Archive for July 3rd, 2009
Pakatan Rakyat’s second “crisis of confidence”
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Friday, 3 July 2009
(The headline for the Malaysian Insider “No let-up as Kit Siang continues attacks against PAS ahead of Kedah trip” is not correct, as it is not reflected in the contents of its report.
It implied that I was continuing to “attack” the Pakatan Rakyat government in Kedah. This is not the case.
It further implied that I had attacked the PR Kedah state government yesterday. This was also not the case.
Pakatan Rakyat is facing a second crisis of confidence and efforts must be made to resolve it.
This is why I am not only meeting the Kedah State DAP tomorrow but also have a dialogue with the people of Kedah in Alor Star tomorrow night. (New Straits Times today had wrongly reported that I would be meeting residents in the abbatoir area when I said I would be having a people’s dialogue in Alor Star).
Both the Malaysian Insider and New Straits Times report are reproduced below.)
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Federal intervention is only way out in Kampung Buah Pala, says Kit Siang
Posted by Kit in Finance, Penang Government on Friday, 3 July 2009
The Malaysian Insider
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — The DAP wants former Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to solve the Kampung Buah Pala fiasco by lobbying for federal intervention.
Lim claimed that Koh, now a federal minister, was responsible for the controversy as it was during the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s rule of Penang that the decision was made to alienate the land concerned to a private developer.
“I think the only solution is for Koh Tsu Koon as the former chief minister, who is responsible for this problem in Kampung Buah Pala, to take it up with the federal government and ask the federal government for an allocation or a grant to the Penang state for an amount necessary to have a win-win solution,” he said.
A small number of families in Kampung Buah Pala, in the Glugor area of Penang, are facing eviction after a private developer won outright ownership of the land recently.
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Call on Najib and Hishammuddin to respect public opinion on the need for a new IGP who can translate the Police Royal Commission’s vision of “an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service” into a reality
Yesterday, I said that the country needs a new Inspector-General of Police to provide new leadership and vision to regain public confidence in the ability of the Malaysian police to live up to the benchmarks set by the Police Royal Commission Report in 2005 to be an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service with the three core functions to reduce crime, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.
Instead, the current IGP, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, is lobbying support for another renewal of his term as the No. 1 police officer of the land instead of gracefully allowing a new IGP to take over the Malaysian police force.
No Minister or MP disputed me when I said in Parliament earlier this week that it is easy to give more than a hundred reasons why the country needs a new IGP and why Musa should not succeed in his lobby to get another term of renewal as IGP.
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Is Ong Tee Keat prepared to get declassification to submit all Cabinet minutes, memo and official papers on PKFZ to the PAC for a “tell all” probe into RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament, PKFZ on Friday, 3 July 2009
My three questions (No.103 to No. 105) on the 35th day in the current series to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:
First Question. On Wednesday, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decided to summon Barisan Nasional big-wigs like the two former Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, and the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) Chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing to testify in its inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.
We read in the press today the announcement by Tiong, who is also the CEO of Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB), the turkey developer for PKFZ that he would not attend the PAC inquiry to give any testimony.
This is a most extraordinary turn of events. Yesterday, Parliament just bulldozed through the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee set up to investigate into the intimidation and obstruction of DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh from carrying out his parliamentary duties in the parliamentary precincts on February 26 by Umno Youth leaders but which went outside its terms of reference to recommend the punishment of Karpal, myself and six other Pakatan Rakyat MPs for not attending or participating in the Select Committee’s inquiry.
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Procurement: A call for transparency
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Friday, 3 July 2009
By Tunku Abdul Aziz
JULY 2 — Public procurement is the single most important source of corruption in any country, including ours. This crucial process remains a great mystery to the public at large because it is shrouded in secrecy.
The mystery is heightened by the Official Secrets Act (OSA). The OSA has become a permanent fixture in many jurisdictions, and the Malaysian government is not about to toss it out of the window any time soon. The OSA hides a multitude of sins and it is an impediment to transparency.
The government finds comfort and safety by hiding all of its more questionable and corrupt actions that cannot stand close scrutiny behind the OSA. As we know, without transparency, there is no accountability.
Unethical public officials, including senior politicians whose numbers are growing according to independent surveys, stand to gain from a corrupt procurement system. They are not slow to create the entirely spurious impression that Malaysia operates a fair system, as good as any in the world, and they say that it should be left alone. Why, they point out, change a winning formula? But, is it really? In theory, yes, but the practice is an entirely different matter. The procurement system in Malaysia is more honoured in the breach than in the observance.
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