Monthly Archive for June, 2009

Hindraf Must Wake Up And Realise That Kampung Buah Pala Is Still Standing Today Because The Penang PR State Government Had Successfully Prevented Them From Been Evicted In The Middle Of Last Year.

Published on June 30, 2009, 12:46 pm in Human Rights and Penang. 2 Comments

The Penang Pakatan Rakyat state government has never consented nor approved any demolition of Kampung Buah Pala. Any action taken is by the private developer via a court order issued by the relevant courts.

Up to RM 200,000 per family was offered by the developer to the residents which was accepted by many families but not by those remaining in Kampung Buah Pala. The state government respected the decision of those remaining in Kampung Buah Pala to reject any compensation offer and to fight it out in courts.

If the state government had not been sympathetic to the plight of the residents, then the developer would have evicted the residents in the middle of last year when a court order was obtained. Only the determined preventive efforts by Penang DCM2 Professor P Ramasamy and Penang State EXCO Abdul Malik stopped the developer from entering the village with bulldozers several times last year.

All parties must therefore realise that it is only because of the efforts of the present Pakatan Rakyat state government that the Kampung Buah Pala residents are still living there.

Koh Tsu Koon Owes The Public A Full Explanation Why He Sold The Kampung Buah Pala At A Cheap Price Of Only RM 10 Per Square Feet In 2007 And Without consulting the residents.
Continue reading ‘Hindraf Must Wake Up And Realise That Kampung Buah Pala Is Still Standing Today Because The Penang PR State Government Had Successfully Prevented Them From Been Evicted In The Middle Of Last Year.’

If Ong Tee Keat Is Committed To Cleaning Up The RM 12.5 Billion PKFTZone Scandal, Stop All Payments To KDSB Or Any Other Parties

Published on June 29, 2009, 12:51 pm in Economy and Federal government. 0 Comments

Port Klang Authority To Pay RM 660 Million To Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd(KDSB) By July – If Ong Tee Keat Is Committed To Cleaning Up The RM 12.5 Billion Port Klang Free Trade Zone(PKFTZ) Scandal, He Must Stop All Payments To KDSB Or Any Other Parties Until The Culprits Responsible Are Arrested And Charged In Court.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat must clarify to the public the veracity of a report in the Edge Financial Daily on 26 Jun 2009 that the PKA is to pay a total sum this year of RM 660 million to KDSB by July 2009. If Ong is committed to cleaning up the RM 12.5 billion PKFTZ scandal, then he must immediately instruct all payments to KDSB or any other parties be stopped until the culprits responsible are arrested and charged in court. KDSB is the turnkey contractor for PKFTZ.

The Edge report had said that PKA will draw down RM 360 million from the government’s soft loan of RM 4.6 billion to pay KDSB on June 30 for the land and construction of scandal-hit PKFTZ project. Another RM 300 million will be drawn down in July as the next scheduled payment to KDSB. KDSB had received a payment of RM 510 million in 2007 and RM 660 million in 2008 from PKA and the government. With another RM 660 million this year, this makes a total of RM 1,830 million to KDSB in three years for a project that is clearly over-priced and without the prospect of ever earning enough to cover the costs incurred.

Continue reading ‘If Ong Tee Keat Is Committed To Cleaning Up The RM 12.5 Billion PKFTZone Scandal, Stop All Payments To KDSB Or Any Other Parties’

Why supplying LNG to Shangai Gas terminal ?

Published on June 26, 2009, 2:28 pm in Parliament. 0 Comments

DAP demands a full explanation from Petronas on the Reuters news reports of supplying 3.03 million tones of LNG a year to the Shangai Gas Terminal for 25 years from 2009 when there is not enough gas supplies for domestic demand resulting in loss of tens of billions of ringgit in foreign direct investments to Malaysia. Malaysians have a right to know why Petronas continues to export gas when we have to import 19% of our gas needs from Indonesia.

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A LAUNCHING GRANT OF RM1 MILLION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PIHH DEVELOPMENT SDN BHD IN PENANG

Published on June 23, 2009, 2:28 pm in Penang. 0 Comments

The initiative to develop the Penang International Halal Hub came about when I first visited Malaysian International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) and the World Halal Forum in May 2008. I was shocked to find that Penang has no pavillion nor presence in these two biggest halal event in the world.

There was no concerted effort at the state level in the past to coordinate the development of the USD3.1trillion dollar global halal industry when the whole nation is harping on making Malaysia the global halal leader.

So in June 2008, the State kickstart the planning process to develop PIHH and I have appointed YB Abdul Malik to drive the whole initiative. Essentially, we started from zero-base.

Continue reading ‘A LAUNCHING GRANT OF RM1 MILLION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PIHH DEVELOPMENT SDN BHD IN PENANG’

Political Power Is All About Public Interests Above Private Benefit.

Published on June 6, 2009, 12:27 pm in Party and Penang. 0 Comments

DAP Penang state leaders and members will not seek state awards of titles and medals in this year’s state honours list. Penang DAP will only recommend the state awards and medals to civil servants, NGOs and those actively contributing to society and not to DAP leaders and members who are active politically.

This internal DAP policy was instituted last year to highlight that serving the community is the basis of joining the DAP and not the expectation of rewards of titles or medals. To highlight the difference between DAP and other political parties especially BN, this policy by DAP will be continued to be applied this year. However those DAP members who are also active or serving as leaders in NGOs that serve the community can qualify if they are recommended by NGOs on their basis of community service and not political involvement.

As Penang Chief Minister I wish to record my appreciation to Penang DAP State Chair Sdr Chow Kon Yeow for making this recommendation to the state government for this year’s Governor’s state awards. Clearly this selfless approach by DAP leaders and members conforms with DAP’s credo of public service of “Public Interests above Private Benefit”.

In the one year that DAP has been in the Penang state government, no DAP leaders have approached or harrassed me for state awards, medals or lobbied directly or indirectly to be made the YDP of MPPP or MPSP. I wish to records my gratitude to all DAP members and leaders for making this sacrifice again this year who has made not only the party but all our supporters proud; in realising DAP’s ideals, ideas and principles that political power is not about posts nor about medals/awards but about the placing of public interests over private benefit.

The Federal government should emphasize on “Fuels from Heaven” – Renewable Energy, not “Fuels from Hell” like coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy.

Published on June 5, 2009, 11:31 am in Federal government and Nation Building. 1 Comment

Commemorated on June 5 yearly, World Environment Day (WED) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. This is one of the principal vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The theme for WED 2009 is ‘Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change’. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen end of this year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.

The pursuit of nuclear energy of the Federal government has raised hot debate among pro-nuclear groups and against-nuclear groups. Even former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, raised his concerns about the danger of pursuing nuclear energy and urged a rethink arguing that we do not know enough about nuclear energy to be able to manage it well.

In 26 May 2006, TNB announced that they target to commission the first nuclear power plant in Malaysia by 2025. On the same day, research and advisory provider RAM Holdings revealed that weaker demand for electricity had raised TNB’s reserve margin to above 50%. this clearly shows that the electricity has not been fully utilized, how is TNB going to justify there is a demand for the nuclear energy?

Continue reading ‘The Federal government should emphasize on “Fuels from Heaven” – Renewable Energy, not “Fuels from Hell” like coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy.’