It is alarming to read that the government has set aside RM4 billion for the PM’s Department alone this year.
Equally shocking to hear that the number of civil servants in the same department has doubled in the space of seven years since Mahathir stepped down – from 21,045 in 2003 to 43,544 in 2010.
Officers of the National Financial Investigation Division (DNIF) of France are responsible for probing into the conditions of sale of submarines to Malaysia, especially a related 114 million euro payment, a French website has revealed.
The DNIF is a divison of the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ) based in Nanterre near Paris. This was where Bala was questioned on Monday.
The DCPJ is the national authority of the criminal division of the French police tasked with leading and coordinating the actions of law enforcement forces (Police Nationale and Gendarmerie Nationale) against organised crime (either criminal or financial activities). In carrying out its investigations, the DCPJ works with other institutions such as the Customs and Revenue Service, according to Wikipedia.
Today is something of an historic day for the country in our quest for a more accountable society.
Watch ‘live’ over ‘TV Selangor’ as the Selangor becomes the first state to table a Freedom of Information Bill for its first reading and debate.
The Penan may be one of the most marginalised communities in the country but their plight has received considerable attention, if an internet search is anything to go by.
Like it or not, the Penan are “hot” news: a Google search today throws up 378,000 results.
French judicial police and investigators interviewed Bala for more than six hours yesterday, according to Tian Chua.
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The interview began at 2.00pm French time (8.00pm Malaysian time) and extended past 5.00pm, well after normal working hours in France, said the parliamentarian, who has been keeping abreast with developments there. Bala was questioned at the National Financial Investigation Division (DNIF) of the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ) along Rue des Trois Fontanots in Nanterre.
Certain property players have turned their attention to choice London properties.
And they seemed to have secured access to generous soft loans, in the process.
All is not well in the state of France as some hard questions are being asked of the leadership about kickbacks and other funding scandals.
The BBC has a story: ‘How ‘rotten’ is France’s politics’?
One pending inquiry, involving the sale of submarines to Pakistan in 1994 when Mr Sarkozy was budget minister, may come back to haunt the president.
The irony is that the explosion of funding scandals in the past two decades has coincided with unprecedented attempts to clean up France’s political life.
Pos Malaysia has pushed through a hefty tariff hike from 1 July, but is such a sharp rise justified?
The standard mail (up to 20g) tariff has shot up from 30 sen to 60 sen while the rate for letters weighing up to 50g soars from 40 sen to 70 sen.
More and more folks in urban areas now rely on email and social networking tools; so this move will hurt the rural folks and others without internet access the most. Snail mail accounts for 62 per cent of Pos Malaysia’s revenue.
As one outraged reader wrote to The Star:
The new tariff is absolutely ridiculous as the quantum of increase is simply preposterous. Calculations show that the increase in tariff ranges from a low of 20% to a high of 100%. Of all the categories, six of them have increased by between 50% and 70%, while seven others have gone up by over 70%. In fact, three of them are up by 100%.
The thing is, does Pos Malaysia really need to raise its tariffs now?
The project details for the property development at the site of the demolished Kampung Buah Pala have been put on public display.
I am not quite sure how the compensation of double-storey terrace houses for the displaced Kg Buah Pala residents fits into the compensation details shown on the board above. And 53 units?
The board shows that the building plan was approved on 7 December 2006. The double-storey terrace-house offers were made to the residents last year.
The developer Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd’s main contractor is Wabina Construction & Engineering Sdn Bhd.