Tomorrow, the Jerit cyclists are due to submit their memorandums to Abdullah Badawi and Anwar in Parliament
An extraordinary cycling odyssey reaches its climax
Sarawak Deputy CM trumpets RM52m Salcra dividend
Here’s something that an analyst sent to me. The Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) is a government statutory body charged with developing native customary rights (NCR) land in a bid to improve the lot of rural communities in the state. As you can see below, the figures bandied about raise all sorts of questions.
Sarawak Deputy CM Alfred Jabu is also Minister for Infrastructure Development and Communication/Minister for Rural Development as well as Salcra chairman.
On 30 Nov, Alfred Jabu made a big deal about the RM52 million to be paid out as dividends for 2008 to the 16,480 participants in Salcra oil palm land development schemes, and he lambasted Dayak NGOs for their criticisms. But a simple division will show that this dividend payout amounts to the grand sum of RM3,155 per participant for the year, or an average of RM263 per month. According to Salcra’s own figures, the total land area under management amounted to 48,700 hectares. Let us assume a low yield of 15 tonnes per hectare, and a mean cost per tonne of RM200. Going by MPOB figures, the mean FFB price/tonne for 2008 is around RM600. Then Salcra should have netted RM292 million for 2008. This translates to an average net earnings of RM17,731 per participant, or around RM1,500 per month. In the announcement, DCM Jabu mentioned that another RM22 million had been set aside for loan re-payment. So, total net balance, after dividends and loan re-payments, should have amounted to RM218 million, or RM13,240 per participant. So, where did that go to? Even if we allow for a withholding of 50 per cent to allow for re-investment and re-planting, that would still amount to RM109 million or RM6,620 per participant to be accounted for. Given these figures, the Dayak NGOs are perfectly entitled to question the benefit of Salcra. Without any explanation for this balance of RM218 million, DCM Jabu has no call to lambast those NGOs. Footnote: If the participants had managed their own average holding (average of 3 hectares each), they would have netted RM17,731 in 2008, on the above assumptions instead of RM3,155 in dividend (per participant).I have tabulated the above information as follows. :
Chee Seng residents want Bolton’s Surin project stopped
Scary hill-slope project in Chee Seng Gardens, Penang
Residents want the project stopped
This is a message from George Aeria of Chee Seng Gardens, which covers the Old Chee Seng Gardens, the newer parts (houses built by Leader Gardens), Straits Regency, Coastal Towers, Twin Towers and Marina Towers.
The residents are upset with the Bolton Surin project undertaken by GLM Property on a steep hill-slope, which has previously resulted in flooding in the area. They are also asking the Penang state government to emulate the stand taken by their counterparts in Selangor with regard to Class III and Class IV hill slopes.
Over 80 residents attended a meeting on 13 December with the main press in attendance. “YB Teh gave a short speech and took several questions and his message that we got is YAB Lim Guan Eng is not going to be on the side of the residents and will be alowing the Class IV hill slope construction to continue,” said Aeria.
“We have told him that if he does not stop the developers, then our vote for change has come to naught, i.e. we wanted the Gerakan and Umno government of Penang out and wanted DAP to start controlling the developers but if he does not, then we will NOT support the DAP government.”
The residents told the state government reps that if they do not stop Class IV hill-slope construction, they would support any other party, including the BN i.e. they would play off one party against the other.
We, the residents of Chee Seng Gardens, who started the fight to get the stop work order in Sept 2008 are now pushing for the project (Bolton Surin) to be stopped altogether as the hill slope is really very steep (above 60 degrees and maybe more). The recent Bukit Antarabangsa tragedy has shown us that no hill can be developed; (neither can) a slope so steep be made to just stay steep without falling down some time in the future.
The failed US occupation of Iraq
The front page of today’s Sun shows George Bush ducking as an Iraqi journalist hurls a shoe at him.
That may be surprising if you are following the global television stations, which tell us that the situation in Iraq is improving for the occupying powers as the worst of the carnage since the Anglo-American invasion subsides.
Some 1.3 million people have perished in Iraq as a result of the invasion – so you can understand why George Bush is not the Iraqis’ most favourite person.
The lower level of carnage now does not translate to victory for the United States as this Counter Punch commentary reveals:
It’s All Spelled Out in Unpublicised Agreement Total Defeat for U.S. in Iraq By PATRICK COCKBURN
TNB left holding the Bakun undersea cable baby
Power demand is dropping as the economic slowdown creeps up on us, but TNB is being forced to pay more in capacity charges to IPPs and take over the laying of the Bakun undersea cables (to transmit even more electricity to the peninsula) after Sime Darby wisely pulled out.
By the way, TNB is 38 per cent owned by the Finance Ministry’s Khazanah and 14 per cent owned by EPF. So guess who is ultimately bearing the risk? Us.
A political economist has sent the following comment to me.
TNB is complaining that Peninsula Malaysia is going to have 45 per cent excess capacity within the next eight months. TNB also says that this excess capacity is due to the Jimah IPP coming online in January 2009. Given the terms of the IPP between Jimah and TNB, TNB expects to see a drop of about RM500 million from their overall profit margin since the IPP contract cannot be re-negotiated. TNB actually also said that they do not need the excess power but have to buy it. See story here. Amazingly, this is going to happen within the context of a decline in power demand in Peninsula Malaysia which is set to drop with the coming downturn..! See this power demand drop story here.
Vigil outside Rawang police station as cyclists held
2050: Police are now recording the details of 45 Jerit northern team cyclists in the Rawang police station (phone 03-6091 6222). Outside the station, a candlelight vigil is now being held
At first, the police tried to use Section 32 of the Child Act; they wanted to hold the cyclists until their parents came. Then they tried the usual s112 of the CPC. Now, they are just documenting the particulars of the cyclists – name, IC number, address.
“They seem disappointed that all the cyclists below 18 have consent letters from their parents,” says one of the Jerit coordinators inside the station.
Three dozen Jerit cyclists detained
1453: The Jerit southern cycling team have been hauled up near Bangi Lama.
Thirty six of the cyclists will now proceed to the Kajang police station (phone: 03-8736 2222 for more details).
If Perdanas are too expensive to maintain…
… what about Proton Personas? They seem quite popular.
Or if you don’t want Protons, how about Myvis? I hear they are quite reliable and low maintenance.
While most of the country is bracing for an economic downturn, exco members in several states have turned their attention to procuring fleets of new cars.
Maybe it’s beneath the “dignity” of the Pakatan folks – they are supposed to be different from the BN folks, who are accustomed to big flashy Mercs and BMWs – to use the ordinary cars that many of the rakyat use. Don’t forget many of the rakyat don’t even have cars.
I guess they must have their “foreign” 2.4-litre Camrys or what-have-you … In Selangor’s case, they are even thinking of 4WDs so the state exco members can travel to rural areas. Last I heard, such vehicless are fuel guzzlers. It’s not as if the only thing stopping them from visiting rural areas is the lack of a good 4WD!
Komtar tree-hacking: Was approval really given?
A spokesman for Pacific Hypermarket and Department Store (so now we know who’s responsible) was quoted in The Star today as saying that the company had received approval for trees near Komtar to be pruned.
First question: Did the Council really give approval for tree pruning? Or was the approval only for minor renovation work and retiling? Do they really need to chop trees to re-tile?
Saving jobs – the alternative way
A joint committee has suggested that companies should prepare for next year’s economic downturn by reducing workers’ overtime, cutting working hours, laying off staff temporarily and slashing workers’ pay packets.
I have some suggestions of my own:
- Sell off the flashy company cars meant for top management; use fuel-efficient vehicles or the bas kilang.
Komtar tree-hacking: More than meets the eye
From what I hear, the project work going on outside Komtar, in which trees were hacked, has been undertaken without the approval of the council.
This is part of a priority project to upgrade Komtar which, I gather, will probably see the area near the large outdoor staircase being turned into F & B outlets.
The upgrading work is to be undertaken by a private firm, believed to be a hypermarket.
An application for the upgrading work was submitted to the one-stop centre (OSC) last November.
But, from what I understand, the only approval given was for some retiling work. If that is what the ongoing work is all about, surely they could have left the trees alone. A related question is, will the upgrading work reduce public space?
How could trees be chopped at the door-step of the state government and the council?
A disaster waiting to happen…
Rather than banning all hill-slope development, the developer-friendly Penang state government wants to emulate Hong Kong in monitoring hill-slopes and it has set up an expert panel.
In Hong Kong, those who flout regulations end up in jail.
This could be the panel’s first assignment. A long-time Penang resident has alerted me to the following:
(A couple of days ago,) when driving back from a day of walking in the Penang National Park, I saw a hill-slope project that is surely one of the worst along the Batu Ferringhi road…. It is east of the Rasa Sayang and on the hillside opposite the Malaysian army base (former Gurkha base) at Fort Auchry.
Chinese city to chop towers in bid for Unesco listing
While Penang is allowing high-rise buildings to be put up in George Town, thus risking its prized World Heritage status, officials in Hangzhou, the capital of ancient China, plan to slice off the top floors of high-rise towers, including exclusive hotels and a TV tower, in a bid to secure similar status.
Imagine, they are even talking about reducing the height of their Shangri-La Hotel. Now that shows real determination to maintain the historical character of their city.
Now I am not advocating that we slice off any existing buildings.
But here we are in Penang, merrily approving and allowing more high-rise towers in our heritage zone before and after winning World Heritage status.
What a contrast!
Check out this BBC report:
Chinese city downsizes for UnescoThe top floors of several high-rises in the Chinese city of Hangzhou are to be lopped off to help the city’s bid for world heritage status, officials say. Two exclusive hotels, a TV tower and a number of other buildings around the beautiful West Lake area will all be made shorter, the developer said.
Komtar trees hacked and chopped
After: Going, going… and gone before you know it
They just can’t stand the sight of any greenery.
This was the scene at 3.30pm today outside Komtar, where about half a dozen trees lay mutilated while around them a crane and a bull-dozer snorted and grunted.
From what I understand, even simple tree pruning – let alone hacking and chopping – requires prior approval from the Penang Municipal Council. And from what I hear, an application was received by the Council last week, but before it could be approved… well, you can see what has happened.
Can the council and the state government confirm if they had given approval for the tree-cutting at their door-step?
A chicken thief and the Jimah power plant
I suppose the story of a chcken thief who couldn’t recognise a chicken in court as the one he was alleged to have stolen was meant to provide some comic relief in the The Star. You are meant to chuckle or laugh when you read it.
But read the report more carefully and you will see that the accused had to support his family on RM25 a day. That’s about RM750/month, putting the household on the threshold of the official poverty line. Nothing to laugh about there. And he gets three months jail for stealing a chicken.
Now we shouldn’t condone even petty theft.
But we all know how difficult it is for any household to survive on less than RM1,500/month or even more, let alone RM750.
How about poverty in a land of plenty? Do we condone that?
My question now: what is the penalty for those who are now allowing TNB to bleed RM500 million in “capacity charges” over the next eight months by allowing an IPP to operate a power plant (Jimah) to provide electricity that the country doesn’t need? The Jimah plant, which will be operational in January, will raise the country’s power reserve margin to 45 per cent. The CEO of TNB says the country doesn’t need the power and can do without it. Who will profit from the Jimah power plant?
Will anyone be hauled up to account for this?
The Star Friday December 12, 2008 Chicken thief couldn’t recognise bird IPOH: A man who admitted to stealing a chicken got amused looks in a magistrate’s court here when he could not recognise the same bird brought to him for identification.
Hill-slope projects: Contrasting positions of S’gor and Pg
Compare and contrast the Selangor and Penang governments’ contrasting stands on hill-slope development. Both of them are under Pakatan rule, but look at the difference in their positions. You tell me which sounds more principled…
The Penang government’s position from the Malaysian Insider:
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — Penang’s Chief Minister wants the federal government to set up a geotechnical engineering unit under the Public Works Department to ensure the safety of all hillside developments. In light of the latest landslide incident in Bukit Antarabangsa which killed four people, Lim Guan Eng said Malaysia should learn from the painful experience and emulate Hong Kong, where 80 per cent of the buildings sit on slopes.Says one long-time Penang resident:
A good reflection of where this DAP government stands with regard to hill-slope development. Very business friendly….This perception is by no means an isolated one among those concerned about the environment in Penang. The following is a comment from another long-time resident of Penang, a foreigner who “is saddened by the destruction of Penang’s once beautiful north coast, where Moonlight Bay has become ‘Moonscape Bay’ and a disaster waiting to happen.”Lim Guan Eng knows full well that the Federal Govt will NOT implement such a suggestion. But he makes it anyway so he looks good, like he cares but in effect, he does not. Because, if he really cared (for public safety), instead of taking care of business interests, he would have called for a full moratorium or stop on hill development in Penang.
I never thought I would see it but awareness and sentiment finally seem to be moving against the madness of clearing and building on dangerous hill slopes. It is a pity though that Penang is still far behind Selangor in taking the necessary measures to prevent further tragedy and environmental degradation. Selangor Exco member Elizabeth Wong’s article “Bitter vindication” in theSun 10 December p.16 should be read and disseminated widely. The issue really is one of putting “people” ahead of “profits.”This is theSun report he was referring to:
Bitter vindication by Elizabeth Wong ONE of the earliest policy decisions by the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government was to throw out any housing and building applications for Class 3 and Class 4 hillslopes to preserve environmentally sensitive areas and prevent landslides. This was decided at an executive council meeting on April 2.
Jerit cyclists asked to fill up forms meant for “gangs”
1417: Jerit northern team cyclists have been harassed twice today. The first time was near Sungai Siput when the cyclists were stopped and all their particulars taken down.
Barely 5km away from the Sungai Siput road block, they were also stopped a second time at Kantan New Village, where Ipoh and Kinta District police were also present. This time the police wanted about 40 different particulars from each cyclist such as height, weight and “previous gang”.
44 Jerit cyclists being taken to KK police station
1310: Jerit’s nothern cyclist team, 44 cyclists in all, are being taken to the Kuala Kangar police station. The police want the ICs of the young cyclists, according to one of the organisers. Organisers, however, are not handing over the ICs as they are afraid that the parents of the youths will be harassed. The organisers have offered their own ICs instead.
This is the third time today the bus from Kamunting to Sungai Siput has been stopped. The first time was when the bus was stopped and officers wanted to inspect the driver’s permit.
The PJ vigils go on regardless…
A new Freedom Ride cycling team reaches Kamunting
Mission accomplished with a candlelight vigil last night outside the Kamunting Detention Centre: Yin, Joseph, Meng and Michael. Their colleague and photographer, Jorge, is not in the pic. The camera flashes alerted the officers on duty, who came out to have a look. (Note: This cycling team is not part of the Jerit cycling team.)
Ready to roll on the Freedom Ride
First it was candle-mania; now it’s cycle-mania
One of the cyclists, Michael, sent in this report at 4.00am today:
It’s been a very tiring and hectic two days (Saturday and Sunday) for me especially today as I had to reach Kamunting, do the candlelight vigil last night and still catch the 9.00pm bus back to KL. It was a great feeling having been able to achieve what we set out to do.
We started out from Klang on Saturday, 6 Dec at 8.00am from a bak kut teh shop, no less. Besides the five of us, two more friends rode with us to Sabak Bernam (110km) where we stopped for the first night. The next morning, the five of us started at 8.00am and, with only a few stops for lunch and quick breaks, we rode all the way to Taiping (160km away), reaching the town just before 7.00pm. (Coincentally, the southbound Jerit cycling team were spending last night in Taiping and Bagan Serai.)