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Mahadzir should retract his words or quit

Posted: 31 Aug 2013 01:18 PM PDT

Is Mahdzir trying to tell us that oil spillages had never occurred before which causes the treatment plants to be shut down?

Stephen Ng, FMT letter

I cannot help but to lash out at Deputy Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Mahdzir Khalid when he started playing up the issue of Langat 2 dam again like an old record.

What has Langat 2 dam to do with the oil spillage in the first place? I thought Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim had said that it was necessary but priority had to be placed on reducing the non-revenue water (NRW), currently at 33%!

Is Mahdzir trying to tell us that oil spillages had never occurred before which causes the treatment plants to be shut down? The oil spillage that occurred on Friday was not as though it was a big crisis as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, that it had to take nearly three months from April to July 2010 to clean up.

The oil spillage in the case of Sungai Selangor, which occurred some 10km upstream, was arrested within 12 hours.

In the first place, the oil spillage was not as what he had claimed. He had said in Bernama that the spillage was due to an overturned diesel truck. Mahdzir, please show us evidence of the overturned truck and where and when that happened.

According to State Exco for Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment, Elizabeth Wong, the oil spillage had been identified coming from an illegal factory in Rawang, not from an overturned diesel truck as claimed by Mahdzir.

Even Natural Resources and Environment Minister G Palanivel had confirmed that the oil spill was due to a factory dumping lubricating oil (SW 305) into a drain, which went into Sungai Gong, and a significant amount subsequently flowed into Sungai Selangor, forcing the closure of the four water treatment plants.

Under such circumstances, the Federal Department of Environment has the power to prosecute the illegal factory under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127) 25(3):

Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both and to a further fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit a day for every day that the offence is continued after a notice by the Director General requiring him to cease the act specified therein has been served upon him

In the past, when oil spillages happened, water could be restored within a short period of time, but what is happening these days to Syabas? Is it incapable of putting the water supply back to normal? Why does it have to take three to five days for Syabas to restore the supply of water to over five million people in the Klang Valley?

Water happens to come under Mahdzir's ministry. Failure to restore water supply at the earliest possible time frame is a reflection of his ministry's own failure, and Mahdzir should resign over the statements that he made which did not augur well with his ministry's role to safeguard the people's interest.

As a customer of Syabas, I find it hard to believe that water cannot be restored within the shortest period possible, if not immediately. Water is a basic need, and there is no excuse for Syabas not to buck up! If anything, its chief executive officer who is receiving salaries in the millions of ringgit should be sacked for Syabas' failure to perform, and the entire corporation should be handed back to the Selangor State Government.

Any form of sabotage would only anger the people of Selangor, and for this, I would suggest that Mahdzir thinks twice of what he has to say. We are watching to see who is doing the job, and who is just shooting out of his mouth. Mahdzir should retract his words, or he is not fit for his post.

Pakatan's unity talks may offer a safe deposit for Najib's Prime Ministership‏‎

Posted: 31 Aug 2013 11:54 AM PDT

Kuo Yong Kooi

Unity talks is probably one of the most positive political news that the silent majority Rakyat has ever heard since the end of the last general election.

The initial skeptical response from some Umno quarters are just basic ego chest-thumping exercise of some typical politicians. Every politician would like to have the luxury of a last say and an upper hand over all matters.

There are many possible benefits of the roundtable talks. The opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has highlighted in his pre-Merdeka olive branch speech that the country is in an urgent need to address the deteriorating economy, racial and religious harmony, law and order issues.

If the roundtable talks is conducted in an open, free, frank and practical manner, it can tackle the multiple ills that our nation is facing at the moment. The country is in such a state of disarray on many areas that Umno alone will not be able to tackle the problems posed.

The unity talk could also mean a possible checkmate on Mahathir's hands on our nation's affairs. No wonder Mukriz Mahathir made his chest-thumping reaction like; "But after losing in the election petitions, he is making this offer. We cannot accept this". Yes, of course, his father will not be able to accept this. Perkasa will not accept this too if they have their way.

If Najib is working positively with Pakatan, the forces that support him in Umno might have greater strength in resisting Mahathir's marching orders from the background.

The unity talks also give hope for our nation to heal the current racial and religious rifts that might take us down the path of self-implosion. This is probably the last hope for a positive change or a turn around before we descent into an uglier scenario that might put our country back a few decades.

If in a hypothetical scenario where Najib loses his Umno presidency in the coming party election, the Parliament might still be able to uphold Najib's Premiership with the support from the Pakatan camp and others who thinks that the country is going in a wrong direction. The "others'" support can come from parliamentarians that are from East Malaysia, MCA, MIC and Gerakan.

The Umno delegates who are for Muhyiddin Yasin (if he intends to run for the top post) will have to think twice before voting him in as the new Umno president. This might not necessarily guarantee him the position of the Prime Minister of the country.

Someone in the Parliament can put a no-confidence motion on Muhyiddin if Najib is sidelined. If the the motion of no confidence sails through, a conscience vote can be called in parliament to determine who enjoys the confidence on the floor of the parliament.

We must also remember that there will be some liberals within the Umno ranks like Tengku Razaleigh who are able to lend support to Najib's Prime Ministership vote on the floor of our parliament, if push comes to shove.

This is a tectonic shift away from the tradition that Umno president is automatically the country's prime minister, instead the representatives of the people voted in a prime minister through a conscience vote on the floor of our parliament. That will be a sign of a maturing democracy for our country.

Some political pundits have predicted that talking with Pakatan will weakened Najib's position in the run-up of the Umno party elections.

On the contrary Najib might have the upper hand if he manages to come out with a positive working framework with Pakatan before the Umno party elections.

The Umno delegates would have to think hard on the likelihood of changing the tradition of the presidency's automatic Premiership of the country if they want Muhyiddin as their head.

However if Umno decides to re-elect Najib as the president of Umno, then the prime minister's post is his and he will be able to secure the tradition of the Umno president's automatic Premiership of the country.

Najib now might have an opening to secure his Prime Minister's position by choosing to accept the offer of a roundtable talks with Pakatan.

Some Pakatan supporters might think that the unity talk is a bad move by Anwar Ibrahim. My question to those who opposed to this idea is what if our country descent into chaos like Egypt and Syria?

The frequent racial and religious rows are clear signs indicating to us that we are going towards that direction. Would that dead end direction help our country mature into a democracy?

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Ahad, 1 September 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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