah syarikat MAHB selama ini. Sekali lagi, kami berharap Menteri Pengangkutan yang baru, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein tidak akan bertidak serupa dengan bekas Menteri, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha yang tidak memberikan keprihatinan langsung kepada projek ini, dan menyebabkan KLIA2 terus bermasalah. Kami menyeru supaya Datuk Seri Hishamuddin akan menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa siasat yang bebas untuk memberikan kebenaran kepada rakyat Malaysia yang cukup kecewa dengan kedudukan KLIA2.
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
There are Lies, Damned Lies, and Utusan
Rencana Awang Selamat semalam dalam Mingguan Malaysia menuduh bahawa “pemimpin DAP, Tony Pua dalam reaksinya mengeluarkan kenyataan provokatif. Beliau mencadangkan pasar Ramadan turut ditutup kerana didakwanya menyebabkan kesesakan lalu lintas.”
Awang Selamat menulis bahawa “kenyataan” saya “ternyata menyinggung perasaan umat Islam lebih-lebih lagi menjelang Ramadan. Awang tidak terkejut. DAP memang parti paling rasis dan selalu mencabar kepentingan Islam.”
Awang Selamat berkata bahawa saya “mengambil mudah kesabaran orang Islam, yang ada batasnya… elok sahaja beliau berhijrah ke Taiwan atau Hong Kong.”
Ada pepatah orang putih yang berbunyi “there are lies, damned lies and statistics”. Saya rasa lebih sesuai jika pepatah tersebut diubah menjadi “there are lies, damned lies and Utusan”. Utusan Malaysia merupakan sebuah akhbar tanpa moral, yang lidah bercabang bagai biawak.
Terlebih dahulu, saya ingin menyatakan secara terus-terang bahawa saya tidak pernah meminta supaya pasar Ramadan ditutup. Oleh sebab itu, isu “menyinggung perasaan umat Islam” atau “mengambil mudah kesabaran orang Islam” langsung tidak terbangkit.
Utusan Malaysia hanya mengemukaan pembohongan dan memutar-belitkan segala kenyataan pemimpin DAP secara 180 darjah, untuk memberikan persepsi palsu bahawa DAP merupakan “parti rasis” yang sentiasa “mencabar kepentingan Islam”.
Dalam persidangan media di Parlimen pada Rabu, 26hb Jun 2013 minggu lalu bersama Ahli Parlimen Bukit Katil dan Kota Melaka, Shamsul Iskandar dan Sim Tong Him, kami tidak pernah mendesak penutupan pasar Ramadan.
Sebaliknya, selain daripada isu Jonker Walk, kami telah membangkitkan isu bahawa kerajaan UMNO Melaka telah mengeluarkan arahan untuk menutup bazaar Ramadan di Taman Cempaka, di kawasan parlimen Bukit Katil. Kami telah membantah tindakan kerajaan UMNO Melaka yang menganiayai lebih daripada 300 penjaja-penjaja di bazaar Ramadan Taman Cempaka yang merupakan antara terbesar dan terpopular di Melaka. Malah lesen-lesen yang telahpun ditawarkan kepada pihak penjaja di sana telah ditarik balik tergesa-gesa.
Walaupun kedua-dua pasar Jonker Walk dan bazaar Ramadan Taman Cempaka mempunyai sejarah selama 13 tahun, ia ditutup oleh kerajaan UMNO kerana MCA tewas di Kota Melaka, dan UMNO, yang diwakili oleh bekas Ketua Menteri Melaka, Datuk Seri Ali Rustam tewas di Bukit Katil. Ini merupakan tindakan balas dendam oleh Ketua Menteri Melaka yang baru, Datuk Idris Haron, yang mungkin masih didalangi oleh Datuk Seri Ali Rustam, yang tidak puas hati dengan rakyat yang memberikan sokong kepada Pakatan Rakyat.
Sidang media kami pada 26hb Jun jelas menunjukkan bahawa UMNO sendiri yang telah menutup bazaar Ramadan, dan bukannya DAP atau Pakatan Rakyat yang tidak berkuasa berbuat begitu.
Saya telah merujuk semula video sidang media hari tersebut dan mencatat perkataan-perkataan yang saya telah sebut, yang telah diputar-belitkan oleh Utusan Malaysia.
Saya mencabar Utusan Malaysia untuk memperbetulkan tuduhan liar mereka. Saya akan memberikan peluang kepada Utusan untuk menerbitkan berita bahawa sekarang, adalah Ahli Parlimen DAP yang mempertahankan hak orang Islam untuk mengekalkan pasar Ramadan yang selama 13 tahun disambut baik oleh rakyat di Melaka. Saya juga mencabar Utusan untuk membongkarkan kebenaran bahawa yang menutup bazaar Ramadan, “yang menyinggung perasaan umat Islam lebih-lebih lagi menjelang Ramadan” adalah kerajaan UMNO-Barisan Nasional di Melaka.
Awang Selamat menulis bahawa “kenyataan” saya “ternyata menyinggung perasaan umat Islam lebih-lebih lagi menjelang Ramadan. Awang tidak terkejut. DAP memang parti paling rasis dan selalu mencabar kepentingan Islam.”
Awang Selamat berkata bahawa saya “mengambil mudah kesabaran orang Islam, yang ada batasnya… elok sahaja beliau berhijrah ke Taiwan atau Hong Kong.”
Ada pepatah orang putih yang berbunyi “there are lies, damned lies and statistics”. Saya rasa lebih sesuai jika pepatah tersebut diubah menjadi “there are lies, damned lies and Utusan”. Utusan Malaysia merupakan sebuah akhbar tanpa moral, yang lidah bercabang bagai biawak.
Terlebih dahulu, saya ingin menyatakan secara terus-terang bahawa saya tidak pernah meminta supaya pasar Ramadan ditutup. Oleh sebab itu, isu “menyinggung perasaan umat Islam” atau “mengambil mudah kesabaran orang Islam” langsung tidak terbangkit.
Utusan Malaysia hanya mengemukaan pembohongan dan memutar-belitkan segala kenyataan pemimpin DAP secara 180 darjah, untuk memberikan persepsi palsu bahawa DAP merupakan “parti rasis” yang sentiasa “mencabar kepentingan Islam”.
Dalam persidangan media di Parlimen pada Rabu, 26hb Jun 2013 minggu lalu bersama Ahli Parlimen Bukit Katil dan Kota Melaka, Shamsul Iskandar dan Sim Tong Him, kami tidak pernah mendesak penutupan pasar Ramadan.
Sebaliknya, selain daripada isu Jonker Walk, kami telah membangkitkan isu bahawa kerajaan UMNO Melaka telah mengeluarkan arahan untuk menutup bazaar Ramadan di Taman Cempaka, di kawasan parlimen Bukit Katil. Kami telah membantah tindakan kerajaan UMNO Melaka yang menganiayai lebih daripada 300 penjaja-penjaja di bazaar Ramadan Taman Cempaka yang merupakan antara terbesar dan terpopular di Melaka. Malah lesen-lesen yang telahpun ditawarkan kepada pihak penjaja di sana telah ditarik balik tergesa-gesa.
Walaupun kedua-dua pasar Jonker Walk dan bazaar Ramadan Taman Cempaka mempunyai sejarah selama 13 tahun, ia ditutup oleh kerajaan UMNO kerana MCA tewas di Kota Melaka, dan UMNO, yang diwakili oleh bekas Ketua Menteri Melaka, Datuk Seri Ali Rustam tewas di Bukit Katil. Ini merupakan tindakan balas dendam oleh Ketua Menteri Melaka yang baru, Datuk Idris Haron, yang mungkin masih didalangi oleh Datuk Seri Ali Rustam, yang tidak puas hati dengan rakyat yang memberikan sokong kepada Pakatan Rakyat.
Sidang media kami pada 26hb Jun jelas menunjukkan bahawa UMNO sendiri yang telah menutup bazaar Ramadan, dan bukannya DAP atau Pakatan Rakyat yang tidak berkuasa berbuat begitu.
Saya telah merujuk semula video sidang media hari tersebut dan mencatat perkataan-perkataan yang saya telah sebut, yang telah diputar-belitkan oleh Utusan Malaysia.
“Akhir sekali, kalau katakan satu-satu pasar malam, atau pasar tani, atau bazaar Ramadan akan menyebabkan kesesakan lalulintas, maka saya rasa semua pasar-pasar, semua pasar tani di Melaka, di mana-mana negeri pun patut dibatalkan secara langsung.
Kenapa tutup saja di Jonker Walk atau di Taman Cempaka? So kita rasa segala tindakan yang diambil oleh kerajaan negeri Melaka adalah tindakan politik yang langsung tidak mengambil kira keperluan rakyat di Malaysia dan hanya mengambil (kira) kepentingan Umno mereka sendiri.”Konteks kenyataan saya yang menyoal tindakan kerajaan UMNO Melaka adalah jelas. Hanya yang bodoh, atau yang berniat jahat sengaja memberikan maksud lain kepada apa yang saya sebut. Saya telah menyindir logik Ketua Menteri Melaka yang memberikan alasan tidak wajar bahawa pasar Jonker Walk dan Taman Cempaka ditutup untuk menyelesaikan kesesakan jalanraya. Kami tidak boleh terima alasan tersebut kerana alasan tersebut akan menyebabkan semua pasar malam, pasar tani dan bazaar Ramadan ditutup, dan bukan sahaja di Jonker Walk dan Taman Cempaka.
Saya mencabar Utusan Malaysia untuk memperbetulkan tuduhan liar mereka. Saya akan memberikan peluang kepada Utusan untuk menerbitkan berita bahawa sekarang, adalah Ahli Parlimen DAP yang mempertahankan hak orang Islam untuk mengekalkan pasar Ramadan yang selama 13 tahun disambut baik oleh rakyat di Melaka. Saya juga mencabar Utusan untuk membongkarkan kebenaran bahawa yang menutup bazaar Ramadan, “yang menyinggung perasaan umat Islam lebih-lebih lagi menjelang Ramadan” adalah kerajaan UMNO-Barisan Nasional di Melaka.
Monday, July 01, 2013
Stop Procrastinating, Reform the Police
First of all, I would like to express my commiseration to Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin whose house in Bukit Damansara was burglared in broad daylight over the weekend. My own terrace house had been burglared twice in 2009 and 2010, which was a reason why my family moved into an apartment which has 24 hours security in 2011.
No one, whether a Minister, politician, whether from Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, or any man on the street, should be subjected to the trauma of crime in this country. We are thankful that in this instance, no one was injured in the incident. The above, and many other crime incidents in recent months occuring to VIPS, including family members of other ministers and senior police officers proved that crime is not mere perception in Malaysia. If Minister’s and senior police officers are not safe from crime, then how can the ordinary city folks even sleep in peace?
Khairy himself has accepted as such in his Facebook comment yesterday evening on the incident. He wrote that "Insiden ini adalah peringatan kepada kita semua bahawa jenayah merupakan masalah serius di negara kita. Masalah ini adalah perkara yang nyata, bukan semata-mata persepsi."
The threat of crime has forced the man on the street to take matters into their own hands by setting up "illegal" boom gates and access barriers as well as forking out millions of Ringgit every year to employ security guards to protect themselves. Therefore these acts of barricading their housing estates into war zones are certainly not acts of wanting to "live in exclusivity" as alleged by Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Member of Parliament for Kota Belud previously in Parliament.
There is no question that crime statistics over the past years have been manipulated to give Malaysians a false perception of security. The government claims that street crimes have been reduced by 40% in recent years while the crime index has fallen by 25% from 2007 to 2011. What the government has attempted to hide from Malaysians was that non-index crime index have over the same period increased by a whopping 69%!
The most incredulous of the BN Government claims must be that Malaysia is the safest country in Southeast Asia, even safer than Singapore, and some say, Hong Kong and Japan.
We must stop lying to ourselves and the Government must start admitting the severity of crime in the country. Only and unless the Government and the police are willing to accept that fact, there will be no sense of urgency among the authorities to make things better. What we will get instead is excuses by the police force and even Pemandu itself, that the repeal of Emergency Ordinance to keep suspects under 2 year detentions have caused an increase in crime.
The Malaysian Police must concede that the real reason behind the weaknesses in fighting crime is the sheer misallocation of resources within the force. Over the past 8 years, the criminal investigation department (CID) comprises barely 9% of the police force. In stark contrast, 41% of uniformed police perform management functions, while 31% are tasked with internal security and public order such as the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), the Light Strike Force as well as the General Operations Force.
Even the Special Branch of the police has nearly the same number of personnel as the CID. In fact the Budget figures in 2010 showed that the police produced 733,237 reports and security checks by the Special Branch, but only 211,645 criminal investigation papers. So Special Branch produced more than three times as many reports as the CID.
The 2005 Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) Report has recommended about 20,000 uniformed personnel or 22% of the force could be reassigned to go back to active core policing work. Unfortunately this recommendation was never taken seriously by the Home Ministry.
The Home Ministry and the Malaysian police must stop giving excuses to the rising spate of crime. It must accept the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry carried out 8 years ago, and implement all the necessary measures to improve the effectiveness and professionalism of the police force. The failure to do so will only see crime persist at high and increasing levels, making Malaysia unsafe not only for its citizens, but also as a conducive country of business and investment.
No one, whether a Minister, politician, whether from Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, or any man on the street, should be subjected to the trauma of crime in this country. We are thankful that in this instance, no one was injured in the incident. The above, and many other crime incidents in recent months occuring to VIPS, including family members of other ministers and senior police officers proved that crime is not mere perception in Malaysia. If Minister’s and senior police officers are not safe from crime, then how can the ordinary city folks even sleep in peace?
Khairy himself has accepted as such in his Facebook comment yesterday evening on the incident. He wrote that "Insiden ini adalah peringatan kepada kita semua bahawa jenayah merupakan masalah serius di negara kita. Masalah ini adalah perkara yang nyata, bukan semata-mata persepsi."
The threat of crime has forced the man on the street to take matters into their own hands by setting up "illegal" boom gates and access barriers as well as forking out millions of Ringgit every year to employ security guards to protect themselves. Therefore these acts of barricading their housing estates into war zones are certainly not acts of wanting to "live in exclusivity" as alleged by Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Member of Parliament for Kota Belud previously in Parliament.
There is no question that crime statistics over the past years have been manipulated to give Malaysians a false perception of security. The government claims that street crimes have been reduced by 40% in recent years while the crime index has fallen by 25% from 2007 to 2011. What the government has attempted to hide from Malaysians was that non-index crime index have over the same period increased by a whopping 69%!
The most incredulous of the BN Government claims must be that Malaysia is the safest country in Southeast Asia, even safer than Singapore, and some say, Hong Kong and Japan.
We must stop lying to ourselves and the Government must start admitting the severity of crime in the country. Only and unless the Government and the police are willing to accept that fact, there will be no sense of urgency among the authorities to make things better. What we will get instead is excuses by the police force and even Pemandu itself, that the repeal of Emergency Ordinance to keep suspects under 2 year detentions have caused an increase in crime.
The Malaysian Police must concede that the real reason behind the weaknesses in fighting crime is the sheer misallocation of resources within the force. Over the past 8 years, the criminal investigation department (CID) comprises barely 9% of the police force. In stark contrast, 41% of uniformed police perform management functions, while 31% are tasked with internal security and public order such as the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), the Light Strike Force as well as the General Operations Force.
Even the Special Branch of the police has nearly the same number of personnel as the CID. In fact the Budget figures in 2010 showed that the police produced 733,237 reports and security checks by the Special Branch, but only 211,645 criminal investigation papers. So Special Branch produced more than three times as many reports as the CID.
The 2005 Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) Report has recommended about 20,000 uniformed personnel or 22% of the force could be reassigned to go back to active core policing work. Unfortunately this recommendation was never taken seriously by the Home Ministry.
The Home Ministry and the Malaysian police must stop giving excuses to the rising spate of crime. It must accept the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry carried out 8 years ago, and implement all the necessary measures to improve the effectiveness and professionalism of the police force. The failure to do so will only see crime persist at high and increasing levels, making Malaysia unsafe not only for its citizens, but also as a conducive country of business and investment.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Jonker Walk and Jonker Drive will leave Jonker Mess
Yesterday evening, I had joined Members of Parliament for Gelang Patah, Seremban, Rasah, Bakri and of course, Kota Melaka and Bukit Katil to visit and protest the UMNO’s political vengeance against Malaccans by opening Jonker Walk to motor traffic.
The visit and protest has attracted hundreds who unanimously demanded that the Melaka state government withdraw the order to the Melaka City Council to open Jonker Walk which has become a celebrated tourist landmark in Malaysia, famed for its weekend night market.
The protests expressed over the past week by various parties have resulted in the Melaka Chief Minister backtracking and twisting the rationale and decisions to open up Jonker Walk.
While initially Datuk Idris Haron had told Kwong Wah Daily that the move was to “fulfil the people’s wishes” in reaction to MCA candidates being defeated by DAP, now he claims that the move has nothing to do with political retaliation, and everything to do with easing traffic congestion in Melaka City.
The twist and turn was so fantastic, he claimed that he has to resolve the severe congestion caused by Jonker Walk which results in up to a 4-hour journey from the city to the Ayer Keroh toll plaza. We would like to inform the Melaka Chief Minister that our journey from the city to the toll plaza yesterday, despite the crowded Jonker Walk, took us all of 30 minutes.
In addition, despite the ban on street traders which was explicitly stated in the state government directive to the City Council on 12 June 2013, Datuk Idris Haron declared 2 days ago that there was no decision to stop the street market and the 300 or so traders can continue their activities.
The above decision is not only a shocking half-reversal, it’s completely irresponsible. Datuk Idris has only retracted the decision to “ban” the night market traders, he did not retract the decision to open up the road. This means that all the market traders who are displaying their wares and goods on the road side as well as the tourists and customers will be facing the risk of being knocked down by on-coming traffic.
The visit to Jonker Walk also reaffirmed our fear for the safety of the people when it is clear that there is no way a car can pass through the road with the traders on the streets, what more reopening the road to two-way traffic!
Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had rightly ticked off the Melaka Chief Minister that the road is named “Jonker Walk” and not “Jonker Drive”, and insisted that the tourist destination be kept as such. In fact, Melaka government’s convoluted and senseless decision to make it both a “Walk” and a “Drive” puts at risk the safety of tourists, residents and traders. We will hold Datuk Idris Haron fully responsible for any untoward accidents happening as a result of opening Jonker Walk to motorised traffic.
The new Melaka Chief Minister must act like a leader and not a petty, cowardly politician. We are more than happy to fight “politics” with BN in the state assembly or in parliament. However, let’s keep politics out of the interest, safety and livelihood of the people of Melaka and Malaysia. The Melaka state government must immediately withdraw the order to re-open Jonker Walk to traffic during weekend evenings, and not wait for someone to get seriously hurt.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Floundering GTP & ETP Leads to Drop in Investor Confidence
The Edge Financial Daily today reported that Malaysia has fallen sharply to 25th position from 10th on the AT Kearney’s 2013 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index from the previous year even as emerging markets continue to attract FDI.
The report, based on a survey of 300 senior executives of the world’s leading corporations show that while these global corporations may have initially been “attracted” to the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s “Economic Transformation Programme” (ETP), such interest has completely fizzled. The drop is so drastic, that we are now at the bottom of the table of 25 countries.
We are now behind fellow ASEAN countries, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as other developing countries such as Poland, Chile and Argentina.
The drastic fall in Malaysia’s FDI confidence has to be strongly co-related with a fall in confidence with the Government’s ability to deliver its transformation promises, which have been in essence, more form than substance.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Jonker Walk: Keselamatan Terjejas
MP tak yakin keselamatan di Jonker Street
Zulaikha Zulkifli
4:46PM Jun 27 2013
Ahli Parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua menuntut Ketua Menteri Melaka Datuk Idris Haron bertanggungjawab ke atas keselamatan peniaga dan pengunjung di Jonker Walk apabila jalan tersebut dibuka untuk lalu lintas.
"Bila saya teliti laporan ini dengan terperinci, dia kata 300 peniaga yang ada di Jonker Walk boleh teruskan perniagaan mereka. Apa yang dia tak sebut ialah adakah jalan terus dibuka atau ditutup?
"Ini kekeliruan atau silap mata yang cuba dibuat ketua menteri Melaka. Perniagaan ada tapi jalan terus dibuka. Ini boleh menjadi isu keselamatan kepada peniaga, pengunjung dan pelancong.
“Sekiranya ada apa-apa terjadi, kerajaan negeri kena bertanggungjawab," katanya dalam sidang media di bangunan Parlimen hari ini.
Beliau mengulas kenyataan Idris semalam, bahawa 300 peniaga tersebut boleh meneruskan perniagaan mereka seperti biasa di kawasan pasar malam Jonker Walk pada setiap hujung minggu.
Idris juga menjelaskan bahawa arahan penutupan gerai yang kebanyakannya menjual cenderamata di Jonker Walk itu hanya salah faham.
Katanya, jalan sekitar Jonker Walk yang menjadi tumpuan pelancong itu dibuka semula untuk kenderaan yang ketika ini ditutup bermula 6 petang hingga 12 malam pada setiap Jumaat.
Isu menghalang peniaga berniaga di Jonker Walk pada hujung minggu, sengaja dimanipulasikan pihak tertentu demi kepentingan politik mereka, katanya lagi seperti dilaporkan Bernama semalam.
Beliau tidak berpendapat bahawa langkah tersebut akan menyukarkan pengunjung dan peniaga dan mengambil contoh amalan yang dilakukan di Oxford City, England.
Peniaga menjalankan perniagaan di kaki lima jalan raya dan kenderaan dibenar melalui kawasan di situ, katanya.
Zulaikha Zulkifli
4:46PM Jun 27 2013
Ahli Parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua menuntut Ketua Menteri Melaka Datuk Idris Haron bertanggungjawab ke atas keselamatan peniaga dan pengunjung di Jonker Walk apabila jalan tersebut dibuka untuk lalu lintas.
"Bila saya teliti laporan ini dengan terperinci, dia kata 300 peniaga yang ada di Jonker Walk boleh teruskan perniagaan mereka. Apa yang dia tak sebut ialah adakah jalan terus dibuka atau ditutup?
"Ini kekeliruan atau silap mata yang cuba dibuat ketua menteri Melaka. Perniagaan ada tapi jalan terus dibuka. Ini boleh menjadi isu keselamatan kepada peniaga, pengunjung dan pelancong.
“Sekiranya ada apa-apa terjadi, kerajaan negeri kena bertanggungjawab," katanya dalam sidang media di bangunan Parlimen hari ini.
Beliau mengulas kenyataan Idris semalam, bahawa 300 peniaga tersebut boleh meneruskan perniagaan mereka seperti biasa di kawasan pasar malam Jonker Walk pada setiap hujung minggu.
Idris juga menjelaskan bahawa arahan penutupan gerai yang kebanyakannya menjual cenderamata di Jonker Walk itu hanya salah faham.
Katanya, jalan sekitar Jonker Walk yang menjadi tumpuan pelancong itu dibuka semula untuk kenderaan yang ketika ini ditutup bermula 6 petang hingga 12 malam pada setiap Jumaat.
Isu menghalang peniaga berniaga di Jonker Walk pada hujung minggu, sengaja dimanipulasikan pihak tertentu demi kepentingan politik mereka, katanya lagi seperti dilaporkan Bernama semalam.
Beliau tidak berpendapat bahawa langkah tersebut akan menyukarkan pengunjung dan peniaga dan mengambil contoh amalan yang dilakukan di Oxford City, England.
Peniaga menjalankan perniagaan di kaki lima jalan raya dan kenderaan dibenar melalui kawasan di situ, katanya.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Don't Give Excuses - Keep Jonker Walk
We would like to thank Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, the new Tourism Minister for the return of sensibility over the closure of Jonker Street market by the Melaka state government
Datuk Seri Nazri said he had “appealed to Malacca Chief Minister Idris Haron not to close down the Jonker Walk night market” because “the night market is an essential part of Malacca's tourism sector and should not be closed”. "Malacca is not the only place for tourism (in Malaysia), so I hope the CM would think about this properly," he said. This attempt to return to sensibility must be applauded and supported.
However, Datuk Seri Nazri then went on to cover up for the new Melaka Chief Minister, claiming that the latter told him that the market “will be closed for four weeks as a trial to see if closing down the market alleviates traffic problems there.” Nazri added that he hoped the CM "would think" about the closure of the night market again at the conclusion of four weeks.
This “compromise” is however, completely unacceptable. Despite the excuse of “traffic” being raised the reason for the closure, the Datuk Idris Haron has already himself admitted in public that the act is to retaliate against the non-Malay community in Melaka.
According to Kwong Wah Daily on Monday 24 June, Datuk Idris argued that the decision passed by the Malacca executive council on June 12 to close the night market "follows the intention of the people… Now, we see most of the Malacca residents fully supporting DAP over MCA candidates, who have been serving them. Hence, we decided to cancel the night market and we hope they will be happy."
If it is not political vengeance by the immense pettiness of UMNO-Barisan Nasional led by the new Chief Minister, then why is the issue of whether the rakyat supporting DAP or MCA even relevant to “alleviating traffic problems” there?
Furthermore, it is a complete lie by Datuk Idris Haron that the night market will only be closed for four weeks as a “trial”. I have in my possession a copy of the memo issued to the Datuk Bandar of Melaka City Council which instructed the outright closure of Jonker Street with absolutely no mention of it being a trial or a need for an official traffic study to be conducted during the so-called 1-month period.
While Pakatan Rakyat continues to serve all Malaysians regardless of whether they had voted for us, we are witnessing an increasingly vindictive Barisan Nasional where MCA threw its tantrums by shutting down all their service centres, while UMNO demonstrated their racist mindset by not only poisoning the minds of the people and destroying the people’s livelihoods.
The move is clearly akin to cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. Just because Datuk Idris Haron wanted to demonstrate his politcal pettiness to inflict damage to the Chinese community, he is willing to sacrifice the interest of the people of Melaka and her economy.
This major move to punish the Chinese voters, if left unchecked will only be the beginning of a series of actions which UMNO-led governments will take to discriminate against, sideline, punish as well as humiliate any of the minority races in the country which they deem not to have given support to UMNO-Barisan Nasional.
Hence we call upon the Melaka Government to immediate lift the ban on the Jonker Street night market, and stop using the pretext of “alleviating traffic problems” or they might as well close every single pasar malam and pasar tani through the state and country.
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