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Latest on Penang mega projects

Anil Netto
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This is the latest status of all the mega projects in Penang. These remarks are based on the Prime Minister’s reply to a question raised by the Penang Chief Minister in Parliament on 20 August 2008.

What the first three projects have in common is that the financial models were all messed up.

My comments and recommendations, for what they are worth, are in italics.

Second Penang Bridge: Federal government now studying the financial model put forward by Syarikat Jambatan Kedua Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned federal government subsidiary, based on a new bridge model. (I guess they messed up with the earlier financial model.) It is also drafting terms and conditions of a concession agreement before starting negotiations with the company. (Sounds like right hand going to negotiate with left hand.)

To cut a long story short: Still under study.

My recommendation: The cost has nearly doubled to RM5 billion. Turn it into a shorter rail link at a different location and allow the Penang State Government to hold a majority stake in the company.

Penang Outer Ring Road (Porr): Supposed to have been built under build-operate-transfer privatisation model. But not feasible without strong federal government support or high tolls. Federal government now facing financial constraints so unable to use development expenditure under the Five-Year Malaysia Plan to implement it. But project may be considered if private companies are interested.

To cut a long story short: No federal government funding.

My recommendation: Scrap it because of environmental concerns and future congestion. Move away from private vehicle ownership and introduce an integrated public transport system.

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200 new buses for Penang, but…

Anil Netto
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Some RM100 million has been allocated for 200 new buses for Rapid Penang, which already has 150 buses.

The additional buses will slash the average waiting time from 25 minutes to 10 minutes and enable Rapid Penang to add 14 new routes to its existing 33. The target is to raise the daily passengers from 48,000 to 120,000.

Rapid Penang, funded by the Ministry Of Finance Incorporated, is a subsidiary of Syarikat Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (Rapid KL).

From the grapevine, I understand that the 200 new buses for Rapid Penang have already been ordered: 100 buses are meant for Penang Island and 100 for Seberang Perai (mainland Penang).

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Now every BN MP can fly – plus free travel tips

Anil Netto
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Seems to me that the BN MPs have caught a severe case of the jitters as 16 September approaches.

So it’s just as well they are planning a long vacation, err, I mean lawatan sambil belajar. 🙂

As blogger Susan Loone says, now we get to experience what the country is like without a bunch of BN MPs.

Their sudden interest in agriculture is a laugh. Najib says it’s gonna be a constructive trip. Right.

This excerpt from a Sun report:

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Iraq War a “task that is from God”? Utter rubbish

Anil Netto
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This is the woman the US corporate media are hailing as a “star is born” – the new US vice-presidential candidate from the Republican party.

This from an AP report:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a “task that is from God.”…

Palin asked the students to pray for the troops in Iraq, and noted that her eldest son, Track, was expected to be deployed there.

“Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God,” she said. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God’s plan.”

What utter rubbish. She should look up her bible.

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What the corporate media won’t show you

Anil Netto
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Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman arrested while trying to come to the aid of her colleagues during a large anti-war protest on Monday

The corporate media are the same everywhere. Somehow there is great reluctance to highlight popular people’s protests including anti-war protests. Instead the news is invariably presented from the perspective of those in power or from the vantage point of Big Business. And war is generally good for Big Business in the United States’ media-military-industrial complex. It drives up the price of oil, promotes weapons sales, improves media ratings and boosts the popularity of “war-time” presidents, at least initially.

And when independent media journalists such as Amy Goodman try to counter the propaganda, lies and spin, they are harassed, persecuted – and even arrested. (She and her colleagues were later released.)

This is an account of a large anti-war protest during the Republican Convention that you wouldn’t have found reported over the major global media stations.

It’s from Juan Cole’s excellent Informed Comment blog:

Thousands of protesters rallied against the Iraq War at the Republican Convention on Monday.

The thousands of protesters were almost all peaceful. I had US cable news on all day off and on, and never saw anything on it about the protests. Some teenager was pregnant, which is not their business or mine, but that was what they were talking about. Protesting the Republican Party’s warmongering and lethal corruption for the past 8 years– a record that has made it impolitick for George W. Bush to attend the conference of the party he still technically leads– now that was unworthy of public comment.

A few at the rally were accused of breaking windows or throwing bottles at the police. 284 arrests were made.

The press accounts suggest that in some instances police acted overly aggressively (i.e. unconstitutionally), moving in on protesters who were peaceful.

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“Dead” PGCC needs post-mortem; and Batu Kawan?

Anil Netto
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The Penang Global City Centre project may be dead, but what I don’t understand is why there are no calls for a full-scale inquiry into this massive stinking deal.

The Chief Minister has said that the PGCC, in its original inception, is as good as dead. Notice the choice of words. Does that leave some wriggle-room for the state to consider new proposals from greedy developers or other interested parties on what was once recreational land?

Let’s see who benefits in the end from the PGCC land deals.

After Abad Naluri entered into an agreement in 2004 to buy the land at “recreational status” price, the previous state administration incredibly rezoned the land to new or mixed development, multiplying the land value several times over. This rezoning could land a potential profit of RM1.5 billion to Abad Naluri… RM1.5 billion! (Remember the Turf Club agreement with Abad Naluri has been extended from 2008 to 2011.)

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Trams to make a comeback in Penang?

Anil Netto
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The old tram track on Penang Road

A tram expert has been spotted in Penang.

Putting two and two together, I believe the proposal to bring back trams to Penang is now being given serious thought.  Things seem to be moving.

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Najib apologises, Ahmad to face the music

Anil Netto
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It’s not often you get an apology from Najib, much less over racial remarks. But why isn’t Ahmad apologising? The next Supreme Council meeting will discuss what “appropriate action” to take against him.  Don’t hold your breath. Anyway, this fiasco is not going to improve public support for the BN, is it?

Reading between the lines, the devastating impact on BN component parties must have been serious enough for Najib to come out and apologise.

This report from Bernama reproduced in The Star:

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno, the backbone of the ruling Barisan Nasional government, has issued a public apology over a remark made by Bukit Bendera Umno division head Datuk Ahmad Ismail during the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election last month.

“We hope that the non-Malays will not be too disturbed with the statement and we apologise if it has incurred the sensitivities or unhappiness over the statement.

“We apologise, Umno apologises although it is not our statement but it is a statement made by one of our division leaders. It is totally unwarranted and does not reflect the position and the attitude of Umno or the leadership of Umno. We regret it very much,” Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Umno deputy president, said here on Tuesday.

In the run-up to the Permatang Pauh by-election, Ahmad had said at a ceramah that the Chinese community were mere “immigrants” in the country and thus were not entitled to be given equal rights in Malaysia.

Contrast that with this article from Malaysian Insider and you will understand why the BN has lost so much support, even if some Malaysians may not really like Anwar:

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Keng Yaik spoke too soon

Anil Netto
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In yesterday’s entry, I highlighted several quotes from an Off the Edge interview with Gerakan adviser Lim Keng Yaik, including his comment about the dubious land deals in Penang:

(Koh Tsu Koon) was not strong enough to stop the Umno fellas. Let’s see the land cases coming up; you’ll find an Umno arm all over the place. Yes, and Guan Eng is saying, “You did not stop it.”

But check out theSun online today. In an article titled ‘Public land gone!’, Terence and Nades reported:

What was supposed to be land for facilities for the people in the up-market Bandar Utama township has ended up in private hands.

All it took was for the previous members of the Selangor Executive Council to agree and for the then mentri besar to alienate the land to individuals, bodies, corporations – and even political parties….

All in all, seven parcels of land meant for public amenities have been misused….

Political parties have also got into the action and hijacked some of them.

The land on which Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan)’s building is located was meant for a telecommunications exchange, while the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) now owns a parcel of land designated for a Tamil school.

Ouch! Perhaps Keng Yaik would like to clarify. (As for the MIC, that’s a lost cause.)

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Keng Yaik lashes out at Umno’s arrogance

Anil Netto
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Happy Merdeka Day! – though some of you may not exactly be in a celebratory mood.

Anyway, if you are feeling a little bored on what is a sunny day here in Penang, why not hop over to your local news-stand and pick up a copy of Off the Edge magazine for some ‘fun’. (The magazine does not come with The Edge weekly tabloid; you have to buy the magazine separately.) This week’s cover story is a remarkably frank and hard-hitting interview with Gerakan adviser Dr Lim Keng Yaik, who even accepts partial blame for the 8 March BN setback.

He is not a happy man though and, horrors, utters an expletive during the interview.

I just hope interviewers Ho Kay Tat and Jason Tan were sitting a safe distance away, if you know what I mean. 🙂

He says he has spoken out before –  to Dr M and within BN circles, about the prevalence of money politics. (“It’s all money, money, money, money, money.”)

Just to give you a flavour of the interview:

Where did the BN and Umno go wrong especially in their response to Anwar’s ‘branding’ of Ketuanan Rakyat?

The more they hammer Anwar, the more they popularise him. I was also part of it, hammering Anwar, telling all the stories about Anwar.

Didn’t work. [The people responded by saying], ‘Lu kong si ha mi ah? Lu boh aneh cham ah, lu boh eong eh lang, sway lang, chau lang lai.’ (In Hokkien: ‘what are you all in BN talking about? Aren’t you so bad yourself? BN is useless, a pox on the people, and a bunch of rogues.’)

I blame this purely on the arrogance, abuse of power and  non-transparency of Umno, the interference of the ‘Fourth Floor’ boys who think they know best, and the inability to keep the civil servants at bay….

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