Archive for category Good Governance
2nd Kong Choy scandal – suspend RM450-RM500 million e-Kesihatan middlemen rent-seeking scam
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Health on Wednesday, 19 September 2007
The week-long controversy over the e-kesihatan scheme has created more doubts and confusion, with the public presented with a plethora of conflicting accounts while the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy emerged from the controversy in a very sorry and worst possible light.
From the present RM10 payment for renewal of public service vehicle (PSV), goods driving licence (GDL) and conductor licence (KON) holders, the Road Transport Department is to introduce a new mandatory health screening scheme beginning on Oct. 1 which would cost RM80 a year for a million commercial drivers.
In the latest revised figures in the Sun today, Datuk Nordin Yahaya, the executive director of Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd, the concessionaire awarded the monopoly for this scheme, claims that of the RM80, the company gets RM8 and Pos Malaysia RM2, while RM10 is for operating costs, RM35 go to the doctors and RM25 to laboratories.
Only three days earlier on Sunday, Nordin had given different breakdowns — i.e. doctors paid between RM35 and RM45, laboratories between RM25 and RM35, Post Malaysia RM2 and Supreme Systems Sdn. Bhd between RM8 and RM10.
These figures have been disputed by the Koperasi Doktor Malaysia Bhd chairman Dr. J. S. Deo who said that the laboratory tests for the e-Kesihatan screening cost less than RM7, and not between RM25 and RM35 as claimed by Nordin earlier. Read the rest of this entry »
Cabinet Wednesday should direct all Ministers with ministries implicated in AG’s 2006 Report to appear before PAC
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament on Monday, 17 September 2007
Malaysians are quite weary of the annual season of farce of the Audit-General’s Report exposing year-in and year-out corruption, criminal breach of trust and mismanagement of public funds followed by the chorus of responses from the Public Accounts Committee, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and even from the Prime Minister and the relevant Ministers of investigations and remedial action not only to deal with the errant culprits but to ensure that there could be no more recurrence of such betrayal of public trust — all to taper off into public amnesia after a few days of media banner headlines until the ritual is repeated in the following year.
Last Tuesday (11th September 2007), the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said at the Cabinet meeting the previous week (5th September), he had directed all ministers concerned to explain to the Cabinet why their ministries have been accused of mismanaging funds and other irregularities. He said “each and every matter raised must be explained in detail”.
Three questions immediately come to mind, viz:
- Firstly, why did Abdullah delay for more than two months before raising the subject in the Cabinet when he had first received the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report at the end of June? Even the ACA director-general Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan had publicly admitted that the ACA had received copies of the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report “sometime ago” and that the ACA had begun investigations into the Auditor-General’s 2006 Report “long before it was tabled in Parliament” on September 7;
- Secondly, will Ministers be required to explain to the Cabinet on Wednesday why their ministries have been accused of mismanaging funds and other irregularities, with each and every matter raised by the Auditor-General to be explained in detail? Will the Prime Minister report to the nation at the end of Wednesday’s meeting of the Ministers who have given satisfactory explanations and those who have failed to do so, and what he proposes to do with the latter? Or there is no real intention whatsoever to hold a Cabinet inquest into the corruption and mismanagement of public funds into the various ministries as exposed in the 2006 Auditor-Gneeral Report?
- Thirdly, why are the Ministers only required to explain to the Cabinet and not to Parliament and the nation?
As all Ministers owe a higher duty to Parliament and the nation to comply with the principles of accountability, probity and integrity, the Cabinet on Wednesday should direct all Ministers whose past or present ministries had been implicated in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report for mismanagement of funds to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to assume full responsibility and end all the annual “bellyaching” about taking action by various authorities but without any concrete follow-up results. Read the rest of this entry »
Hishammuddin should set example for all Ministers & volunteer to appear before PAC
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament on Sunday, 16 September 2007
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad’s description of the PAC as having “No bite but we can chase the truth” will not be agreed by many.
In an interview with New Sunday Times, Shahrir had responded in a Q & A as follows:
Q: Some have described the PAC as a toothless tiger.
A: We cannot bite because we are not an enforcement agency.
But we can exert enough pressure and provide the relevant agencies, like the ACA, enough evidence.
The ACA works closely with us.
We are also free to revisit any case at any time we want if we are not happy with the follow-up action.
We have the power to order a review of the case, like what we did with the Middle Ring Road 2.
For us, a case is never closed.
Shahrir’s answer begs two questions:
Firstly, how many cases can the PAC claim credit as having provided the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) with enough evidence to prosecute, let alone convict, corrupt or errant public officials. As far as I know, the PAC score on this is zero. I am prepared to be proven wrong by Shahrir.
Secondly, can the PAC really pursue a case to the highest reaches of responsibility to get to the very bottom of every instance of mismanagement of public funds? Read the rest of this entry »
Auditor-General’s Reports – ACA DG admits past impotence but will it be different this time?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance on Saturday, 15 September 2007
I thank the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Director-General Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan for inadvertently confirming what I had said in Parliament during the 2008 Budget debate on Tuesday — that the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report had been completed on 28th June 2007 and would have been submitted to the government shortly after.
I posed these questions in Parliament:
“Why are Cabinet Ministers only beginning to wake up now to the gross mismanagement, waste and abuse of public funds more than two months of the completion of the Auditor-General’s Report?
“Would the Ministers reacted to these gross mismanagement of public funds if no publicity had been given to the Auditor-General’s Report?
“Were all the Ministers aware of and had approved the explanations which the various government departments had given, some most ridiculous and most unacceptable, to the strictures of the Auditor-General’s Report and which had been tabled in the House?
“Is every Minister prepared to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to personally assume responsibility for the mismanagement of public funds highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report?”
When the Auditor-General’s Report is dated June 28, 2007, it would mean that it had been submitted to the Yang di Pertuan Agong under Article 107 of the Constitution, with copies available to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and relevant heads of Ministries and departments in a matter of days. Read the rest of this entry »
4-star accountability index – ministers should resign and SGs removed for failed rating of one star of less than 50%
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, public service on Saturday, 15 September 2007
The proposal by the Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang to introduce from next year the accountability index which will award star ratings to all ministries, state governments and statutory bodies for their management of public funds, is a great and very innovative initiative that must be lauded by all quarters.
Ambrin said the accountability index will be an objective assessment of the financial performance of ministries, departments and state governments.
Marks will be given according to performance and will be translated into star ratings to measure compliance, viz:
- 4 stars — Excellent (90% – 100%)
- 3 stars — Good (70% – 89%)
- 2 stars — Satisfactory (50% – 69%)
- 1 star — Not Satisfactory (49% and below)
The promotion of secretaries-general and heads of department will also be tied to the index of their financial management performance.
When introducing the 2008 Budget speech last Friday, the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had emphasized the priority and importance of raising the level of performance of the civil service, which is critical in sustaining the competitiveness of the nation, especially in the context of increasing globalization. Read the rest of this entry »
Letter to PM – urgent response to issues raised in budget debate in Parliament like RM4.6b PKFZ bailout, RM8.1b dev. est. discrepancy , e-Kesihatan rip-off
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Good Governance, Parliament on Friday, 14 September 2007
I have written to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, asking him to respond to urgent issues raised in the first three days of the 2008 Budget in Parliament which cannot wait for Ministerial replies some two months later scheduled for early November when the Dewan Rakyat reconvenes on Oct. 22 after the 39-day break for the fasting month and Hari Raya holidays.
I listed four urgent issues which had been raised in Parliament in the first three days of budget debate earlier this week and which are crying out for immediate government response and action, viz:
1. The RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal
Accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance principles demand instant end of the government’s denial syndrome both in and outside Parliament about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal — particularly at a time when the Prime Minister is trying to assure Malaysians that the government means business and would not brook any hanky-panky following the shocking exposes of the pervasive culture of impunity, corruption, waste and mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Reports.
When compared to the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal, the corruption and mismanagement of millions or tens of millions of ringgit of funds exposed by the 2006 Auditor-General’s Reports were mere “chicken-feed”.
However, if the Cabinet can be so irresponsible as to continue to deny that there is a RM4.6 billion bailout of the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, while the culture of impunity persists in providing immunity from legal and accountability consequences for those responsible for the RM4.6 billion bailout when the government had right from the start been given a very categorical assurance that the PKFZ project was feasible, self-financing and would not require a single ringgit of public funding, a wrong message is being sent out – that all the public hullabaloo over the Auditor-General’s Reports 2006 are mere “sandiwara” and not meant to be taken seriously, as absolutely nothing would ensue. Read the rest of this entry »
Challenge to ACA – disclose how many persons had been arrested/prosecuted for corruption from previous Auditor-General reports
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Parliament on Thursday, 13 September 2007
In China, a senior official at the Agricultural Bank of China was executed for corruption following years of ordering suppliers to pay him kickbacks. Wen Mengjie, 50, former head of information technology at one of the bank’s Beijing branches, was executed Tuesday for embezzling and taking bribes worth 15 million yuan (USD1.97 million).
In the Philippinnes, former president Joseph Estrada was sentenced to jail in prison after he was found guilty of massive corruption and plundering the country of tens of millions of dollars in tax kickbacks and bribes.
In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced he would resign after being dogged by a string of damaging scandals that hampered his reform agenda.
What do we have in Malaysia? Another year of shocking revelations of corruption, criminal breach of trust, overspending and mismanagement of funds by the Auditor-General, Tan Sri Amrin Buang — with the apt headline of the the New Straits Times yesterday “Same old story year in year out” — while the culture of impunity reigns on without anyone in high office having to bear responsibility for corruption and abuse of power. Read the rest of this entry »
PM should immediately respond to urgent issues raised in 2008 budget debate like PKFZ scandal and e-kesihatan and not wait until early Nov
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament on Wednesday, 12 September 2007
I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also the Finance Minister, to respond to urgent issues raised in the first three days of the 2008 Budget and not to delay for some two months until early November — particularly on pressing public interest issues like the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone bailout scandal and the outcry over the new rip-off of the e-kesihatan monopoly concession awarded to Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd without tender.
The Dewan Rakyat will adjourn for a 39-day break over the fasting month and Hari Raya holidays, resuming on October 22. This would mean that the 13-day general debate for the 2008 Budget before the ministerial reply would be broken up into two parts, three days this week and 10 days from 22nd October to 6th November, with Ministers beginning their reply on November 7, 2007.
There is something very wrong with the whole notion that issues raised in Parliament during the first three days of the 2008 Budget this week are only answered by Ministers two months later — especially with regard to pressing public interest issues demanding immediate response and action, particularly urgent matters like the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PFKZ) bailout scandal and the outcry over the new rip-off of the e-kesihatan monopoly concession awarded to Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd without tender.
Accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance principles demand instant end of the government’s denial syndrome both in and outside Parliament about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal — particularly at a time when the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers are trying to assure Malaysians that they meant business and would not brook any hanky-panky following the shocking exposes of the pervasive culture of impunity, corruption, waste and mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report.
Abdullah said in Kuching yesterday that he had directed all Cabinet ministers to go through the Auditor-General’s report in detail and to fully explain anything that is questionable. Read the rest of this entry »
Liong Sik’s last act as Transport Minister on May 28, 2003 – unlawfully signing first of four “Letters of Support” for KDSB bonds resulting in RM4.6b PKFZ bailout scandal?
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament, Transport on Tuesday, 11 September 2007
The Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi began his 2008 budget speech reminding Malaysians of its significance and historic circumstances — on the occasion of the nation’s 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations and the first Budget as the nation enters the second 50-year phase as an independent state.
To me, the 2008 budget was even more significant — as it was an acid test as to whether the Prime Minister was finally going to “walk the talk” of his National Integrity Plan and keep his pledge to Malaysians that he would lead a clean, incorruptible, accountable, transparent, trustworthy and responsible administration and that he would not countenance the culture of impunity among his Ministers and public officials — or whether he would break his final pledge that he would not approve mega-billion-ringgit bailout of “white-elephant” projects (as all his other pledges of good governance have already been broken).
I was very disappointed by Abdullah’s 2008 Budget, for he had failed this acid test.
There was not a word about the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal — the largest financial scandal at the start of any Prime Minister in Malaysia, even bigger than the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal which led off the Mahathir premiership more than two decades ago.
Tun Dr. Mahathir had said at the time that the RM2.5 billion BMF scandal was a “heinous crime without criminals”. Are we having another bigger “heinous crime without criminals” in the form of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal under the Abdullah administration?
Abdullah had failed as both Prime Minister and Finance Minister in not giving a full and satisfactory accounting of the government bailout of the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to set an example of government accountability and financial integrity to all Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries.
This is because in the past two weeks, the Transport Minister, Datuk Chan Kong Choy (before he suddenly went on medical leave, sparking political speculation whether he is resigning from the Cabinet), the Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Dr. Awang Adek bin Husin and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Finance Ministry, Datuk Seri Dr. Helmi bin Yahaya had been misleading Parliament and the nation about the true nature and character of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal. Read the rest of this entry »
E-kesihatan – another parasitic rent-seeking monopoly?
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Health on Tuesday, 11 September 2007
The medical profession is up in arms against the latest e-Kesihatan scheme which was officially announced by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) deputy director-general Solah Mat Hassan yesterday, requiring drivers of commercial vehicles from next month to pass a medical test done at clinics appointed by an associate company of Fomema Sdn. Bhd, Supremme Systems Sdn Bhd.
Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd has been awarded a monopoly to carry out such medical tests which would enable it to make profits in the region of hundreds of millions of ringgit in the 15-year monopoly awarded by the Transport Ministry.
This appears to be the latest example of a parasitic rent-seeking rip-off at the expense of the public as there is already a system in place to provide medical tests for commercial drivers involving medical practitioners with the JPJ directly, which can be further improved to deal with abuses or weaknesses instead of creating a new system which is more rent-seeking in nature than entrepreneurial.
I have received an email from an infuriated medical practitioner on the letter of registration sent by Supremme Systems Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Pantai Holding Sdn Bhd to primarycare doctors in the Klang Valley to pay RM100.00 as registration fee and requesting particulars of each clinic.
The letter states that to participate in the medical examination of Goods Drivers Licence (GDL) and Public Service Vehicle (PSC) licence renewal annually by commercial vehicle drivers, the private doctors must use their ICT. This letter demands reply and payment within 10 days. Read the rest of this entry »
AG’s exposes of fund mismanagement – “chicken-feed” compared to RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament on Tuesday, 11 September 2007
In his budget speech, Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said raising the level of performance of the civil service is critical in sustaining the competitiveness of the nation, especially in the context of globalization. He said it is timely for best practices and the culture of high performance to be adopted in the civil service to drive further improvements in performance.
However, the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report on the third full year of the Abdullah premiership with its litany of waste and abuse of public funds running into tens and hundreds of million of ringgit shows that far from an improvement, there is probably a worsening, in public service culture — with Parliament being reminded constantly with the disgraceful leakage despite RM200 million renovation, with a small waterfall at the media room yesterday.
Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on Sunday that ministries must answer for the instances of mismanagement disclosed in the Auditor-General’s Report and the Second Finance Minister, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop ordered all departments in the Treasury to check cases highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report.
One Minister after another is trying to rebut he strictures contained in the Auditor-General’s report, like the payment of RM224 for a RM32 set of screwdrivers, paying RM1,146 for a set of pens costing RM 160, paying RM5,700 for a car jack worth RMN50, the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) paying RM5.59 million in advance to 4,183 students who did not apply for a loan and other horror stories.
All the reactions by Ministers are not only locking the stable door after the horses have bolted, but empty public posturings — including that of Najib as he is also Defence Minister who has to fully explain the largest single case of misuse of funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report — the RM6.75 billion scandal of six Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) that have either not been delivered or not operational and the increase of their contract price twice from RM4.9 billion to RM6.75 billion or 38 percent. Read the rest of this entry »
Batu Burok riot – immediate independent public inquiry warranted
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Human Rights, Police on Monday, 10 September 2007
(Speech on the 2008 Budget in Parliament on Monday, 10th September 2008)
I must start with the shameful episode to the nation, which marred not only the presentation of the 2008 budget but also the 50th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations — the police firing live bullets at a ceramah crowd at Batu Burok, Kuala Terengganu on Saturday night and wounding two and the ensuing confrontation between the crowd and the police.
In 24 hours, the minimal “feel good” effect created by the 2008 Budget had been destroyed by two incidents – the police contempt for human rights and excessive use of force in Batu Burok on Saturday night and the latest Auditor-General’s Reports highlighting continuing widespread and incorrigible government inefficiency and waste of public funds.
All Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs, are shocked by what happened in Batu Burok on Saturday night, especially with the mainstream media carrying screaming headlines like “750 pembangkang merusuh, rosakkan harta awam di Terengganu” (Utusan Malaysia), “4 polis cedera rusuhan di Kuala Terengganu” (Berita Harian), “RM1m damage, 23 held in riot” (New Straits Times), “Ceramah clash” (The Star), “23 held and 7 injured in riot” (The Sun).
Why did a traditionally peaceful ceramah organized by Bersih, a coalition of political parties and NGOs campaigning for free and fair elections degenerate into a confrontation between the police and the crowd, turning it into a “riot” with police firing live bullets, resulting in four being hospitalized and 23 arrested?
Isn’t it a reflection of failure of the police to uphold law and order when what would have been a peaceful ceramah ended up into a “riot” between the police and the crowd?
Who must bear responsibility for the disgraceful incident in Kuala Teregganu — the police or the ceramah organizers?
The police has only itself to blame when its official account, giving full publicity by the mainstream media, both printed and electronic, are suspect as history has shown that official accounts, whether police or that of other authorities, could give distorted and very one-sided accounts.
The best example was the Kesas Highway Incident on 5th November 2000, where I was personally present, with the members of the public who had gathered peacefully for a rally treated like criminals by the police, which indiscriminately fired tear gas and water cannons. Read the rest of this entry »
MCA blames Malacca State Secretary as “Little Napoleon” – another sandiwara
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Politics on Saturday, 8 September 2007
MCA Youth leader and Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai yesterday launched a ferocious attack on the Malacca State Secretary, Datuk Ismail Salleh, labeling him as a “Little Napoleon” responsible for the unilateral, arbitrary, high-handed and insensitive 2,000-strong operation to forcibly cull tens of thousands of pigs in Malacca, forcing a nine-hour standoff with defenceless men, women and children in Paya Mengkuang on Tuesday, Sept. 4.
Liow claimed that Ismail launched the massive multi-agency operation without approval by the Malacca State Government. He described what happened on Tuesday as a blot to the 50th Merdeka anniversary which could not be tolerated.
In a speech in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Liow put the whole blame on Ismail in unilaterally resorting to force against defenceless men, women and children when the state government was still discussing how to resolve the pig-rearing problem, stressing that such insubordination by Ismail should not be allowed to recur. (Sin Chew)
Liow’s speech has come as a shock for two reasons:
Firstly, why he is blaming the Malacca state secretary as “Little Napoleon” for the unilateral, arbitrary, high-handed and insensitive 2,000-strong operation to forcibly cull tens of thousands of pigs in Malacca on Sept. 4, mobilizing Police FRU, water cannons and even police helicopter, resulting in a nine-hour standoff with defenceless men, women and children, when the whole operation was clearly on the directive of Chief Minister Ali Rustam?
Secondly, if Liow absolves Ali Rustam from responsibility (which cast a severe aspersion on his competence and capability as Malacca Chief Minister), are the MCA leaders both at national and state levels demanding that serious disciplinary action be taken against the Malacca state secretary — at minimum his immediate removal?
Clearly, a person who could act in so unilateral, arbitrary, high-handed and insensitive a fashion, committing gross insubordination as well completely heedless of the sensitivities of a plural society, is not fit to continue a single day in such a high office as the No. 1 civil servant in the state government. Read the rest of this entry »
RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal – most improper for Nazri to tell PAC Chairman Shahrir to “shut up”
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament, Transport on Saturday, 8 September 2007
It was most improper and unwarranted for the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to tell Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad to “shut up” about the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigation into the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal especially when Nazri is an interested party, being a member of the Cabinet which decided on the bailout.
On Thursday, the PAC had a two-hour meeting on the PKFZ bailout scandal, with a briefing by the Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang, who was accompanied by an accountant and administrative staff and Transport Ministry officials, including its secretary-general Datuk Zakaria Bahari and representatives from the finance, planning and port divisions.
After the two-hour meeting, Shahrir as PAC Chairman told the press that the PAC was “unsatisfied” with how the meeting went.
Shahrir said: “The problem with the Port Klang Free Zone is far bigger than what the papers have reported. Far too many questions were left unanswered.”
It was over Shahrir’s comments that Nazri blew his top yesterday, telling Sin Chew Daily that Shahrir should “shut up” on the ground that it was wrong to talk to the press before the end of the PAC investigation.
This was not the first time that Shahrir as PAC Chairman had made comments about ongoing PAC investigations in the past three years but Nazri had never voiced any objections in the past.
Why is Nazri so sensitive and high-strung now over the PAC investigation into the RM4.6 billion bailout scandal? Is it because Nazri has a vested interest, being an interested party as a Minister of the Cabinet which had approved the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout?
It is Nazri who should “shut up” about PAC investigation into the PKFZ scandal and not interfere with the independence of the PAC to carry out its tasks mandated by Parliament as the PAC is answerable to Parliament and not to Nazri, though he is Minister in charge of parliamentary affairs for the Cabinet. Read the rest of this entry »
Pig-rearing crisis in Malacca – utterly meaningless advice by Fong Chan Onn
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Friday, 7 September 2007
The Cabinet decision that Malacca pig farmers can apply for aid from Bank Negara’s Fund for Food to install proper waste system is utterly meaningless when MCA Ministers and leaders have agreed to ban pig-rearing activities outside Paya Mengkuang in Malacca and the reduction to 48,000 heads of pigs in the state by Sept. 21.
Yesterday, the Human Resources Minister and MP for Alor Gajah, Datuk Seri Dr. Fong Chan Onn told reporters in Parliament that pig farmers from Kampung Bukit Beruang, Kampung Man Lok and Paya Mengkuang in Malacca should apply for aid from Bank Negara’s Fund for Food to install a proper waste system.
Can Fong explain what is the use of such advice to the pig farmers in Bukit Beruang and Man Lok as well as other areas in Malacca state outside Paya Mengkuang when MCA leaders led by him – totally without consultation, mandate or agreement of the pig farmers – had agreed in negotiations at the Masjid Tanah Umno headquarters on Tuesday (4th September) complied with two demands:
- Ban on all pig-rearing activities in Malacca state apart from Paya Mengkuang; and
- Reduction of the pig population in Malacca state to 48,000 heads by Sept. 21, which involved the culling or removal out of the state of some 6,000 heads a day for the 17-day period.
Fong should explain what was the use of his going to the Cabinet the next day (Wednesday September 5) to get approval to extend Bank Negara’s Fund for Food aid to pig farmers in Malacca to install proper waste system when he had agreed a day earlier to the ban on all pig farming activities outside Paya Mengkuang in the state?
Wasn’t this a totally empty and meaningless gesture?
Why didn’t Fong secure Cabinet approval very much earlier for all pig farmers in Malacca state to be able to get aid from Bank Negara’s Fund for Food to install proper waste system which would have averted the nine-hour standoff between 2,000-strong multi-agency contingent drawn from Police FRU, Rela, Immigration, state and local government enforcement personnel on the one hand and defenceless men, women and children with the latter forming human barricades at Paya Mengkuang to defend their very livelihood! Read the rest of this entry »
RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal – let Abdullah justify it in the 2008 Budget tomorrow
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament, Transport on Thursday, 6 September 2007
When presenting the 2008 budget tomorrow, the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should explain the full case for the government bailout of the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to set an example of government accountability and financial integrity to all Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries.
This is because for the past two days, both the Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Dr. Awang Adek bin Husin and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Finance Ministry, Datuk Seri Dr. Helmi bin Yahaya had been misleading Parliament and the nation about the true nature and character of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal.
In the 2007 supplementary estimates, the Finance Ministry asked for RM260 million for Port Klang Authority without giving any explanation as to its true purpose.
It was from my exchange with Helmi during the winding-up of the debate at the committee stage yesterday that it emerged that the RM260 million sum was the first amount of the RM4.6 billion government bailout for PKFZ, as beginning this year, the first annual payment of RM520 million for the RM4.6 billion bailout for the bonds raised by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd — the PKFZ turkey contractor – has to be made.
It was also only after I had made persistent demand, declaring that this was information that Parliament and Malaysian taxpayers have right to access, that Helmi read out the schedule of repayments in the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout, viz:
2007 – RM510 million
2008 – RM660 million
2009 – RM660 million
2010 – RM772 million
2011 – RM487 million
2012 – RM733 million
2013 – RM170 million
2014 – RM170 million
2015 – RM170 million
2016 – RM170 million
2017 – RM179 million
Total – RM4,681 million
However, Helmi like Awang Adek in Parliament on Tuesday suffered from the denial syndrome and denied that this was a RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout by the government. Both also refused to answer specific questions which I posed to them. Read the rest of this entry »
Revoke arbitrary/high-handed directive to cull or remove 6,000 pigs a day from Malacca for 17 days till Sept 21
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Thursday, 6 September 2007
The Malacca state government directive to reduce the number of pigs in the state to 48,000 heads requiring culling or removal of some 6,000 pigs a day till September 21 is most arbitrary, unreasonable and inconsiderate and should be immediately revoked.
Although the Housing and Local Government Minister and MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said after the Cabinet meeting yesterday which discussed the pig-farming issue in Malacca that the Cabinet was not stopping the pig-farming activity, such a statement is made meaningless by the high-handed action of the Malacca state government requiring the culling or removal from the state of some 6,000 pigs a day for a 17-day period till Sept. 21.
The mobilization of some 2,000 personnel from various agencies, including the Police Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), Immigration, Environment, Rela, state and local government authorities resulting in a tense nine-hour standoff with defenceless men, women and children at Paya Mengkuang defending their pig farms which represent their very livelihood, was a major blot which marred the 50th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations not only in Malacca but throughout Malaysia.
It would have taken the authorities a week or two to mobilize some 2,000 personnel from various agencies to launch such a massive operation against the pig farmers in Malacca state.
The question is why the MCA leaders, in particular the MCA elected representatives at the national, state and local government levels were completely in the dark about such a massive operation which would have taken one if not two weeks to organize.
If they had no inkling of such a massive operation against the pig farmers in the state, they are clearly redundant, irrelevant and useless as elected or appointed representatives of the people at all three tiers of government.
If the MCA national, state and local government representatives had been aware of such a massive operation beforehand and yet did nothing to stop it and to give advance notice to the pig farmers, then they had been guilty of gross dereliction of their political responsibilities. Read the rest of this entry »
RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal – Hansard account
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Transport on Wednesday, 5 September 2007
(From Hansard 4th September 2007 [unedited] on the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal during the winding up of the debate on 2007 Supplementary Estimates by Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Dr. Awang Adek)
Dato’ Dr. Awang Adek bin Hussin: Yang Berhormat, saya ingin meringkaskan cerita dan saya terus kepada perkara-perkara pokok. Yang Berhormat menimbulkan berbagai-bagai isu tetapi kalau diizinkan saya ingin cantumkan isu-isu Port Klang Free Zone ini kepada empat isu. Pertama, mengapakah pembelian tanah ini tidak dibuat melalui pengambilan balik tanah? Kan Yang Berhormat?
Keduanya, apakah status dan mengapakah Menteri mengeluarkan surat, tidak tahulah Yang Berhormat sebut letter of guarantee, tetapi kita sebut letter of support, surat sokongan. Ketiganya ialah mengenai soft loans, pinjaman ringan, pinjaman mudah. Keempatnya, kenapakah projek ini yang dulunya dianggap sebagai self finance dengan izin, tiba-tiba perlukan kepada pinjaman mudah. Boleh Yang Berhormat, empat itu? Ada lagi?
Tuan Lim Kit Siang [Ipoh Timor]: [Bercakap tanpa pembesar suara]
Dato’ Dr. Awang Adek bin Hussin: Macam mana build up pula, saya dah cakap empat tadi, dia setuju-setuju, dia masuk juga …
Timbalan Yang di-Pertua [Datuk Dr. Yusof bin Yacob]: Timbalan Menteri jawab sahajalah, jangan ada tawar-menawar ini, susah.
Dato’ Dr. Awang Adek bin Hussin: Tidak apalah, kita bagi peluang dia, nanti dia tidak puas hati, dia kacau lagi. Kita nak telus, bagi jelas. Kepong ok ya? Jangan kacau Kepong. Jadi pengambilan tanah, mengapa pengambilan tidak dilakukan secara pengambilan balik tanah. Yang Berhormat, mula-mula memang ada usaha untuk diambil tanah melalui pengambilan balik, land acquisition. Land acquisition ini boleh diambil melalui dua cara, satunya berdasarkan kepentingan awam. Biasanya kepentingan awam ini adalah untuk projek-projek sosial, hospital, universiti, ini projek ekonomi. Ekonomi yang besar yang mungkin boleh melibatkan keuntungan.
Keduanya ialah pengambilan balik tanah melalui projek ekonomilah iaitu yang keduaduanya tetapi yang ekonomi ini disyaratkan tidak ada sebelum ini development order, ini ada dalam undang-undang Land Acquisition Act. Sekiranya sudah ada development order maka pengambilan tanah atas dasar ekonomi ini tidak boleh dibuat. Jadi sebab itu timbul masalah sama ada ia boleh dibuat ataupun tidak. Apakah ia boleh dikategorikan sebagai pengambilan untuk kepentingan awam memenuhi projek-projek sosial, projek yang betul-betul perlu rakyat ataupun perlu diambil melalui pelaksanaan projek ekonomi. Malangnya pengambilan melalui projek ekonomi bersyarat dalam akta itu, tidak boleh dibuat sekiranya development order sudah dikeluarkan.
Jadi sebab inilah, maka ia mengambil masa. Pada tahun 2002 Kementerian Pengangkutan telah membawa kertas Kabinet, perbincangan dengan Kabinet. Kabinet bersetuju pada 2 Oktober 2002 supaya pembelian tanah ini dibuat. Ini bermakna ada persetujuan bahawa tanah ini dibeli dengan harga-harga tertentu berdasarkan usaha untuk mengambil balik tanah ini, ada isu-isu berbangkit yang boleh menimbulkan masalah, itu pertama. Keduanya, letter of support, surat. Surat ini sebenarnya bukan … Read the rest of this entry »
Loss of baby’s left forearm – Did Klang General Hospital have the expertise?
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Health on Monday, 3 September 2007
by MONACHORUM
I refer to your recent report regarding the sad loss of Baby Yok Shan’s left arm following an antibiotic infusion into the premature baby’s limb that went wrong.
Pictures and follow-up reports of the baby’s condition and arm were published nationwide. It was obvious that the left forearm was gangrenous with the margins showing features of acute infection.
As reported this could have been the result of an intravenous infusion that extravasated at the level of the elbow causing compartment syndrome, cutting off blood supply further down the forearm, giving rise to the gangrene and subsequent infection.
Alternatively, it could also be possible that the doctor who inserted the IV, could have done so directly into the brachial artery which is the main artery that supplies the forearm. An injection such as vancomycin into this artery could result in disastrous circumstances including obvious shut-off of blood supply and death of tissues that this artery supplies.
A remote and far more unusual way of inflicting infection would be to actually insert the IV needle intraosseously (into the bone) also at the level of the elbow which will result in infection of the bone or rarely pulmonary embolism transmitted via the marrow. Gangrene is an unusual occurrence.
It was reported that the findings of a committee formed to look into the mishap found that the gangrene was the result of an injection given by an unsupervised house-officer and a pediatrician who was consulted only by phone which is not unusual if the pediatrician had been on-call too frequently. Read the rest of this entry »
Baby Yok Shan tragedy – 50th Merdeka reminder of plunge in public service standards/accountability
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Health on Sunday, 2 September 2007
Newspaper headlines today like “Baby’s blackened arm removed — Procedure on Yok Shan over in 10 minutes” (The Star), “Tangan bayi tersalah suntuk tertanggal sendiri” (Mingguan Malaysia), “ORDEAL — BABY YOK SHAN LOSES HER LEFT FOREARM” (New Sunday Times) and “Tangan bayi salah suntuk dipotong” (Berita Minggu) highlight another tragic case to remind Malaysians that despite all the glitter and extravangza of the 50th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations, public service standards and accountability have fallen to a new low in 50 years.
Health Minister, Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek should present a Ministerial statement in Parliament tomorrow on the outrageous case of five-week-old baby Lai Yok Shan who lost her left forearm from below the elbow because of medical negligence at the Tengku Ampuan Rahiman Hospital in Klang.
Lai’s parents, her father Lai Kian Khee, 24 and mother Nur Tuemthong, were told on National Day eve that Yok Shan will undergo an operation expected to last from two to four hours on Sept 1 – a day after 50th Merdeka National Day – to amputate her left arm, but in actual fact, no amputation was needed as the blackened arm came off when the orthopaedic surgeon lifted and turned it.
This showed how little the panel of medical specialists knew about Yok Shan’s condition despite all the hullabaloo about its establishment to treat the baby girl!
Chua should honour his public promise that “there will be no cover up and all will be transparent” into the negligence resulting in the Yok Shan losing her left forearm. Read the rest of this entry »
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