Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 05:13 PM PDT

In February '11, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced via a Bernama statement that the government has agreed to allocate RM6bil to build six second generation patrol vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy. The rationale given for the expenditure was to "boost the economy while benefiting 632 vendor companies". The Defence Minister clarified that they would ensure that "at least RM2bil of the allocation will benefit these vendor companies which are strategic partners of Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd". Then, many Malaysians were up in arms after that disclosure.

In October last year, The Star reported that the construction of six patrol vessels by Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), a maritime engineering and defence-related services provider, may only begin as early as the fourth quarter of this year. Analysts estimated it would take another year before BHIC's letter of intent (LOI) is firmed up and construction of the patrol vessels begin.

"This is as seen with the company's Scorpene service job, which took a year for the LOI to be firmed up via the letter of award," ECM Libra said in a research report. (CLICK HERE for more.)

Today, The Australian announced that AUSTAL has won a $330 million contract to produce eight new patrol boats for the Australian customs service. The eight boats will be built in Henderson, south of Perth. The contract is for the design, construction and through-life support of eight Cape Class patrol boats for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.

What is most interesting about the report is that the total value of the project is $330 million, including a $280 million design and construction contract and an In-Service Support contract worth $50 million.

So the Australians can build EIGHT NEW PATROL BOATS at AUS$330 million (RM1.016 billion) @ RM127 million per boat while in Malaysia, six new patrol boats cost us SIX BILLION RINGGIT at RM1 BILLION per boat.

Can you see the RIDICULOUS DIFFERENCE in figures?

Apart from that, The Austal site reports:

READ MORE HERE.

Malaysia: Disputing elections

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 06:08 AM PDT

Police eventually dispersed demonstrators with water cannons and tear gas and arrested nearly 1,700. Several were injured (including the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim) and one died from injury. Harrowing scenes were shown on news broadcasts around the world, and uploaded to numerous local websites.

Why did this confrontation come about? After all, in recent months Prime Minister Najib Razak has crossed the globe selling Malaysia's credentials as a democratic and moderate state. Central to his message has been the assertion that elections in Malaysia are free and fair — proven, he says, by the opposition's large gains in the last national elections.

It is true that in 2008 the opposition won power in five states and cut the government's national majority to less than the customary two thirds, preventing it from changing the constitution at will. The so-called electoral 'tsunami' forced Prime Minister Abdullah to relinquish power one year later.

But this event is hardly proof that elections are free and fair. The opposition countered that if they had been fair the government would have lost their majority altogether. Analysts have long agreed that with government control of the three 'Ms' — money, media and machinery (meaning the bureaucracy) — the odds will always be stacked against the opposition.

The formation of 'The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections', or Bersih (clean) in 2006 was an attempt by opposition parties and civil rights NGOs to pressure the government into electoral reform. On 10 November 2007 Bersih held peaceful demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur in support of this cause. Around 50,000 took part — a large turnout considering that police had declared the demonstration illegal and made every effort to prevent it. This success has been widely credited with contributing to opposition gains in the 2008 elections.

After retreating into the background Bersih was re-launched in September 2010 as an entirely non-governmental organisation. Bersih 2.0 is chaired by a respected former President of the Malaysian Bar Council and senior practicing lawyer, Ambiga Sreenavasan. Its multi-racial twelve-member steering committee includes a wide cross section of leaders from the legal fraternity, human rights groups and Islamic organisations.

When Bersih 2.0 announced plans for a second major demonstration on 9 July it listed eight specific objectives: Clean the electoral roll, reform the postal vote, use indelible ink, develop free and fair access to media, institute a minimum 21 days campaign period, strengthen public institutions, end corruption and end dirty politics.

The objectives focus on immediate electoral reform, and the role played by the Elections Commission (EC). Although in theory the EC is an independent institution with wide powers, it has in practice acted in support of the government by, for instance, failing to maintain credible electoral rolls, allowing postal votes, which do not permit public scrutiny of voting by military and police personnel, allowing the government sole access to the mainstream media, and setting very short campaign times of around 10 days. After a recent meeting, European Union diplomats declared the EC 'not credible' as they kept referring to themselves as 'we in the government'.

READ MORE HERE

Airport Tax Up! Next?

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 04:45 AM PDT

In a Bernama statement, Kong said the approval for the airport tax increase had been given as part of an operating agreement signed between MAHB and the Transport Ministry in February 2009. However, it had not been implemented and they left it to MAHB to implement it and to make the appropriate announcement.

In a front page story, The Sun said:

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is raising the tax to cover rising operating costs and finance airport expansion.

It is understood that the airport operator has proposed that the tax at the country's 39 airports it manages, excluding low cost carrier terminals (LCCTs), be raised by RM14 for international travellers from Sept 15. These travellers will have to pay RM65 from RM51 (RM45 for airport tax and RM6 for security charge) now.

The last increase was in 2002, when the charges were raised to RM45 from RM40 for international passengers and RM6 from RM5 for domestic departures

According to sources, the tax at low-cost carrier terminals (LCCTs) in Sepang and the Kota Kinabalu International Airport will also likely be raised by RM7, bringing the airport tax to RM32 from the current RM25 for international passengers.

However, it is not known how much more domestic travellers at KLIA, other airports and LCCTs will have to fork out.

READ MORE HERE

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Sabtu, 13 Ogos 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

0 ulasan:

Catat Ulasan