CAP has just come out with a statement below:
What is Penang without her green? What is Green Lane without the Green? Penang is slowly losing its green as more concrete jungles are taking over for development and paving the way for more vehicles.
No detailed EIA for three proposed Penang Island highways?
Construction of three highways in Penang Island is expected to begin in June 2016, but the consortium will only need a preliminary EIA before starting work. This is such a major project – highways near hills and densely populated areas – and yet, they don’t need a detailed EIA?
What? More Green Lane trees to be removed for road-widening
In this era of climate change, I was alarmed to hear that up to three dozen big trees could be removed along Jalan Masjid Negeri (“Green” Lane) to make way for another car lane. (Update: Apparently, 16 trees could be involved or ‘transplanted’, not 33 as reported – but how many of these transplanted trees will survive?) This is the stretch across the road from the MacDonald’s outlet.
This road-widening project is expected to cost some RM15m. Is this the best use of our limited funds? Would it really solve our traffic problems? For how long?
Now northern flank opens up against Najib as thousands rally around Mukhriz
What would Najib make of this?
In the west, there are the investigations in France and Switzerland.
In the south, Singapore announced a large number of bank accounts had been seized in connection with the 1MDB probe in cooperation with the authorities of Malaysia, Switzerland and the United States. In Johor, Umno is in turmoil after Muhyiddin was sacked from Umno Baru.
‘You know it’s really bad when the SWISS announce they are investigating someone…’
That was a reader’s comment left on the website of the Wall Street Journal. The Swiss were renown for their banking secrecy, but even they couldn’t keep mum over this.
The sum suspected to have been misappropriated amounts to around US$4bn; its intended purpose is the subject of further investigations. So far it has been ascertained that a small portion of the money was transferred to accounts held in Switzerland by various former Malaysian public officials and both former and current public officials from the United Arabic Emirates.
So thanks to the Switzerland attorney general’s office, we now know there is a ‘black hole’ out there amounting to US$4bn (RM17bn), involving several firms that have links to 1MDB.
In my piece, The black hole of 1MDB, I noted that 1MDB stood to make at least RM12bn in property revaluation gains. This would come in handy for 1MDB to fill up its own black hole by paying off its debts, (incurred on what?) and papering over its losses.
Swiss attorney general’s office finds ‘serious indications’ of RM17bn embezzlement
A bombshell, if ever there was one.
Read the full statement from the Swiss attorney general’s office here. The actual headline of the Swiss statement starts with “1MDB case”.
The criminal investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has revealed serious indications that funds have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies. The monies believed to have been misappropriated would have been earmarked for investment in economic and social development projects in Malaysia. So far four cases involving allegations of criminal conduct and covering the period from 2009 to 2013 have come to light in this connection (relating to Petrosaudi, SRC, Genting/Tanjong and ADMIC), each involving a systematic course of action carried out by means of complex financial structures.
The sum suspected to have been misappropriated amounts to around US$4bn; its intended purpose is the subject of further investigations. So far it has been ascertained that a small portion of the money was transferred to accounts held in Switzerland by various former Malaysian public officials and both former and current public officials from the United Arabic Emirates. To date, however, the Malaysian companies concerned have made no comment on the losses they are believed to have incurred.
The Wall Street Journal quotes the Swiss attorney general:
“We are very concerned,” Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber told The Wall Street Journal on Friday. “We have found evidence of suspicious money transfers linked to 1MDB going through Swiss financial institutions, and we believe that it is very important that it is shared with the Malaysian authorities.”
The Botak Hill summit that Penang Forum activists were not shown
The above satellite image is of the 1.5km-long flattened summit of Botak Hill, which Penang Forum activists were not taken to see. Instead the four-wheel drives stopped at the boundary of the plot of land, well below the top (see the yellow pin in the photo below). Why were they not taken to the top?
The photo below is a 360-degree shot of the summit in early 2014 taken by an avid hiker.
The hiker has published more photographs on his blog of the devastation on Botak Hill along trails leading to the summit. Vigilant hikers like him are the guardians of our hills.
Heated argument over Botak Hill ‘mitigation’ work during site visit
An engineer (right) involved in the mitigation work under intense questioning by Penang Forum steering committee members as Chow Kon Yeow (centre) looks down.
A heated discussion took place during a site visit to Botak Hill (Bukit Relau) this morning over whether the work being carried out was mitigation or restoration.
RM2.6bn donor must officially confirm repayment
The RM2.6bn donor must step out and official confirm if such a donation was made and how much was returned. The prime minister should then account for the difference.
This is in the light of the widespread scepticism that greeted the attorney general’s statement. Here’s an excerpt from a Dow Jones Business news report on the Nasdaq website:
A Saudi government official, while declining to comment specifically on the prosecutor’s statement, said the Saudi ministries of foreign affairs and finance had no information about such a gift and that a royal donation to the personal bank account of a foreign leader would be unprecedented. Representatives of the royal family couldn’t be reached for comment.
Appeals Board decides in favour of Sungai Ara residents
The Appeals Board this morning decided in favour of the residents of Persiaran Kelicap and Solok Kelicap over a “special project” on hilly land near them.