Saturday, July 24, 2010

Umno Cronies Pocket Hurt

Umno offensives against the Selangor state government caused by Umno cronies who could no longer line their pockets

The Umno Selangor leaders such as Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and Datuk Noh Omar who are trying to outdo each other in maligning the Selangor state administration over some of its key policies. Even the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has put his foot in, accusing the state of mismanagement especially with regards to the issue of sand mining and the provision of water services in Selangor.

Their motivations cannot be clearer when one doesn't see any Umno leader berating Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman's Johor administration where the worst cases of illegal sand-mining and sand-smuggling occurs despite the fact that these issues have been widely highlighted by the media.

What is more, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had the cheek to tick off Selangor Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim over his determination maintain water tariffs and improve the quality of water services in the latter's dispute with SYABAS, a subsidiary of Umno-linked Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd. This is despite the fact that his the Deputy Prime Minister's own home state of Johor had suffered the highest water tariffs in the entire country post-water privatisation, while at the same time having to endure severe water shortages rationing in major townships such as Kluang and Batu Pahat as recent as months ago.

The reasons for the above are crystal clear. The determination of the state government to reduce patronage and corruption, maximize government revenue and to improve the quality of public services without increasing the financial burden of the rakyat is hurting the pockets of the Umno cronies in Selangor who are used to the ways of Barisan Nasional.

The Selangor state government vehicle, Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB) today manage the issuance of permits for sand-mining in the state. For every sand mine, genuine operators obtain their permits via open tenders or requests for quotations where direct negotiations are no longer entertained. As such, “Ali-baba” licensees under the previous regime who reaped easy profits by securing the permits via patronage and subsequently subcontracting the actual mining work for quick and easy profits are no longer viable as they'll either be disqualified or outbidded by genuine operators. This has obviously attracted a fair and vocal share of detractors who are critical of KSSB as the new system is now more competitive and transparent.

In addition, more stringent processes and enforcement has resulted in lower leakages via under-declaration of sand mined, and consequently increased the revenues of the state government by leaps and bounds. In fact the total royalty and profits before taxation accrued to both the state and its subsidiary, KSSB have increased from RM4.39 million in 2007 under BN to RM8.17 million or by 86.1% in 2008, under Pakatan Rakyat's 9 months of administration. This increased further to RM13.76 million or a phenomemal 213% in 2009. For the first half of 2010 alone, the state has already collected RM15.3 million or on track towards achieving 500% increase for the full-year. See Chart 1 below for details.


Chart 1: Royalties collected by Selangor for sand-mining 2005-2010

The figures speak for themselves, which are a result of a competent, accountable and transparent state administration. The rising income has been used to finance the state government's welfare schemes for the people.

Similarly for the water issues harped by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and more recently by Datuk Noh Omar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has remained steadfast in refusing to cow to the arm-twisting tactics of Umno-linked Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, backed by the Umno-led Federal Government. The latter entities have sought to substantially and unreasonably increase water tariffs by up to 37% for Selangor consumers and have to date refused to accept the state's proposal to consolidate the water industry which will result not only in lower tariffs but also better quality services. Instead they chose to attack the state administration of mismanagement of water resources just because the state offers 20m3 of water for free monthly to assist to poor and needy in the state.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Selangor Deputy Liaison Chief, Datuk Noh Omar and Selangor Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Mohd Khir Toyo are clearly acting as the angry voice of the Umno cronies in an attempt to destabilise the state government and take revenge for Pakatan Rakyat policies which put the welfare of the rakyat first.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin should instead tell the party's cronies that they could no longer expect free lunches and easy money, but instead get rid of their “subsidy mentality” of expecting handouts from the Government. After all, if the rakyat are expected to stomach the multiple price hikes due to subsidy cuts, then surely the Umno cronies who have profited lucratively all these years can perhaps learn to be competitive for once.

8 comments:

Rakyat Kena Tipu said...

Right on Mr.Tony!You have hit it right concerning this state sand mining and water affairs.The figures speak for themselves!The rakyat is grateful of the free 20m3 water whereas in the past,the BN always use threat tactics to scare the rakyat and give various excuses to increase tariff.Now we know why they(BN)are asking for increase in water tariff is because to accommodate those cronies(bcos so many companies involved)so mana cukup makan kalau tak naik harga.I read that the CEO of Puncak Niaga Holdings salary alone is quite a colossial sum eventhough the company is not performing well.How can that be when you have the monopoly of the water business?

Anonymous said...

Anyone who is more informed and has some "otak" is well aware of what UMNO is up to. By hook or by crook, they will go all out to destabilize the Selangor Govt - remember Selangor is the crown jewel state in Malaysia and PKR is not that strong as PAS or DAP.

PR need to find ways to counter the BN's attack with mainstream, particularly with the Malay voters...probably PAS and PKR need to do more outreach and make sure the TRUE information is disseminated to the voters/rakyat.

marcus63 said...

tony, numbers do not lie. the pr state government is doing a good job, in 2 years already better than the umno/bn did in 50+ years.
but words can lie. what comes out of moo2 cow of course is dung.
keep up the good work. a 50+ year old tree has deep roots. it will take a long time to remove this diseased tree and plant a new future.

Anonymous said...

Yes. This sand mining thing is turning out to be a bigger issue that it should be. Its such a small thing and its still a big improvement over the situation in the past or most places.

These rebuttals are the stuff that PKR should be doing for Khalid, not you Tony. Why is NO ONE in PKR stepping up to defend Khalid? We all know its because of PKR internal politics. The problem is its affecting PR Selangor.


Selangor UMNO is salivating over the attacks on this issue. You literally can hear them going into a frenzy and already fighting among themselves for dreams of MB and control of Selangor.

Imagine being able to gain a few more seats in Selangor next GE. The political cannibals will turn on each other - start ripping each other apart.

PR leaders have to realise they don't have to win the next GE. Come near it and UMNO/BN will tear each other apart. This is particularly true in Selangor and states like Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Terengganu, Sabah and even Perak and some extend Johor.

Come close and Putrajaya is a close eventuality. PR have to ensure the culture of self-cannibalisation is vigilantly checked.

Ahmad Syafiq said...

http://www.malaysiakini.com/v6/link.php?http://drchua9.blogspot.com/2010/07/selangor-has-failed-to-keep-promise-of.html

Take a look at that bullshit. He claimed that sand revenue dropped. Dr Chua Soi Lek is still lost in his own world. He will just not accept the fact that more and more people are turning away from MCA. They already know it's rubbish.

Ahmad Syafiq said...

Oh ya, can you direct me to the link on where to obtain the figures of the Selangor sand royalty? (Just for authentication purposes)

Anonymous said...

Tony,

will be be held responsible if/when the tap run dry? will you be the one who will drive lorries to our housing area to supply us water ..just due to your theory? its a huge risk you taking and it involve 5mil household in Selangor.

all we want is security that water is enough to us, the rakyat..is that too much too hard to ask?

set asied political differences and do proper study... with consultants, academicians and etc. Unbiased committee. then decide.

worried selangorian

siska said...

sulit dimengerti. antara jujur dan kebohongan