Perak Speaker V Sivakumar springs a major surprise Photo by Amiruddin
Is it a stalemate now? Or checkmate…
Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar has reportedly suspended Zamby (18 months) and his six exco members (12 months) from the state assembly.
How can the state government function if the exco is barred from attending state assembly proceedings?
Zambry and his exco suspended – now what?
Perak Speaker V Sivakumar springs a major surprise Photo by Amiruddin
Is it a stalemate now? Or checkmate…
Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar has reportedly suspended Zamby (18 months) and his six exco members (12 months) from the state assembly.
How can the state government function if the exco is barred from attending state assembly proceedings?
Privatisation failure spurs S’gor govt to take over water
Selangor is in the midst of crucial negotiations to take over the water assets of four concessionaires operating in the state.
The negotiations are critical as Selangor residents are staring at a steep water tariff hike by the end of March if the present situation persists.
Private water distribution company, Syabas, 70 per cent owned by Puncak Niaga, had last year asked for a tariff hike by January 2009. In December, the Water Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor said that according to the concession agreement, water tariffs in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur would be hiked by up to 37 per cent in January 2009.
This tariff hike was delayed to 31 March 2009 to allow time for the Selangor government to take over the water assets from the four concessionaires.
Under the lop-sided concession agreement, water tariffs are expected to be hiked as follows:
- Up to 37% in 2009
- 25% in 2015
- 10% in 2019
- 5% in 2021
- 5% in 2024
- 5% in 2027
- 5% in 2030
Puncak Niaga spent RM11m on directors in 2007
UPDATED 2.30PM: Let’s take a quick look at Puncak Niaga, one of the main water concessionaires in Selangor.
You can see that the firm is making huge profits. (Profits for 2006 were higher as there was a gain arising from the partial disposal of a subsidiary of RM206m in 2006.)
The group had close to a billion ringgit in deposits, cash, and bank balances as at 31 December 2007 and a net current asset ratio of 1.2. In other words, very liquid.
Syabas, which is 70 per cent owned by Puncak Niaga, received a government grant of RM250 million (that’s our money) “solely for the purpose of financing the costs and expenditure of the non-revenue water” to reduce unaccountable water loss.
The federal government also provided a support loan (current carrying amount close to RM80 million) to finance construction of the Wangsa Maju water treatment plant. It was originally repayable over 20 years (from 1999) at 8 per cent interest rate. But in 2004, the federal government “restructured” the loan: the interest rate was reduced to 3 per cent per annum retrospectively and the repayment schedule revised. How thoughtful.
Having made super profits with the help of public money, Puncak Niaga is now asking for a higher price than what the Selangor government is prepared to pay (RM1.6 billion for Puncak Niaga and RM1.5 billion for Syabas) to nationalise water assets in the state.
Large crowd in Klang for ceramah on Perak crisis
0044: Revised estimate of crowd size is 3,500-4,000, according to organisers, who say there were 2,500 inside the hall and the rest outside – difficult to estimate accurately as lots of people going in and out during the ceramah. A couple of you, however, are saying the turnout was just 1,000.
2220: The crowd has now swelled to 6,000, according to organisers.
2100: Some 3,000 people have turned up at the Dewan Hamzah, MPK in Klang tonight for a Pakatan ceramah on the crisis in Perak. Among the speakers are Khalid Samad and Charles Santiago.
Public briefing: Selangor’s takeover of water
Here’s your chance to make your voice heard.
The Selangor state government is holding a public briefing on the status of its takeover of the water sector in line with its ‘merakyatkan ekonomi Selangor‘ policy aim of realising a ‘welfare state’.
It’s the first time a public briefing on the status of the water sector “restructuring process” is being held.
Wed, 18 February, 11.00am
Auditorium Dewan Jubli,
Bangunan SSAAS, Shah Alam.
Members of the Water Review Panel of the Selangor state government will brief the public. Among the speakers are economists Subramaniam Pillay and Charles Santiago.
Images from the RPK ISA trial
Puncak, Gamuda fall as S’gor bids to nationalise water
The Selangor government is attempting to take over the water assets from the concessionaires in the state, namely Puncak Niaga, Splash, and Syabas. The state government wants to nationalise the inefficient water sector – and prevent a 30 per cent tariff hike from April.
The concessionaires, on the other hand, are asking for a much higher price, based on discounted cash flow (of future profits) and future tariff hikes assuming the concession is allowed to continue.
LIVE: Application to recuse Augustine Paul rejected
Rape of the Tanjung Bunga hill-slopes
Scary development – Google Earth picture sent in by a Tanjung Bunga resident
While our media are all hot and bothered about some photos of a female politician circulating around, the rape of our hill-slopes continues.
Mind you, this picture was taken in 2005 – nearly four years ago. Since then, things have got a lot worse.
Why Tg Bunga residents are protesting…
A cover-up job?
One of the projects on the steep hill-slopes of Tanjung Bunga Photos by a Tanjung Bunga resident
Just to recap, some one hundred residents of Tanjung Bunga protested at development projects on steep hill-slopes by banging pots and pans on Valentine’s Day. Many of the residents there are living in fear, especially during thunderstorms.
Before anyone else asks why these residents didn’t protest earlier, they did.
Federal Court to hear appeal against RPK’s ISA release
Rakyat@work reports from KL:
Tomorrow may never come.
That’s the apprehension; yet it’s the truth for RPK, Raja Petra Kamarudin. Just read today’s Malaysia Today “No Holds Barred” and needless to say, he sounds downright sorrowful.
Tomorrow’s court case could decide his fate. An ‘Anak Bangsa Malaysia’ is being put on trial once again. Will there be a better tomorrow for him – and for us?
Gutter journalism
Today’s front page of the Malay Mail is a regrettable example of gutter journalism. It features a headline story about nude photos of a Selangor female politician circulating in the public domain.
The photos were believed to be taken using a camera phone without her consent by a former boyfriend while she was sleeping.
“The Malay Mail played dirty by putting a picture of a bare-backed woman next to the story,” said one political analyst, who described it as “gutter politics”.
On the front cover, an unrelated photo of a bare-backed female Formula One driver on the right is staring towards the left at the bold headline of the Selangor nude photos story, “Fury over bedroom invasion”.
Apart from the juxtapositioning of an unrelated picture next to a sensationalist story, the choice of front-page story is revealing.
We are being struck by probably the greatest global economic downturn since the Great Depression – and some are predicting that it could be worse than that. Manufacturing and exports are nose-diving, workers are being laid off, others are struggling to cope with the high cost of living. Many ordinary people are suffering.
Talk of the town
The larger-than-life billboard of Badawi that has fuelled speculation about his political future Photos by a passer-by
The website mentioned on the billboard contains the following message:Grab the opportunity for your voice to be heard E-mail your feedback and views to the Prime Minister in the form of your statement of support, complaint, suggestion, wish and hope as regards the performance and pledges of the Prime Minister, the national and state government leaders. Let us work together to preserve security, peace and prosperity for the people of Malaysia and the Nation. Your feedback is very much appreciated. Thank you. Please provide valid e-mail address and phone number so as not to miss your opportunity to get response from PM.A bit late in the day to be asking for feedback, no?
Latest Aliran Monthly now out
The latest issue of Aliran Monthly is now out. This issue looks at the state of the BN and whether it is capable of implementing the reforms that it needs to save itself.
Support independent media and journalism. For more information on how to subscribe, click here. 8,000 crowd in Shah Alam for PR ceramah on Perak
A huge crowd has turned up for a PR ceramah at Section 19 in Shah Alam tonight, despite the last minute info. The ceramah is being held to explain the situation in Perak.
An eye-witness at the scene decribes the turnout at the ceramah, which is still in progress (as at 11.30pm) at the Dewan Bola Tampar MBSA, as “fantastic”. Some 3,000 people are packed indoors while another 5,000 are outside in the car-park and spilling over into the tennis court.
Tg Bunga residents bang pots and pans in protest
Noisy protest against Class 3 and 4 hillslope development projects
They call it ‘cacerolazo‘ or ‘cacerolada‘ in Latin America – that’s a form of protest involving a group of people creating a racket by banging pots, pans and other utensils to draw attention to their cause.
This afternoon, in Tanjung Bunga, residents used this form of protest to loud effect during a Valentine’s Day ‘tea party’ to protest at property development projects on steep hill-slopes. Some one hundred residents turned up in Chee Seng Garden in front of the Bolton Surin project, calling on the Chief Minister and the state government to stop the project for good.
Two MBs turn up at Perak Sultan’s palace
Perak Mentri Besar Nizar and his BN-appointed rival counterpart Zambry were both allowed into the Perak Sultan’s palace this evening to attend the royal banquet to mark the Sultan’s silver jubilee. It’s the first time that both of them are at the same place at the same time. Nizar was accompanied by Perak DAP chairman Ngeh.
The NST has the story here.
Alarm bells ring as manufacturing dives
Gearing up for Bukit Gantang
BN/Umno flags already fluttering in the Taiping-Bukit Gantang area Photo by Jong
Police presence around Karpal’s Penang residence
A couple of different sources have alerted me to a fairly large police presence – perhaps a hundred or more – around Karpal Singh’s residence in Penang.
Riot police trucks are in the area and roads blocks have been set up around the Waterfall Road/Western Road area.
Reports blog reader tan, tanjung bunga:
I passed Karpal Singh’s residence at around 3.00 pm: lots of FRU personnel and other policemen in the vicinity of his residence, with FRU personnel also lining-up in front of his gate and dozens of media people positioned opposite the gate. You can imagine the traffic jams in the whole area! From your post, it’s possible that the security personnel are trying to protect Karpal’s residence from the Umno demonstrators! Congrats to them then for protecting a citizen!