Satu Lagi Projek (Bodoh) BN!!

New dam built in Kudat but no water source

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:13


By Queville To

KOTA KINABALU: Standing tall on an arid piece of land in Kudat is a dam that has cost the government RM300 million to build. Construction on the multi-million-ringgit project began five years ago and it is now almost complete.

It looks sturdy and well-built and appears like it could do what it was built to do -- hold sufficient water to quench the thirst of the district. But therein lies a problem. There is no water source anywhere in sight.

Now, the Sabah DAP has expressed grave concern that the soon-to-be-completed Milau Dam near Sikuati in the northern-most district of the state may end up as yet another white elephant.

Its concern was based on the fact that without a viable water source, the dam must depend on rain.

A downpour is a rarity here, considering that Kudat is known to be the driest place in Sabah.

Sabah DAP chief Hiew King Cheu made the observation following a fact-finding inspection by him and several DAP leaders at the project site last Saturday.

He said the inspection was prompted by some concerned local residents who doubted the feasibility of the project.

Hiew said he was told that the project was first proposed some 15 years ago, but never got off the ground due to strong objections and criticism from the people there who said there was no water source in the vicinity.

Nevertheless, the project started on Aug 1, 2005, and was supposed to be completed by the contractor on Jan 31, 2008. But extensions were granted and it is now estimated to be 99% complete.

Gross waste of public funds

The dam is supposed to supply water to the water treatment plant located a few kilometres away next to a small stream.

A new pipeline was also constructed to connect the treatment plant to the existing pipeline from Kota Marudu to Kudat to alleviate the perennial water shortage in the Kudat district.

“What is the use of the dam when there is no water source? Just depending on the rain will not be sufficient to supply the whole of Kudat district. This could well end up as another 'white elephant' project by the Barisan Nasional government,” Hiew said in a statement today.

Hiew, who is also the Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament, said the dam was a glaring example of gross wastage of public funds.

He asked how the BN government could allow such a harebrained and wasteful project to go ahead and at the same time claim that it was cutting subsidies to the people to save money.

Hiew also claimed that compensation payments had not been fully disbursed by the state government to the affected villagers for the land acquired.

“We received many complaints during the visit. It is understood that the kampung folks received only about 75% of the compensation," he said.

"Why can’t the state government settle the payment quickly?” he asked, saying that it was a well- known fact that the people in the district are among the most deprived in the state.

Taib, "One of Asia’s greatest kleptocrats"??!! Malaysia Boleh!!!

Protest rally against Taib Mahmud's

upcoming visit to Oxford

Taib Mahmud has laughably advertised his UK visit as a promotion of ‘Green Development’ in Sarawak and will be focussing on the promotion of Islamic and Halal products, his latest venture, during his visit to Oxford.

Where – Entrance the Said Business School, Park End Street, Oxford

When – From 9.30 am Monday 26th July 2010-07-21

By Survival International

One of Asia’s greatest kleptocrats and single-handedly one of the most destructive forces against the environment, the Chief Minister of Sarawak, East Malaysia, Abdul Taib Mahmud, has been invited to present the opening address at the Said Business School’s inaugural Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum, Monday 26th July.

During his 30 years of iron grip over Malaysia’s Christian State, Taib Mahmud has systematically plundered a country once rich in natural resources, oil and timber. He and his family are now multi-billionaires, while indigenous tribes such as the legendary jungle nomads, the Penan, have been left destitute and robbed of their rightful hunting grounds.

Abdul Taib Mahmud has destroyed all but 3% of the Borneo jungle in the state, which had been handed all but intact into the care of his uncle, his predecessor. Numerous species, including the Orang Utan, proboscis monkey and a plethora of unique plant and animal life have been virtually wiped out by his rapacious and unsustainable plunder of the jungle.

The Penan are struggling to keep his loggers out of the last corners of their jungle, one of the most precious remaining areas of bio-diversity left on earth. Recent reports have revealed shocking evidence of their treatment at the hands of state-backed loggers, including the systematic rape and abuse of their women, an outrage that Taib Mahmud has refused to acknowledge or investigate.

Taib Mahmud’s ‘business interests’ are notorious. The whole state of Sarawak has been illegally absorbed into the possession of his cronies and family members through ‘privatisations’ and the handing out of palm oil and timber concessions, via arbitrary state acquisitions of native lands. He now runs the State as a family business, maintained through systematic electoral intimidation and fraud.

Taib Mahmud has laughably advertised his UK visit as a promotion of ‘Green Development’ in Sarawak and will be focussing on the promotion of Islamic and Halal products, his latest venture, during his visit to Oxford.

It is a standing disgrace that Oxford University should be extending a hand of welcome and supporting the status of such a man. His wealth and ability to endow is not in doubt, however there is no possible basis of legitimacy for such wealth, as can only be plainly apparent to all his hosts.

The people of Sarawak are struggling to rid themselves of this man and his parasitical family and to preserve their unique environmental heritage from his further ‘business ventures’. Please lend your support to their struggle and to the campaign to preserve what is left of the Book of Life and the Borneo Jungle’s natural wealth. Help fight for the survival of the Orang Utan and fellow creatures of the Asian Rainforest.

Be there to receive him and protest at the disgraceful invitation that has been extended to him by Oxford University and the Said Business School.

Contacts – Survival: Sophie Grig - sg@survivalinternational.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For further details on Taib Mahmud see www.sarawakreport.org

For background on the problems in Sarawak see Times articles

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5908207.ece

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6814891.ece

BERNAMA - Stop making fools of yourselves with "Spin"!!

“I got the message from both Najib and Muhyiddin. That they still want to defend Little Napoleons like Nik Ali. I thank them for the message.”

In the Bernama story, the chief minister was quoted as follows: ““I accept the message from the prime minister and deputy prime minister...I thank them for the message.”

Guan Eng says livid over ‘false reporting’ by Bernama

UPDATED @ 03:54:15 PM 24-07-2010

July 24, 2010

Lim not impressed with Bernama's newsreport.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng attacked Bernama for “false reporting” today after the national news agency filed a story with an incomplete quote and suggesting that he had accepted in good faith a reproach from the prime minister and deputy prime minister.

“I am livid over the false reporting,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

The Malaysian Insider had published the story which was subsequently removed by Bernama from its wire service, and replaced with a revised copy at 3.12pm.

Bernama did not offer any explanation for why the story was replaced or for the mistakes.

According to Lim, he had told reporters, when asked about his ongoing spat with state development officer (SDO) Nik Ali Mat Yunus, that:

“I got the message from both Najib and Muhyiddin. That they still want to defend Little Napoleons like Nik Ali. I thank them for the message.”

In the Bernama story, the chief minister was quoted as follows: ““I accept the message from the prime minister and deputy prime minister...I thank them for the message.”

The Bernama story also claimed that Lim had “accepted in good faith the reproach from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin over his attack on state development officer (SDO) Nik Ali Mat Yunus.”

The replaced story had the following significant changes.

That Lim only received “a message” from the prime minister and his deputy.

The key text appears now as recounted by Lim in his press release.

And the headline has been reworded: “Lim says Federal government protecting ‘little napoleon’

The change is seen as an immediate response by Bernama following a strongly worded letter to them from Lim’s press secretary Cheong Yin Fan which stated: “For Bernama to twist this clear but simple response into Lim accepting in good faith the reproach from both Najib and Muhyiddin is dishonest and false.

“What is most shocking is the response from that Bernama reporter when I called her up to complain. She replied that she heard Lim Guan Eng clearly say “Little Napoleon” but had left that phrase out so that the story can come out.

“If she had reported what I said exactly the story would not come out. I told her firmly that we want a true statement and if that cannot be truthful then don’t publish the story.”

Cheong described Bernama’s actions as unprofessional and unfair, adding that it lend suspicions to the belief that “the mainstream media is out to get and frame up Lim Guan Eng by any means possible.”

What a Crying Shame, Sidek!!

"The issue us no longer Nik Ali, the issue is KSN .... Why is it now you come out all the way to defend a 'Little Napoleon'? How committed are you towards reducing 'Little Napoleon' tendencies in the civil service?
- LGE
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I am simply amazed that the country's top civil servant doesn't even understand the simple basic difference between a government and a political entity, and respect the very important fundamental principle of impartiality and neutrality of the civil service.

Decline in moral accountability?

-Thomas Lee

GUEST COLUMNISTS (Malaysia Today)

Friday, 23 July 2010

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan has made himself look very foolish by asking whether it is wrong for civil servants to attend functions held by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, as he is the DAP secretary-general.

Sidek is apparently trying to justify the presence and participation of Penang state development officer Nik Ali
Mat Yunus at an Umno press conference, where the officer verbally lambasted Guan Eng and issued prepared press statements to criticize the chief minister.

I am simply amazed that the country's top civil servant doesn't even understand the simple basic difference between a government and a political entity, and respect the very important fundamental principle of impartiality and neutrality of the civil service.

Of course, civil servants have every right to accompany the chief minister or any minister to any function required by their duty to do so. When they attend and participate at such official state functions, including a state-initiated media conference, they are merely doing their job as civil servants serving the elected government of the day. They are not involved in partisan political activities, even though the chief minister or any other minister may be a leader of a political party.

When Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng holds a media conference and has the state secretary with him to brief the press on matters of the state, the state secretary is not violating the civil service code by being there. In fact, it is his duty to be there to help the chief minister answer questions from the press.

But if DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng attends a Teoh Beng Hock memorial service held by his party, a civil servant can only be there in his private personal capacity as Beng Hock's friend. He cannot be there on duty as civil servent accompanying Guan Eng.

In Nik Ali's case, he is definitely wrong to attend and participate in a press conference called by Umno to run down the chief minister. He has broken the sacrosanct cardinal principle of the impartiality of the civil service, and must face disciplinary action for it.

It is simply beyond comprehension that Sidek as Chief Secretary to the Government should endorse such a crude and uncouth behaviour and unconstitutional action by a senior civil servant.

Sidek has put himself in a very embarrasing position by giving a very silly comparison of himself holding a press conference together with the prime minister, and that of Nik Ali's participation of the Umno press conference.

“Is it be wrong if I hold a media conference with Datuk Seri Najib Razak? If it is his job as the prime minister and my job as the chief secretary, then it is not wrong I hold a press conference with him,” Sidek said.

Of course, it is not wrong! It is his job as chief secretary to serve the prime minister and accompany him if so required.

But Nik Ali's case is defintely not the same. As a civil servant, he should be non-partisan and should not be involved in politicking with Umno.

If Sidek does not understand such a simple distinction between what is government and what is politics, he is not fit to be the country's top civil servant.

And, even assuming that Nik Ali is a victim of harassment by the chief minister, there is a proper official channel for him to file his grievance and complaint -- to the Public Service Department head. Why should Nik Ali use, or rather allowed himself to be used, by a political party to launch an attack on the chief minister?

It is certainly ominous, in fact even sinister, that Nik Ali should chose to use a political vehicle to rucn down the chief minister elected by the people of Penang.

And, it surely is baleful that we have a Chief Secretary to the Government who would condone and absolve a senior civil servant from making political attacks against an elected government head.

The fact that Sidek has announced that no action would be taken against Nik Ali for his verbal assault on the chief minister deserves my commiseration to my fellow Malaysians for the decline in moral accoutability in our beloved country.

And, while I am still on this Nik Ali issue, I would like to comment on another ridiculous statement, this time by Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan who condemned Guan Eng for the fiasco.

Teng alleged that Guan Eng was out to gain political mileage and strengthen his position to garner more votes and support from the public in the next general election.

It is certainly ludicrous that Teng should make such a preposterous statement, but, seeing that he is from Gerakan, it is not surprising since most of its leaders are incongruously inept and lack the intelligence, let alone intellect, to understand basic issues affecting the people.

Teng and the imbeciles in Gerakan should throw in the towel and retire permanently from Penang since they are of no relevance and pertinence in the state.

They should stop making themselves look inane with their vacuous statements.

"Learned" Counsel ..... NIAMAH!!!

Patrick Teoh summed up the rationale of the counsel for 3-in-1 MP of Hulu Selangor, (Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin's logic) in defining "Corruption/bribery" in one fantastic word - NIAMAH!!!

According to Firoz, apparently, the outcome of an act of corruption/bribery must show the results intended - or it cannot be considered a bribe!!!
It seems, that if a contractor who's bidding for a contract you decide on buys your wife an Alphard "because he cares", it isn't a bribe - unless it is proven that the Alphard influenced your decision!!

So here goes Patrick :-

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UMNO sponsored Recalcitrance & Sabotage through the Civil Service?

It is a sad state of affairs, when the a citizen has to choose to go to jail for the sake of "safety", when the state cannot guarantee his well-being outside the courts - as in the case of a small-fry Sergeant Tharmendran (who has been accused of stealing jet engines!!!). Then we have Manjit Singh's house broken into "for the sake of a miserable laptop" .....
Readers' comments on MalaysiaKini is very telling about the confidence people have in the security provided by the UMNO dominated system.

Now we have Federally (read "UMNO") appointed "little Napoleans" in the civil service, going against GO of the civil service, giving Press statements berating the Chief Minister at an Umno sponsored Press Conference!! He even has the gall to call the CM, "Biadap" becos accountability was demanded of him!!!

So much for Jibby's sloganeering ....... (and a little bird says that he may not last long since Umno members are working hard to oust him!)

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Trading barbs in Penang
By Himanshu Bhatt and Bernard Cheah

GEORGE TOWN (July 19, 2010): Simmering tensions boiled over in Penang today when Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and the federal-appointed State Development Officer (SDO), who oversees the channelling of all federal allocations for projects in Penang, traded verbal blows at separate press conferences.

Lim accused Nik Ali Mat Yunus of "openly and blatantly" sabotaging the state government, while the latter, in an outburst uncharacteristic of a civil servant, called Lim "biadap" (uncivilised) and said he had no right to question his qualification and compentency for the job.

"He (Nik Ali) is like a little Napoleon in the civil service who gets high pay and does nothing for the people, but instead causes losses to them," Lim said during a visit to the Botanic Gardens.

Lim asked who should be held responsible for the RM150,000 plus losses over the scheduled demolition of two controversial twin arches, one of which is tilting, that were only recently built for the Gardens’ expansion project by the Tourism Ministry.

He said as the controlling officer in charge of overseeing project, Nik Ali should be held responsible.

"Nik Ali refuses to explain who will bear the losses. If he is willing, we will not pursue the matter. But if not, who is? Every sen counts, because it is a question of public trust," Lim said.

The chief minister also took issue over a letter sent by the SDO's office, dated Oct 13, 2009, to the state Drainage and Irrigation Department, which he showed to reporters.

In it, the SDO's office gave an "ultimatum" for pending issues on the Botanic Gardens' facade and pavilion development to be settled by Oct 31, 2009, failing which a RM5 million federal funding for the project would be withdrawn. (The state was at that point tackling eviction problems there).

Lim pointed out that this was an example of how the SDO's office was trying to rush development projects through without due consultation and feedback.

Meanwhile, Nik Ali lost his cool after a press conference held by state Umno leaders on alleged sand theft at a federal land in Politeknik Balik Pulau.

He denied any involvement in the design of the arches or in allowing the allegedly illegal sand mining, which was brought to light over the weekend, to occur.

"This is the third time that Lim has used rough words against me after the Penang Hill railway launch where he alleged that I did not prepare a seat for him and then the issue of the twin arches’ demolition," he said in a statement passed to the media.

"Only the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) of the Prime Minister’s Department can say if I am incompetent or not."

Nik Ali accused Lim of attacking him knowing that as a civil servant he was not allowed to issue press statements.

"I will continue to be considered a ‘coward’ for remaining silent and eventually become a ‘scapegoat’ for Lim," he added in his statement.

Nik Ali also took the state secretary (Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman) to task for failing to advise Lim on the SDO’s scope and responsibilities as directed by the federal government, and help forge closer relation between state and federal.

"He should prepare talks with the SDO and not allow Lim to twist facts and continue to attack the SDO," he said. -- theSun

Tamil Required? Podah!!

Tamil, Malayalee, Ceylonese, Punjabi, Gujurati - so what?

LETTERS/SURAT

If PKR were to be swayed by such goups, it will lose its moral right to lay claim to champion all Malaysians. Such groups should sit down with Ibrahim Ali and form various chapters of the same circus.

By Ice Cream Seller

Sivarasa may be constrained to tell the so-called Tamil speaking 'leaders' of PKR to go to hell.

Siva, on your behalf and without your indulgence, I will say so.

First and foremost, we are MALAYSIANS. Full stop.

Speaking Tamil or the inability to do so is a red herring. The late Dato Pathmanathan was fluent in Tamil but that didn't help him in MIC - because he was Malayalee (for the uninitiated, people from Kerala in India are known as Malayalees - just like Dr Mahathir's paternal origins, we are sometimes told).Though Dato Pathma was Harvard educated, it was not enough for these Tamil champs (or chumps).

Sivarasa is a Tamil - whose roots are from Sri Lanka (Ceylon, as it was known). In Sri Lanka, the races are broadly divided into Sinhala (the majority - who are mostly Buddhist, Tamils, Burghers (Eurasians like our brothers in Malacca), Muslims (all Muslims are lumped into one group regardless of whether one is of Indian or Arab origin) and others (including Malays).

Pre-independence, 2 groups of Tamils found their way to Malaya - the ones from Tamil Nadu in India and those from Ceylon (Sri Lanka - hence the term Ceylonese - to denote their Ceylon nationality).

The Tamils from Tamil Nadu were (as I was taught and indeed observed) largely brought to work the estates and the railroads. The Tamils from Sri Lanka were brought to help administer the civil service and being largely English educated were also delployed in the railways, telecoms, schools, hospitals etc.

The Tamil spoken by the South Indian folks differ somewhat to that spoken by the Sri Lankan Tamils though the written script is the same (but who cares).

Ananda Krishnan, Gnanalingam, the late Tan Sri Selvarajah, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam are of Sri Lankan Tamil descent (but who cares - they are Malaysians). Sivarasa is not fluent in Tamil as spoken by the main Tamil population in Malaysia but am quite sure he can rattle off a few profanities in Tamil as we did even if we didn't quite know the full meanings of them.

What is it with these folks? If Tamil is so important to them, then they should go to India (even if they are Malaysian born) and apply for the status of PIO - Person of Indian Origin. Better still, go to Tamil Nadu specifically and they can literally talk to their MPs till the cows come home (hey, the cows there understand Tamil too).

To a large extent, MIC, by persevering with Tamil schools, ensured their own survival with a ready pool of Tamil educated Malaysians - ready to serve MIC, as opposed to providing them a good education to get out of their vicious cycle of abject poverty. I must stress that there are many professional Malaysians who have indeed come through the Tamil medium schools.

If Tamil was the lingua franca of commerce in Malaysia or for that matter in South East Asia, by all means pursue its learning. But really, outside of South India, it is difficult for a Tamil scholar to reach his full potential. Tamil culture and language has a long and treasured history - no issue with that but we are not in India.

For the record, my late father spoke impeccable Tamil but he was an English graduate and he believed that in multi racial Malaysia, education (at that time in English) was the way forward for his Malay, Chinese and Indian students. We were united by English but today these groups want to use Tamil to divide (actually to achieve their own ends).

Instead of trying to replace Sivarasa, they should spend their energy in trying to get the senior police officers to be Tamil speaking so that they can attend to the disproportionately large Tamil speaking people regularly rounded up by the cops as suspects and I do not mean this in a disparaging way to the Tamil brothers and sisters.

If PKR were to be swayed by such goups, it will lose its moral right to lay claim to champion all Malaysians. Such groups should sit down with Ibrahim Ali and form various chapters of the same circus - chimps, chumps, apes, beruks and an orangutan as the chief entertainer.

Podah!!!*

*(The highlighting of this last word here, is mine - which is all I can say to the chimps who use the miserable ethnic language for political mileage in Malaysia)