anilnetto.com

Fed gov’t interested in helping cronies: Water Panel

Anil Netto

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4 Mar 2009

The Selangor government’s Water Review Panel has accused federal Water Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor of being more interested in protecting the private interests of businessmen rather than the Selangor and KL public.

In a Berita Harian interview yesterday, Sharizan had given two reasons for wanting to speed up the restructuring of the Selangor water industry:

to take over the water concessionaires’ assets by 31 March and avert a water tariff hike and
to assist the concession companies in bearing the costs of borrowings and bonds that they currently cannot afford.

In contrast, the Water Review Panel stressed in a statement that there would be no increase in tariffs should the Selangor government take over the assets.

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MACC officers question Speaker’s lawyer

Anil Netto

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4 Mar 2009

7

A couple of MACC officers from Putrajaya turned up this afternoon to question Augustine Anthony, one of the five lawyers representing Perak Speaker V Sivakumar, a source in Ipoh informs me.

They questioned Augustine from 4.00pm to 4.40pm in Ipoh today.

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Khalid explains S’gor water talks position

Neo-liberal economics

Anil Netto

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4 Mar 2009

6

Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim says the federal government recognised that its water privatisation policy had failed; so it introduced a restructuring of water management under which a federal body would take over the water assets and lease them back to the operators in the various states.

In Selangor, the state government owns about 70 per cent of the water assets with the remainder held by private companies. The assets owned by the state are valued at RM9 billion. The state government values the private sector’s assets and imputed equity at RM5.7 billion. (The assets alone are valued at RM4.6 billion though the federal government has valued them at RM5.0 billion).

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A tale of two post mortems

Anil Netto

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4 Mar 2009

47

Remember A Kugan, who died in police custody?

Well, he died as a result of “acute renal failure due to rhabdomyolysis due to blunt trauma to skeletal muscles,” an independent second post mortem has revealed. In layperson’s language: kidney failure as a result of repeated beatings. More accurately, his death was due to his muscle cells disintegrating into his bloodstream and absorbed by the kidney, which led to kidney failure.

His body also had severe burn wounds including those caused “by the repeated application of heat with an instrument or object with a triangular surface, causing multiple V-shaped imprint burn wounds on the skin of back”.

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Pokok Demokrasi stands tall as institutions lose lustre

Anil Netto

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3 Mar 2009

26

The majestic Democracy Tree that has now entered the annals of Ipoh folklore Photos by Jong (click to expand)

The raintree stands tall providing shade as the Perak State Assembly convenes an emergency sitting in the open air amidst the people.

All around, as Penang-based lawyer-writer Tan Ban Cheng observes, the traditional institutions of governance and democracy have not exactly distinguished themselves among the public.

Tense moments outside the state government building this morning (Click to expand)

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Meanwhile, over at the High Court…

Anil Netto

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3 Mar 2009

20

bn-lawyers-l-r-firoz-hussein-lead-counsel-faizul-hilmi-cheng-mei-datuk-hafarizam-harun-umno-legal-adviser-badrul-hishah-copy

The beaming BN lawyers (from left): Firoz Hussein, Faizul Hilmi, Cheng Mei, Datuk Hafarizam Harun, and Badrul Hishah Photos by KK

rejected-pr-lawyers-l-r-chan-kok-keong-augustine-anthony-tommy-thomas-phillip-koh-tong-ngee-copy
And the rejected, dejected PR lawyers (from left): Chan Kok Keong, Augustine Anthony, Tommy Thomas, and Phillip Koh Tong Ngee

The Judge had ruled that the Speaker could only be represented by the state legal adviser and not the PR lawyers.

From The Edge website:

2.55pm: Perak speaker sent letter to JC Ridwan Ibrahim stating he has not authorised state legal advisor Ahmad Kamal to act on his behalf

2.15pm: Lawyers for Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir are already at the Ipoh High Court studying legal points ahead of a hearing for an application of injunction to stop further meetings of the Perak state assembly. The hearing in the chambers of JC Ridwan Ibrahim is scheduled to start at 2.30pm.

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A tree knelt in praise

Anil Netto

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3 Mar 2009

30

On this historic day, the Perak state assembly held an emergency sitting under a tree, 200 metres away from the state government complex, after the people’s reps were prevented from sitting in their usual venue.

Democracy was returned to the people, gathered in a solemn assembly beneath this humble but majestic tree, its outstretched branches reaching out to the heavens while embracing and providing shade for the multitude below.

Thanks to Rain Tree for sending in this poem by Hamza Yusuf:

perak-state-assembly-3rd-mar09-conducted-under-big-tree-076 — The historic "Pokok Demokrasi" - now part of Ipoh's folklore (Photo by Jong)

A tree knelt in praise

I know that I shall never see
A poem that bows quite like our tree
A tree who like us loved to pray
In adoration every day

A tree who humbly knelt in praise
To God and never chose to raise
Itself above the other trees
Instead remained as if on knees

A tree who gave our scholars shade
And never asked that it be paid
A tree whose needles never hurt
But gently fell upon the dirt

A tree whose worth cannot be told
Or ever lent or bought with gold
A tree who showed us all its height
With God by bowing with delight

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LIVE: Perak assembly holds historic sitting under trees

Anil Netto

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3 Mar 2009

87

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=610109115b" >Perak: Will democracy survive?</a>

Live coverage tomorrow: All eyes on Perak

Anil Netto

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2 Mar 2009

26

state-secretariat-building

2302: All’s quiet in ‘sleepy’ Ipoh tonight. It’s been raining the whole evening, says my contact in Ipoh. At Ground Zero, FRU trucks are parked in front of the state secretariat/assembly building.

Even the MB’s residence is exceptionally quiet. Not even a ‘ghost’ in sight. Where’s everyone?

In just over eight hours, another drama will begin in Ipoh, the latest chapter in the constitutional crisis that has captured the attention of Malaysia.

With a couple of contacts in Ipoh providing me updates, I hope to provide some modest live coverage from about 8.00am tomorrow. If you are in Ipoh as well, do send in your comments and eye-witness reports if you see or hear anything on the ground.

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Grim times for electronics sector

Economy

Anil Netto

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2 Mar 2009

23

Sam G, who works in the electronics sector, shares with us the grim outlook in the industry and the ruthless way workers – and even management staff – are being retrenched:

…. it is REALLY, REALLY BAD now. I was at the USM EKSPEN 09. Only 11 companies were there having open interviews! This is one Expo to get companies to interview graduating USM students!

I have been retrenched twice in four months, first by the largest lab equipment manufacturer in the world, and the second time, by a NanoTech equipment manufacturing company.

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