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Floods in July: Ecological disaster in Sibu?

Anil Netto
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Sarawak Voice sent in this comment which I thought I should highlight:

Talk about the dams in Sarawak? Hmm, apparently it seems that the government created an ecological disaster! My hometown is in Sibu, Sarawak (at the delta of the Mighty Rejang River) (and you) can clearly see the effects (of) logging, jungle clearing and hydro dam development up river.

Once a clean river now muddy and the river is getting shallow due to the mud that was washed from upriver. Even now at this moment, as I am typing this, we are experiencing floods! Yeap, floods in the month of July….

Read the details in this piece from The Borneo Post:

Troubled waters

Numerous efforts have been made to implement a flood mitigation plan for Sibu town but without any concrete follow-up action to date, residents complain they have been living in fear of floods whenever it rains for too long

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It’s madness: nuclear plant, 12 dams, undersea cables

Anil Netto
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What on earth are our energy planners thinking of?

First of all, we have 40 per cent reserve capacity in the peninsula. TNB is now paying capacity charges for electricity it buys from the independent power producers which it doesn’t need.

Then, there is the plan to transmit a huge chunk of the electricity from the Bakun Dam from Sarawak over to the peninsula via undersea cables. But hold on, the submarine cables, which would be the world’s longest, would now cost RM15 billion. Alamak! So how? Sime Darby has already pulled out from the project.

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Superficial “populist gestures are like free meals”

Anil Netto
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Ever since the new PR government took over Penang, we have seen several populist measures introduced. On the face of it, these measures appear good. Rather than squandering funds or handing them over to cronies, benefits in cash or kind are actually handed to the rakyat. So I agree, it is better than handing them over to the cronies.

But I have a couple of reservations. These are one-off payments that don’t bring lasting benefit. They are also superficial – in that the sums handed over to each of the rakyat are too negligible to make much difference to their lives. It’s like handing bags of rice to the poor. Once the rice is finished, what then? It feels good to hand over goodies to the poor, but once we have handed over these goodies, which are used up in no time, what happens? We invariably forget about the poor – until the next occasion we start feeling generous and charitable again.

Each allocation for superficial populist gestures carries with it an “opportunity cost” – which means it deprives the state of funds for more meaningful future projects that would really empower the poor. Such projects would include affordable housing for the poor, scholarships for poor students, affordable higher education, access to affordable quality health care, literacy programmes, skills training and loans for small businesses.

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You got to hand it to him…

Anil Netto
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If you are feeling down and out and if you think your problems are insurmountable, let Tony Melendez inspire you.

Anwar locked in a battle of wills

Anil Netto
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This is something I wrote today:

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Opposition leader unfazed by new sodomy charges
Analysis by Anil Netto

PENANG, Jul 22 (IPS) – Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s de facto opposition leader, is locked in a political battle of wills with ruling coalition leaders and determined to wrest federal control despite fresh charges of sodomy brought up against him.

Anwar hopes that parliamentary defections from the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Alliance) will enable the three-party opposition People’s Alliance to seize power by Sep.16 — but so far there has been little to show. For the full article, click here.

Here are a few other articles you might find relevant or interesting:

In ‘Conquering and vulnerable: Anwar’s predicament and ours’, Khoo Boo Teik looks at how Anwar has come to personify many dissident, even conflicting tendencies. His two different images – that of a conquering political leader and frequently disabled politician – capture society’s current predicament. We have moved towards more open dissent; and yet we are unsure if we can really achieve a more open political system.

One article that has struck a chord among many Malaysians – judging by how widely it is being circulated on the Internet, including on Facebook – is Farish Noor’s ‘The boring yet necessary thing called Governance’.

Finally, Dr Chris Anthony, a practising surgeon, takes a look at whether proper procedure was followed during Anwar’s medical examination in “Was Anwar stripped and measured?”

Home Ministry warns Herald to stick to “religion”

Anil Netto
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herald cover

The Herald has highlighted current events and related them to faith

The latest issue of the Herald (20 July), the Catholic weekly, carries a little note below its editorial, which I reproduce here:

NOTE

Warning letter from Home Ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs has warned us to work within their designated term and category “agama”. Their warning letter fails to indicate what they mean by “agama”. Can HERALD stop ‘awakening the consciences’ as the Pope teaches us? Are they interfering in matters that pertain to our religion?

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Enthusiastic response for Anwar in BN-stronghold Johor

Anil Netto
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This was Anwar’s ceramah on 20 July 2008 in Sri Gading, Johor. Anwar is in his element and the crowd soaks it in.

He claims that when he was brought from the police station to the hospital, the roads were closed to others.

He tells the crowd not to read Utusan Malaysia as he says their reports allegedly insult the intelligence of the Malays; instead he recommends that they read the Chinese newspapers. “I know you can’t understand the language, but there are lots of pictures in them!” he jokes.

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Puspakom gets additional concession, 15-yr extension

Anil Netto
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Puspakom, the entity which inspects vehicles for road-worthiness, has been granted a 15-year extension of its concession by the government.

That’s not all. The government has also agreed to revise the company’s rates and to award it another concession for the mandatory inspection of second-hand vehicles prior to transfer of ownership.

The Edge business weekly has expressed concern about the 15-year extension. The paper said the government should have reviewed Puspakom’s track record in carrying out inspections since 1994 -and considered some of the bad press it has received – before granting the extension.

The government will only review the company’s performance at five-year intervals. Puspakom made a net profit of RM18 million from turnover of RM76 million for its 2007 financial year. By the time the government reviews its performance in five years’ time, the company could have raked in a further RM90 million or so, The Edge noted.

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Putting the RM2b Penang Sentral cart before the horse

Anil Netto
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Penang Sentral
RM2 billion terminal – but not enough funds for public transport (Image from penangsentral.com.my)

So we are going to have a montrous RM2 billion terminal in Butterworth that is supposed to be the gateway to Penang.

This project is supposed to be located on a 12.8ha site “at the existing Butterworth train, bus and ferry terminal and will integrate KTM’s rail services, road transport facilities and the ferry services operated by Penang Port”.

It’s going to be a big money project for Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) and Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra Berhad (PHBB).

Last year, The Star reported that “it would have two ferry platforms, two monorail platforms, four train platforms, 50 bus platforms and 4,000 parking bays”.

Oops, no federal money for monorail – or trams for that matter – now. It’s pathetic that the state has to celebrate because the federal government has approved RM40 million to revive the broken down Penang Hill railway. (Under the Penang Hill project, a new one-stretch cable railway track will be laid between the lower and upper stations, doing away with the present middle station, reports Malaysiakini. The rail track will be laid to accommodate larger and longer funicular trains.)

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Why not reveal Saiful’s police report?

Anil Netto
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Aliran president P Ramakrishnan has come up with an apt response to Syed Hamid Albar’s statement. He is asking the Minister why Saiful’s police report has not been revealed to Anwar. Why is it so difficult to show Anwar the report? Good question.

What is Syed Hamid Albar afraid of?

In a rhetorical stance, the Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar posed this question to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, “What is he afraid of?” Aliran would like to pose this very question to Syed Hamid, “What is he afraid of?” Why are they afraid to release the police report lodged by Mohd Saiful Bukari Azlan against Anwar Ibrahim on 28 June alleging sodomy? Full statement

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