Aarvidi’s Weblog

Congratulations Khalid, with Samy Vellu’s exit there was no sympathetic ears for the toll operators. But you have fitted the place very well. So, Mister Toll Man, please tell me, are you the advocate for Grand Saga, or are you representing the suffering residents of Cheras. Anyone who is protecting the interests of the toll collectors, becomes anti-people, who have suffered paying money, suffered inconvenience and worst of all made to pay for something which Samy Vellu explained is an improvement to traffic controls. So Khalid you decide.

Meanwhile, during a press briefing in Shah Alam, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim was asked about the Mahkota Cheras toll issue.

“These are among the many ongoing crises which we’ve had to look into ever since taking over. Here, you have two conflicting parties.

“One party wants the access road and not pay toll while the toll concessionaire feels if everyone uses this road, their toll collection will be reduced.

“But the Selangor government is of the opinion that if the barrier is owned by the state government then the barrier cannot be allowed,” he said.

He said that exco member Ronnie Liu would be leading a state team for a meeting with concessionaire Grand Saga and the Public Works Department before the end of the month.

“While privatisation is a necessity, this must not be done at the expense of the local residents or be a burden to them. As such, we are suggesting a dialogue to find a workable solution for all the parties involved.

Cheras residents in stand-off to protect toll-free road

After spending RM10 million, the Parliament leaks again. Good, spend another RM10 million, and put it right. This is the Malaysian culture of being responsible, nobody claims responsibility, blame goes elsewhere, money goes to the dogs and yet life goes on. What is wrong. Why is there so much of apathy with Malaysians. Is there no pride in you as a human and an administrator of government money which belongs to the people. Assuming this leakage happened in the house of either Mohd Zin Mohamed or PN Selvanayagam, would they just fold hands and give this pathetic look, what can I do. Is there no shame in them, not even an iota, they are the administrators, what must they do. If this happened in any other country, the Works Minister, PWD Director,(where was he anyhow), or in his absence his deputy must be suspended from work and an enquiry held, and those responsible cannot be reinstated until their name is cleared. That is how a government is run, not the shoddy system that is practiced now, preparing a cabinet paper; what for. Have not enough cabinet papers been prepared in the past without tangible results. In the train accident in China lately, the Railway Director, his deputy and the Communist chief of that area were sacked. This will put the fear of God in our administrative system, rather than mollycoddling with the people involved in the mess. Sack and suspend, thereafter every civil servant including the Ministers, will know how to do their work well. This happened previously, as our civil service was a replica of the British system, but now a cabinet paper is necessary. A waste of time and chronic management.

Leaks recurred at the Parliament building this afternoon - just two weeks after Works Minister Mohd Zin Mohamed’s assurance that it would not happen again.

Water dripped from the ceiling at the Parliament lobby, near House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia’s office, this afternoon at around 5pm following a one-hour heavy rain.

The parliament sitting, which was extended from 5.30pm to 7.30pm today, was however not interrupted by the incident.

The incident came just two weeks after the minister made an inspection at the Parliament House and assured the leaks - a problem which has consistently plagued the 47-year-old building - would not recur.

Shortly after the leaks were detected, Mohd Zin and Public Works Department deputy director-general PN Selvanayagam paid a visit to the Parliament and inspected the roof.

According to Mohd Zin, the incident was not due to the roof leaking but the air-condition system.

“The rain water flooded the down-water pipe causing the backflow leak through the air condition duct,” the minister told reporters at the lobby.

Following the latest incident, Mohd Zin said he and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz will propose a cabinet paper for a rehabilitation of the Parliament building.

Disgraceful, says Kit Siang

Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) and M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) expressed their outrage over the leaks.

Lim described it as “disgraceful”, and Kulasegaran asked why the problem continued to occur.

“We have spent more than RM100 million in renovation, what has gone wrong?” the Ipoh Barat MP said, referring to a massive renovation work just three years ago.

Deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar also expressed his displeasure.

“I am not satisfied with this when we have spent so much (on renovation) but (the roof) still leaking, especially now that the rainy season is coming,” he told reporters at lobby.

He added that the house committee, whose new members are not named yet, will look into the problem.

The committee is tasked to deliberate and consult on issues regarding the comfort and facilities in Parliament, as well as the services enjoyed by MPs in the house.

In April 2005, the Dewan Rakyat sitting was abruptly adjourned after water poured into the chamber following a thunderstorm.

The problems continued to recur for a few times last year (file photo, left), albeit at a minor scale, despite the government said it has tackled the problem.

Leaks in the House again

Wife: RPK refusing to meet anyone

Wife: RPK refusing to meet anyone

Syed Jaymal Zahiid | May 7, 08 11:32am

Malaysia Today webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin - presently in jail for refusing to pay bail - has refused to have any contact with anyone including his own wife, Marina Lee Abdullah.

Marina when contacted this morning said she had gone to the Kuala Lumpur Remand Centre to meet Raja Petra and to ask him if he would want to post bail today.

“The officer at the registration counter (of the remand centre) have informed me that my husband has refused to see anyone including me,” she told Malaysiakini.
Marina added she was informed by the police that Raja Petra is apparently on hunger strike.
“The police told me that he refused to eat,” lamented Marina.

She said that she has demanded to see the deputy warden of the remand centre to get further information and is still waiting for the meeting.

Raja Petra was charged yesterday with sedition at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court over an article which he wrote in his website.

The article allegedly implied that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife of being involved in the killing of a young Mongolian woman.

Raja Petra claimed trial to the charge. He was charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act for publishing seditious article on April 25 on Malaysia Today.

Hearing has been fixed from Oct 6 to 10 and Raja Petra was granted a bail of RM5,000, which he refused to post, deciding instead to remain in custody until the hearing date five months from today.

Wife: RPK refusing to meet anyone

The former Mentri Besar of Selangor, did not mince his words, when he said clearly that the fine of RM330,000 against PKNS for clearing the land around Bukit Cahaya was placed in the state coffin. Yes it went inside the coffin to be buried six feet underground - it is interesting to know whether there are other coffins of this nature buried deep into the ground. This PKNS and Balkis stories are good reading materials, for the people of Selangor and in general for all Malaysians. Read it here.

As a result of the article in the Sun newspaper on line, R.Nadeswaran was interviewed by the Police and also received a quick reply from PKNS.

R.Nadeswaran just chuckled, but be prepared you may want to laugh your guts out, tears streaming down your eyes, and end up with a tummy-ache. You have been fore-warned.

When the witness becomes the accused

Give us the truth, not the chaff

Najib knows what he is talking about. With 3 over decades experience in politics, he knows promises made in the election campaigns are never kept. His boss Badawi did that. So he is not telling anything new. Unwittingly, he has made known the reason for the dismal failure of Barisan Nasional in the last elections.

Fortunately the people had the ‘maturity and wisdom’ to be aware that many political promises of Barisan Nasional came to nought, and decided to act.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin must know an empty promise is not a promise, but they are just words to deceive the people. You cannot cheat the people always.

KUALA LUMPUR: The electorate will soon see the gap between promises made during election campaigns and the likelihood them being fulfilled, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“During the elections, anybody can make all sorts of promises. When they mentioned reduction in assessment tax, some voters may have been taken in by it.

“When the time comes, they will face difficulty to fulfil their election promises,” he told reporters after the Defence Ministry’s workers day celebration yesterday.

He was asked to comment on the plan by the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor Government to give incentive to ratepayers because it was not ready to implement the proposed 20% reduction of assessment tax as promised during elections.

“This is what the electorate will need to determine because in future elections, there will be more promises.

“We must have the maturity and wisdom to decide for ourselves whether the promises are realistic or merely political promises,” he said.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who is an Umno supreme council member, said it was not easy to fulfil the promises, as there were many considerations to be taken into account.

Among the Pakatan promises, he added, was free education for all. “It might have been possible previously as there were only one or two public universities but now there are 20 public universities and 37 private universities.

“If we just do that and don’t use any money to develop the economy, what will the graduates do when they finish their education?” he asked.

This, he added, was the difference between a government that used populist policies and a government with experience.

“People must be wise and be able to differentiate between an empty promise and a responsible promise,” he said.

Pakatan will fail to fulfil more promises, says Najib