Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Solid waste management or sordid waste management?
- The charge against Mat Sabu
- Ucapan PM Najib: beri yang tidak beri
- Change....What Change?
| Solid waste management or sordid waste management? Posted: 20 Sep 2011 05:51 PM PDT Despite a lot of hard selling by the deputy prime minister in the Sun and the NST, I am still skeptical that we tax and rate payers will be getting a rakyat diutamakan deal out of the 22 years concession granted to Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, SWM Environment Sdn Bhd and Environment Idaman Sdn Bhd pertaining to waste management.  Tan Sri Sabaruddin Chik, an ex-cabinet minister, sits on the board of SWM Environment Sdn Bhd; Alam Flora Sdn Bhd* is owned by DRB-HICOM while Environment Idaman Sdn Bhd is a JV Company between Metacorp Berhad and UEM Environment Sdn. Bhd. The impression of strong links to BN administration past and present is impossible to shake off. For instance, via Environment Idaman Sdn Bhd, Metacorp Berhad will now be milking off from 1 more public service, i.e. on top of the existing highway toll concession it is enjoying. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Kuala Lumpur – Seremban Expressway is a main expressway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This 8 km (4.9 miles) expressway linking Kuala Lumpur in the north to Seremban, Negeri Sembilan in the south. ….. this particular stretch of road is not managed by PLUS Expressway Berhad, but rather by Metramac Corporation (MetaCorp) - consequently the toll rate at Sungai Besi toll plaza includes an extra payment to cover the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 3 concessionaires can take the agreement and nice newspaper cutting to get bank loans to finance their operations; hence interest expense/income to bankers will be another layer added onto what we pay for another public service. What is more laughable is this remarkable and customary self contradiction, extracted in The Sun: Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said, however, that the privatisation of solid waste management under the Solid Waste and Urban Cleansing Management Act 2007 that came into effect on Sept 1, will not incur additional charges for consumers He said assessment collected by local councils would also not be raised. "The rates paid by the people to local councils will be the same and there will be no additional charges. Any extra charge will be borne by the government," he said during the signing of the agreements Dear minister, isn't the government funded by tax payers? Do we not pay for the ever skyrocketing national debts and budget deficits? It is just a question of whether our right pocket or left pocket is being hit. Whatever festival discounts given by super normal profits earning highway concessionaires are compensated according to the lopsided day light robbery toll concession agreements anyway. One cannot rely on the same line to pick up a girl in the same bar all the time, I was once told. Can the minister please disclose to the public the terms and conditions in the 22 years agreement concerning the "extra charges"? The connected private companies need to make profits otherwise not required by public institutions. The extra charges would probably mean interest to banks, directors' remuneration, more flashy branding expenditure, dividends required by shareholders, retained profits in the company, plus income tax levied on the profits of the company – all these to be paid for by the RM8 per month, and perhaps also some back door compensation not made known in the press report. To add salt into injury, Speaking at the signing ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said through the concession agreements, the government hoped the effectiveness of solid waste collection services will improve in terms of quality and regularity. The DPM is indirectly saying that the local authorities run by BN are incompetent and inferior hence confirming the incompetent culture cultivated by successive BN administration, and quality service could only be available to tax and rates payers at a higher price. Instead of being castigated for unsatisfactory performances, the underperforming civil servants are perhaps be elevated to "pihak pemantau yang berkuasa", and in a position to listen to the pleas, excuses and perhaps more, from the concessionaires. Did the BN administration just add on another level of bureaucracy and another space for "direct discretionary negotiations" between little Napoleons and private entities? For MPs and ADUNs, it would be more work. Previously, upon the complains by residents, the YBs may need to forward their complaints to the relevant local authorities but now, perhaps the YBs have to communicate and follow up with the local authorities plus the concessionaires. The DPM did not say whether there would be cost savings for the benefit of tax and rates payers via reduction of civil servants no longer carrying on the work. We should see some benefits to us because the argument for privatization is reduction of cost and improvement of quality. Why not focus on efficiency and effectiveness of civil servants, rather than keeping them while outsourcing public services to profit seeking connected private companies? I am waiting for the day to see if there is a "Syarikat Perkhidmatan Polis Malaysia Sdn Bhd" or "Sarekat Perkhidmatan Angkatan Tentera Malaysia Sdn Bhd" with a 50 years concession or something like that to boot. |
| Posted: 20 Sep 2011 04:42 PM PDT I don't want to say much about the charge as I don't want to be hauled up for making comments while the case is going on and thereby breaching the sub-judice rule (actually I think sub-judice rule is not even applicable in Malaysia, but that's another issue). We now see it fit to even abolish the ISA and Emergency Ordinance for the sake of freedom and liberties. We now see it fit to repeal the Printing Presses and Publication Act to restore freedom of speech to the people. However we cannot even treat opposing views and different interpretation of historical events or facts with respect and civility. On this score, I am against all the police reports against Mat Sabu as well as against Professor Zainal Kling for their respective statements and opinions. A mature society and democracy should be able to deal with differing opinions calmly and of course, intellectually. There are various other people who should be charged for sedition. I don't have to list them out here. But they are not so charged. I wonder what has happened to the investigation on the Christian conspiracy and why it has taken such a long time to complete. I am not in support of what Mat Sabu has said. I have to make this clear. In fact I am not in love with PAS either. This post is simply about the law. I know a thing or two about the law of defamation, having done about 10 defamation cases involving some prominent personalities and establishments in my career. This is all I have to say about defamation:
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| Ucapan PM Najib: beri yang tidak beri Posted: 20 Sep 2011 04:08 PM PDT Ulasan one-liner mereka tidak perlu di pedulikan. Tidak ada fikiran yang signifiken yang boleh kita berikan kepada ulasan one-liners. Saya tidak akan memohon maaf keatas kedangkalan fikiran orang seperti ini. Mereka bertanggung jawab keatas kedangkalan mereka sendiri. UMNO tidak perlukan orang jenis ini. Mereka sudah di luar redemption dan saya tidak terdaya mengobah pandangan cetek mereka walhal saya telah mengajak pembaca budiman untuk memberikan hujjah balasan yang rasional. Demikian juga, pembaca yang sedemikian tidak akan dapat mengobah persepsi saya bahawa saya merasakan ucapan tersebut tidak ada nilai luar biasa. Tolong buktikan kesilapan saya. Jangan tuduh saya takde kerja lain asyik hentam Najib, hentam adik beradik Najib dan hentam bini Najib. Kebenaran nya ialah mereka gagal membentangkan hujjah untuk meyakinkan kita dan bayangkan kesan nya keatas rakyat yang membaca yang menunggu nunggu penhujjahan yang bernas dari para juak UMNO. Maka, elok kita ulangi beberapa persoalan supaya menyenangkan kefafahaman mereka. Mudah mudahan, belakang parang di asah, lama lama akan tajam. Sudah sampai masa nya, pembaca Melayu khasnya, mengraduankan diri dari membaca makian dan hamunan, celaan, dan penghinaan dan sebagainya. Minda orang Melayu tidak berkembang membaca hasil picisan dan sastera kuning tersebut. Besar mana bahagian rakyat negara ini yang tertakluk dengan pembubaran ISA? Adakah ISA menjadi faktor penting dalam kehidupan harian rakyat yang berdepan dengan harga barangan yang kian meningkat? korapsi yang meluas, urusniaga kerajaan yang di rahsiakan tapi menguntungkan mereka yang terpilih? Saya juga menyebutkan perihal harapan rakyat untuk mendengar pengistiharan yang membawa perubahan substantive kedalam kehidupan harian mereka. Tapi ini tidak beberti pembubaran ISA tidak penting. Kenapa ianya tidak di istharkan dalam parlimen sebab ISA melibatkan pasa asasnya orang politik? Itu medium penyampaian yang lebih tepat. Disana kita boleh debatkan, jika ISA di mansuhkan, bagaimana dari segi undang undang kita menangani ancaman yang ertakluk dibawah ISA selama ini? Bagaimanakah hak seseorang, terutama yang mempunyai fahaman politik yang berbeza di lindungi oleh undang2? Cara terbaik ialah mereka di hadapkan untuk membela diri di bawah akta tertentu dalam mahkamah terbuka. Tidak ada sesiapa yang lucut hak kebebasan peribadi kecuali ia di hukum oleh undang undang dalam mahkamah terbuka. Jika kita mahu isitiharkan sesuatu yang berani dan menggegarkan dalam media umum seperti siaran TV, rakyat sebenarnya mengharapkan perkara yang melibatkan kehidupan seharian mereka. Orang Melayu misalnya mahu melihat apakah program konkrit untuk merealisasikan agenda ekonomi Bumiputera. Jika kita telah pun mengistiharkan bahawa wadah mencapai agenda tersebut ialah Model Ekonomi Baru- atau market driven affirmative action, apa jadah nya komponen MEB tersebut? Adakah penjualan asset stratejik negara merupakan cara terpenting meliberalisasikan ekonomi Malaysia? Pertukaran saham MAS dengan saham Air Asia mendekatkan lagi pencapaian agenda ekonomi Bumi? Jika kita letakkan pemimpin dalam GLC yang tidak berjiwa Melayu yang bangga pula dengan pemujaan mereka kepada factor 'merits' sampai bila pun, agenda tersebut tidak akan tercapai. Sebab itu, saya mengharapkan ucapan PM akan melibatkan antara lain pengistiharan kita bubarkan Khazanah Berhad dan saham yang mereka pegang dan portfolio pelaburan yang ada dalam tangan mereka di pindahkan kepada institusi Amanah Pelaburan Bumiputera.
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| Posted: 20 Sep 2011 08:43 AM PDT Even though we claim to have a two-coalition system (albeit not formally), the dominant coalition has shaped the political landscape to their advantage - almost transforming our system into a "single party in power" with the alternative coalition standing in the shadows and sometimes screaming for attention. When abuse occurs, the rakyat are the biggest losers. The inefficiency and lack of accountability of various departments leading to outlandish expenditures on nonsensical items, both big and small, must be stopped. It is downright irresponsible spending with no returns to $$$. Some have no qualms about grabbing whatever they can while they can because they can. We must report any abuse of power! There is a lot that needs to be done. Those who have not been performing up to mark must not be allowed to contest in the next GE. Period. We have to put in place worthy leader to make that change happen. The good news is that we don't have to suffer all those negative traits much longer as we have the next GE before us. The opportunity to change the entire government is in our hands. Being highly connected via the net and telephony systems, we have become highly social beings who can be better prepared to change. It is up to us to be part of that wheel of change that is spinning.
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