For the past couple of days, I have been going in and out of a global conference in Penang on forests, biodiversity, community rights and indigenous peoples organised by Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific.
The theme “Ecological equity: Sharing the stories, reclaiming our rights” couldn’t have been more timely. Listening to the heart-rending stories from indigenous representative and activists from places such as Philippines, Uganda and Bolivia, I realised that the indigenous groups in Sarawak who are struggling to protect their native customary rights land are not alone.
Now, here’s a multiple choice question on Najib’s plan to build a new mega-tower by 2015 that would dwarf the Petronas Twin Towers.The floor of a classroom collapsed in Alor Setar on 13 Oct, injuring 11. The building had been renovated in 2007 but The Star reported sources as saying the contractor did not remove the original wooden flooring but only placed a layer of cement over it - Photo credit: The Star.
Why do we need the proposed RM5 billion 100-storey Warisan Merdeka Tower (to be built by Permodalan Nasional Berhad)?
A. We have a serious shortage of commercial space in the Klang Valley. Plus the boys could do with more contracts.
B. We have a healthy fiscal surplus and we don’t know what to do with all that spare cash. RM5 billion is petty cash-lah. Huh? Fiscal deficit? What fiscal deficit? Nah, cannot be.
C. No major earthquake will ever strike our country.
D. Najib’s tower has to be higher than Mahathir’s Twin Towers. And we have excellent public transport to ensure congestion is minimal. Besides, we could call it a super-duper ‘zero-carbon’ green tower.
E. Because Malaysia Boleh! “The most important thing is that we can do it. Why should we hold back?” as Ng Yen Yen puts it. A tower is more important for the rakyat. They will be so proud.
F. I don’t know. I give up. You tell me.
The miners in Chile may have been miraculously rescued, but there are ghosts in that country that linger after the repression of the Pinochet years. Chile, after all, has its own Sept 11.
This is the hidden story that the mainstream media have not reported:
The accident that trapped the miners is not unusual in Chile and the inevitable consequence of a ruthless economic system that has barely changed since the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. Copper is Chile’s gold, and the frequency of mining disasters keeps pace with prices and profits. There are, on average, 39 fatal accidents every year in Chile’s privatised mines. The San Jose mine, where the men work, became so unsafe in 2007 it had to be closed – but not for long. On 30 July last, a labour department report warned again of “serious safety deficiencies ”, but the minister took no action. Six days later, the men were entombed.
Of late, Gamuda-MMC has been mentioned in connection with the RM36b MRT project for Klang Valley – the biggest mega project so far. But why has an MRT proposal been put forward when the national public transport policy is not yet ready?
The thing is, the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) has just been formed. And one of its first tasks is to come up with an integrated national public transport policy, followed by regional public transport policies. Spad is now working on the national policy in parallel with the regional policy for the Greater KL/Klang Valley area.
in the aftermath of the Rajang River logjam, this image of the Sarawak edition of The Star says it all. ‘Overlogged’. No prizes for figuring out who is responsible. Overlogged: The cover of yesterday's Sarawak edition of The Star
So far, as at 12.40pm, two of the 33 miners trapped underground in Chile for 69 days have been rescued.
The Chilean president, Sebastian Pinera, has publicly given thanks to God, describing the rescue as a miracle.
Watch live BBC video footage of the Chilean miners being rescued here.
On the surface, the DAP appears to have stitched a peace formula to unite rival factions in Perak after a recent flare-up.The faces say it all - Photo by Kinta Kid
In 2002, the government bailed out two privately run LRT systems, which had run into financial difficulties, at a cost of over RM8 billion. That cost of that heavy bailout burden has resulted in the subsequently formed government-owned Prasarana now struggling to repay its bonds.
The takeover of the Star LRT system cost RM3 billion, according to a national financial accounting committee report. Star was owned by EPF, Lembaga Tabung Haji, LTAT, KWAP and private firms such as KLTG Assets, AIA Co Ltd, STLR Sdn Bhd, Apfin Investment, Trustees of Shell Malaysia Retirement Fund and Trustees of Shell Sarawak and Sabah Retirement Benefit Fund.
Greedy speculators, developers and even valuers, facilitated by easy credit from financial institutions, are inflating a property bubble. But the state is reluctant to intervene effectively, erroneously leaving it to market forces to find an equilibrium.
But there is no equilibrium nor sanity in the market. Property prices are getting ridiculous.
Don’t take my word for it. Some choice comments from national House-buyers Association honorary vice-president Goh Seng Toh as reported in The Star:
“Prices of houses, like everything else, will go up at reasonable inflationary trends, but it should not be at the rate we are experiencing now.
“Greed and the market are driving up the prices. For every piece of land, developers want to maximise profits, and there is no social responsibility.”… (Sorry, Goh, social responsibility is something they don’t understand.)
No, this is not the Yangtze River or the clogged Three Gorges Dam. It’s our very own Rajang River near Sibu in Sarawak.
Well done, Taib Mahmud. Well done, corporate boys.
Act of God? I don’t think so. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the cause of this disaster: land clearing, logging and heavy rain especially in the Balleh and Balui river basins. The result: massive flooding, erosion of river banks and landslides that churned out driftwood and logs. Who issued the logging licences and allowed the land to be cleared? Who do you think?
Reports have surfaced that the Penang Turf Club has called for bids to buy or develop 23ha of its 104ha plot of land. The Edge reported that E & O Bhd said it had submitted a bid. The NST said speculation has it the call had attracted proposals from major developers such as E & O, SP Setia Bhd, IJM Land Bhd and Mah Sing Group Bhd.
Last October, another report said the Turf Club was going ahead with a RM30 million project to build 25 bungalows which it hoped would generate close to RM2 million annually in rental income. The bungalows were to be built on 5.6 acres of land on the fringe of the racecourse close to Jesselton.
The latest news about the 23ha suggests that the Turf Club is increasing looking at property development. Over the years, horse-racing has been losing its appeal as a spectator sport. More young adults have been drawn to Premier League football; so it wasn’t surprising when Berjaya tried to capitalise on that by trying to kick off sports betting.
Update (8 Oct): The three arrested, Wan Han Ming and Rawang Adun Gan Pei Nei special assistants, Alex Gan and Kumaranm, spent the night in police custody and were brought to court today. Police were granted a further one day remand.
Update: Selayang Municipal Council officers arrived and ordered the work to be stopped as they said it violated council bylaws. TNB reportedly complied but it had already done some piling and erected a barbed wire barricade by then.
1505: TNB contractors are disregarding a Selangor state government order and going ahead with the construction of a structure. “This land is state land,” insists a furious Selangor exco member Elizabeth Wong, when contacted.
“Real corporate bullies. Refused to acknowledge local council stop work order, kata see you in court some more.”
Defiant contractors putting up a structure at 3.00pm
This is an apparent breach of an earlier agreement to postpone work until the Selangor government could reach a settlement with TNB regarding alternative routes for high tension cables. But TNB argues that as the Federal Court had ruled in its favour, it had the right to begin construction work.
I ask Wong why the contractors are so adamant about building now.
“Ask (Energy Minister) Peter Chin,” she replies. “This is what happens when we are held ransom by (corporate) monopolies e.g. energy, water, waste, now sewage.”
Rawang Adun Gan Pei Nee at the scene with police in the background1449: “Wahliao, xxx tried to knock me down with his car,” Wong exclaims.
1424: Tweets from Wong earlier:
1244: At a press conference, Latheefa Koya denies Rahimi’s allegations. She claims Rahimi voluntarily confessed to having met top government and government-linked personalities. Sivarasa Rasiah then explains that the content of Rahimi’s SD re meeting these personalities was exactly the same as his prior report to police. The lawyers are claiming that Rahimi’s latest SD may contradict his earlier statements to police (Tweets via NatAsasi).
Update: It looks as if it’s the silly tarik balik SD season again. Meanwhile, there will be a press conference at the PKR headquarters at noon today to respond to former Anwar aide Rahimi’s allegation that he was forced to sign his SD.
Yesterday:
Chatter on twitter indicates that another episode in an ongoing political drama could be emerging – just in time for the Galas by-election?
Gerakan might as well close shop after 42 years of existence. Almost like Samy Vellu who has rejected the post of MIC adviser, former Gerakan president Lim Keng Yaik has quit as adviser. They are abandoning their sinking ships.
In reality, Gerakan lost its navigational bearings long before it struck an iceberg. Its idealistic multi-ethnic politics had long been subsumed under the racial politicking banner of the BN and Umno in particular. Self interest and jostling for the spoils of power and position assumed greater importance.
Alarm bells have started ringing over the premature talk of higher densities for property development on Penang Island.
Image via Wikipedia
Penang property developers must be grinning like Cheshire cats after reading a news report which said that the Penang Municipal Council has revised the plot ratio guidelines for high-rise properties in commercial and tourism areas on the island. This would allow the developers to build 122,000 sq ft per acre (i.e. up to 87 units) compared with 42,000 sq ft previously. See The Star report here. Notice also the low, low quota for medium-cost apartments. (How come no one talks about low-income housing?)
But hold your horses a sec.
Ecological deterioration, landslides, accumulation of algae, vast islands of floating debris, cracks in surrounding areas: serious problems have surfaced in China’s massive Three Gorges Dam.
One dam in the southern province of Guangdong was so badly damaged by floods and on the verge of collapse that authorities had to make plans to demolish it. See CRIENGLISH.com report here.
One dam in the southern province of Guangdong was so badly damaged by floods and on the verge of collapse that authorities had to make plans to demolish it. See CRIENGLISH.com report here.