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Posted: 10 Nov 2011 03:30 PM PST

LIM GUAN ENG

As speculation rises whether Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak will call for snap elections on this auspicious date of 11 November 2011, there are 5 key reasons why Penang will not follow suit and hold concurrent elections with the federal parliamentary seats this year.

One, BN has still not fulfilled its promise to repeal the Internal Security Act and disbursed RM 500 to all households earning below RM3,000 per month. Questions are raised as to whether BN will conduct a mere cosmetic exercise of repealing the ISA but replacing it with two ISA-like laws. resulting in Malaysians ending up with two ISAs instead of one.

The disbursement of RM100 to students this year when this measure is included in the budget is for 2012 and not 2011 raises questions of legality especially when the 2012 Budget has still not being passed in Parliament. Further if the RM100 is to be paid this year when it is not budgeted in this year 2011 budget, where is the Federal government getting the money from.

Lest we forget Malaysia recorded a budget deficit this year as has been a deficit for 15 years. The National Deficit for 2010 is RM43.27billion, for 2011 is RM45.51 billion whilst the 2012 projected deficit for is RM43billion. (4.7% out of RM918 billion nominal GDP projected). Where is the Federal government going to get the extra RM530 million for giving to school students RM100 this year when it is not budgeted for 2011 and will only increase the 2011 deficit further?

Two, holding general elections now would be unfair to those performing the haj as they will be denied their right to vote and determine the next government. The last batch of the Haj pilgrims are not expected back until Dec 11 and almost 30,000 Malaysians went to Mecca to perform their pilgrimage

Three, the failure and refusal by the BN government to explain the misappropriation of funds, gross irregularities and abuses of power as outlined in the 2010 Auditor-General's Report. The 2010 Auditor-General Report reminds Malaysians of everything that is wrong in the BN Federal government. Night-vision marine binoculars costing only RM 1,940 are bought at a price of RM56,350, a TV LCD and DVD player bought with a contract price of RM16,100 was supplied with an inferior brand valued at only RM195; RM770,000 was spent to supply electricity to one house.

The Auditor-General's Report said nine ministries or departments had overspent their operating allocation for last year by a total of RM3.73 billion and even a Minister Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil is involved when a RM73.6 million cattle-farming project is given to her family's company. Her husband is the Executive Chairman while her son is the CEO. The rest of her children, meanwhile, are executive directors.

Many questions remained unanswered about this National Feedlot Corporation project in Gemas, Negri Sembilan. Chief amongst its failures is its production of only 3,289 heads in 2010 or 41.1 per cent of its intended target of 8,000 heads. The AG's report also cites poor management as a key factor and points to other failings such as its failure to train enough farmers, a 5,000-acre farmland that is overgrown and poor maintenance of its facilities.

Naturally, Malaysians are concerned about public money which includes an additional soft loan of RM250 million being used to fund this "family business", especially when it is turning out to be a monumental failure. In addition, Sharizat has still to deny reports of how the funds were used on non-cow related purposes including an allegation by PKR that nearly RM10 million was spent to purchase a high-end condominium.

Four, the Parliamentary Select Committee of Electoral Reforms have still not completed its hearings to carry out reforms to ensure a free, fair and clean elections. Failure to do so would permit the dirtiest general elections in history with phantom voters and illegal immigrants being transformed magically to citizens and voters in a few hours. Would Malaysia's destiny be determined by Malaysian citizens or phantom voters and illegal immigrants?

Five, the national agenda for the end of this year should be focused on flood prevention and mitigation. Malaysians should learn from the horrors of floods in Thailand that has caused tragic loss of life and huge financial losses. To hold general elections now during the rainy monsoon season when flood victims are more bothered about surviving than voting, would be not only be a denial of their democratic right of choice but cruel and inhumane.

If Najib insists on calling snap polls this year, then the Penang Pakatan Rakyat will hold a special convention where a recommendation will be made not to hold the state election together with the federal parliament.

“1311 Whack a Pinata Family Day at Taman Gelora”

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 03:04 PM PST

Save Malaysia Stop Lynas Media Brief

Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) to introduce a new interpretation of the piñata to mark residents' strong opposition of the Lynas rare earth project.

On Sunday 13th November 2011 at Taman Gelora, a family day will be held with an early morning line dancing follow by the "Whack a piñata" action and the signing of a pledge to do what it takes to stop the Lynas project.

Traditionally, a piñata is a papier-mâché that is filled with goodies and then broken as part of a ceremony in Mexico and many Latin-American countries. On Sunday, 26 colourful and stunningly handmade piñatas will be hung up at various locations around the lake for this ritual. Participants will take turn to whack the piñata to symbolise their anger and frustration towards the Lynas rare earth project. Samples of these piñatas will be shown at the press conference today.

"This Sunday is a family day for mums and dad, grandparents and kids to take part in healthy activities in the beautiful surrounding of Taman Gelora" says Mr Tan Bun Teet, Chairman of SMSL.

"The clean air and beautiful surrounding of Taman Gelora is a reminder of what a lovely place Kuantan is. We cannot afford to simply sit back to let a foreign company ruined our future and the good life we have work so hard for."

It has been nearly eight months since residents learnt about the construction of the world's largest rare earth plant at the Gebeng industrial site in March of this year from the New York Times. SMSL was formed soon after in response to the fear and the public outcry to provide a platform for ordinary citizens – mums and dads and local businesses as well as professionals - to campaign to protect our beloved homeland from being contaminated by dangerous toxic waste of the Lynas plant.

Since then, SMSL together with other groups have concertedly staged regular protest actions and engaged with the media, politicians and authorities both in Malaysia and in Australia. Tens of thousands of people have taken part to show their opposition to the project to date and the movement is growing in Pahang and around the country as well as in Australia.

Peoples' power has so far managed to force the Government to take a closer look into the hazards and risks of the plant and the issuing of the operating licence has been delayed as a result. Until people turned up in force and in numbers, the authorities were complacent.

Earlier this year, the director-general of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) Raja Datuk Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan had merely repeated Lynas' public relation spin that the waste from the Lynas rare earth plant is so safe that it can be scattered everywhere. The AELB had once said the now closed Mitsubishi Asian Rare Earth plant in Bukit Merah, Perak was safe too, even with abnormally high number of fatal leukemia cases, birth defects and other health problems in the nearby towns.

Likewise the Menteri Besar of Pahang had said that the radiation from the rare earth ore was far weaker than that of mobile phones, completely ignoring the long term problem, health hazards and the risk pose by millions of tonnes of waste that would be left by the rare earth plant in all states – solid, liquid and gas. Each year, the amount of solid waste alone is enough to fill 126 standard Olympic size swimming pools! This waste will remain hazardous from the radioactive thorium and uranium as well as the range of by-products resulting from the use of highly concentrated acids and other corrosive substances in the processing of rare earth concentrate.

One wonders if the MB is aware that millions of tonnes of waste water will be discharged into our waters potentially polluting our riverine, mangrove and marine ecosystems contaminating our seafood and lovely coastline and the South China Sea.

On top of that, the plant will be emitting huge amount of waste gas into our atmosphere, posing additional risks of acid rain with radioactive particles. The Malaysian regulators and authorities seemed to be ignorant of the scientific fact that radioactive particles from the various waste streams will enter the natural environment. Low radioactive particles tended to accumulate within organism in the ecosystem and they will find their way into the food chain and hence to the general population. This concern is real and urgent because thorium has a half-life of 14 billion years which means the radioactive particles will be hazardous and dangerous for as long as the human lifespan on earth!

At a time when coastal and marine tourism are beginning to gain some grounds in Pahang, the Lynas rare earth project has essentially halted any hope of further development in ecotourism and in the high-end tourism sector which are friendly to the natural environment whilst helping to boost small to medium scale local businesses and services vital to the livelihoods and income generation for the majority of the people.

Yet we find the Chairman of the Pahang Tourism, Arts, Heritage and Family Development Committee, Datuk Shafik Fauzan quoted in Sinar Harian in October 24th alleging that SMSL should focus on picking rubbish and not picking on the Lynas rare earth project! One wonders if Datuk Shafik truly understands the implication and impact of the Lynas project on tourism and family for him to make such a statement. He should be on SMSL's side to fight for the integrity of the tourism industry. After all who will want to spend money to come to holiday near the world's largest rare earth plant?

In consideration of the range of hazards and risks, the best solution to keep Kuantan and the surrounding towns and our environment as well as food clean and safe is to get rid of the plant. After all, it was constructed without our knowledge let alone our free prior informed consent!

Why should we the citizens shoulder the burden of proof and the risks when the entire project benefits primarily a foreign corporation? The granting of the 12-year tax break is most puzzling and worrying when the country needs all the revenue we can collect to progress. Why should the Lynas Corporation enjoy a pioneer status when we already had a costly and nasty experience with the now shut-down Asian Rare Earth plant?

The recent revelation by the AELB that Lynas Corporation has failed to meet any of the conditions set out by the Government is a step in the right direction. It is a stark contrast to Raja Datuk Aziz's earlier careless dismissal of public concern. Similarly, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister for International Trade and Industry (MITI) has very recently slammed Lynas Corporation for pre-empting the government by repeatedly project unrealistic early start dates in the media for its Gebeng rare earth plant.

Clearly, Lynas Corporation has proven itself to be a recalcitrant company that have consistently misled its shareholders and potential customers on the progress of its plant against advice by the Malaysian authorities and against the reality on the ground. Why then is our Government allowing the plant construction to be continued?

How can we trust such a corporation to operate a plant that will produce so much hazardous waste when it is already not facing up with its home truth? How can we trust our government to be vigilant when it has continued to tolerate Lynas' risky modus operandi? How can Lynas take us seriously when our Government has done nothing to show Lynas Corporation that we mean business by putting an immediate stop to its construction when it failed to meet government's requirement?

It is on these bases that SMSL has to continue to do our duty to keep the public informed and to keep creating democratic space for ordinary citizens, mums and dads to take part in legitimate activities to show their concerns.

SMSL fear this Sunday's action may well be given the same treatment as the 109 Himpunan Hijau gathering with the government deploying large force of tax payers funded security forces to stop ordinary citizens and their family from taking part in a community event with a legitimate message to keep dangerous project out of our country.

Already we have been informed of empty tents being set up at Taman Gelora to take away public space and to create excuse for the authority to stop the 1311 event. We also heard that the police force has recalled all its personnel from their leave in preparation for the Sunday event.

Why are our hard earned taxes being used to safeguard a foreign corporation's interest when in the end our taxes will be needed to clean up and manage any accident and dangerous pollution from the plant?

How can the state apparatus funded by our own taxes be used to safeguard Lynas' interests in a supposedly democratic nation such as Malaysia?
SMSL cannot afford to do nothing. Doing nothing now will lead to the demise of the lovely city of Kuantan leaving a toxic legacy for the future generations and a costly burden for all Malaysians.

If Lynas is allowed to proceed despite our strong opposition and show of strength, we will be sending a message to the dirty polluting industry the world over that Malaysia is a haven for toxic projects with lax environmental law enforcement. This is a dangerous message to be sending out when industrialised nations are forced to drastically cut their greenhouse gas emissions and shelved their nuclear plans. They will not be any shortage of dirty polluting projects looking for a home to park tax-free under lax environmental conditions. We simply cannot allow Malaysia to become their haven!

"All of our active members and supporters love Kuantan dearly. They have toiled and work hard to build their homes here and they want a clean and safe future for their family and their children and grandchildren."

"They will and have pledged to do everything possible to stop the Lynas rare earth project." Concludes Mr Tan.

Thousands of local people have already signed a pledge to do whatever it takes to stop the Lynas project. Many thousands more will join with time.

SMSL will continue act as a voice of the people to tell the Government and Lynas Corporation that the rare earth plant has no place in Malaysia.

UBF Urges CM to Intervene in Sukau Tragedy

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 01:03 PM PST

"Several villagers even reported to me that the local assemblyman was in his car during the operation to bulldoze the houses, and even at one point urging the bulldozer's driver, 'Tunggu apa lagi?' (What else are you wating for?)," he said. "If this is true, it proves that the assemblyman is in cahoots with the company."

By Raymond Tombung

Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan is urging the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman, to take an urgent step to intervene into what it calls the 'Sukau Tragedy' in which houses are being bulldozed by a company which wants natives to vacate an NCR land.

In an urgent appeal made here, the UBF Chairman, reported that he had just returned from a visit to the site of Kampung Km. 6, Jalan Sukau, Sandakan where he personally witnessed the debris of two houses which have already been bulldozed by Syarikat Campo Sdn. Bhd. which claims to have receive the title to the land, and considered the people there as intruders although they have been there since 1989.

"The Tombonuo natives of the village had applied for the land since then but their application was never processed," he said.

"But strangely the said company, owned by Dato' Naser Yeo, Azlan Naser, and Kan Kan Mun, claims to have received the title to the land in 2008. But the record shows that the RSP for the land was issued only last year. Clearly there is a discrepancy somewhere, possibly due to some hanky-panky."

He said the village head, Kattif Kussoi, had informed him that the villagers are really distraught by the whole development, and are asking for the authorities to do something. Unfortunately, no party seems to he interested in helping them.

Jeffrey lamented the fact that before issuing the land title to the company, the Land and surveys Department didn't even bother to inspect the land to see if there were already occupants on it.

"And it is also unbelievable that the department would have been unaware that there are 29 original applicants to the land," he added. "As of today 11 applicants have withdrawn their applications, leaving 18 remaining applications."

He said that if the State Government is truly concerned for the people, the Chief Minister would immediately order a stoppage of the company's 'inhuman rampage' against the poor natives. "This incident is unconscionable," he said. "And a government who claims to defend the people cannot allow this to happen."

He propose that the State Government must sit down to form a special task force to look into all cases involving this kind of land grabs that violates the people Native Customary Rights.

"This kind of cases have been rampant in Sabah , to the point that the Malaysian Human rights Commission (Suhakam) has been involved very deeply in it," he urged. "But sadly, there seems to have been no solution, and the inhuman act, which seems to suggest we are living in a despotic authoritarian regime, is still happening."

He said the people are feeling that the government leaders and officials are now so corrupt that they no longer have any feeling for the people, but are working with big companies for their personal interests.

"They feel that even the laws are no longer able to protect them," he lamented," he said. "Why is the government continuing to turn blind eye on these cases when the people are repeatedly being reassured that only the Barisan Nasional can guarantee their wellbeing and future? Can the government really pretend to be deaf while the people continue to be victimized and marginalized at the benefit of big companies from outside Sabah?"

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Jumaat, 11 November 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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