part of paya peda dam had to be broken

KUALA TERENGGANU: Part of the Paya Peda dam in Besut which is still under construction had to broken yesterday to release a water reservoir for the safety of the people living downstream, said Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said.

He said that although the move caused floods, it had to be done to release pressure on the dam.

The step taken enabled water to be released from the dam in a planned manner, he said.

Some 1,000 people in the district had to be evacuated to flood relief centres as a results of the ensuing floods.

 "Because of a fear of a dangerous spillover, the move to break down part of the dam was taken after consultations involving the dam's consultant, contractor and the Drainage and Irrigation Department," Ahmad told reporters after attending a Yayasan Terengganu function at Dewan Konvensyen Taman Tamadun Islam (TTI) here today.

The RM333-milion dam due to be completed in the middle of next year will serve as an irrigation dam that will enable padi farmers downstream to plant two crops a year. -- BERNAMA

Guan Eng seeking to divert attention from land issue

NIBONG TEBAL: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was chided for trying to divert attention from a state party leader's controversial 4,000ha land ownership in Kelantan by calling on the federal government to allow Christians to use the word of 'Allah' in the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible.

Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the Penang Chief Minister was seeking to divert public attention from the controversy involving Perak DAP chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham.

Mohd Ali, who is also the Malacca Chief Minister said the issue of the use of 'Allah' word among Christians had been resolved and there was no need to bring up the issue again.

"However, he (Lim) needs to create a diversion from the controversy involving Ngeh to distract the public from the more important issue on the 4,000ha land owned by the DAP Perak chairman."

"DAP leaders made a ruling that their assemblymen should not acquire any land during their term in office, so Lim should better focus on explaining the issue to the rakyat," he said after opening the Malaysian Islamic Missionary and Welfare Organisation (Pekida) 18th annual general meeting here today.

Mohd Ali said the land issue was serious as it involved a huge land parcel in Pas-led Kelantan.

He also called for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to expedite their investigation into the matter.

Ngeh had denied allegations that the Kelantan government awarded Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd, the company that owns 4,359ha land in the state, in exchange for him not being made the Perak Menteri Besar after DAP won the most number of seats in Perak at the 2008 general election.

Mohd Ali also challenged the DAP leadership to suspend or direct Ngeh to relinquish his posts pending the MACC probe.

"This is a classic example of hypocrisy practiced by the DAP leadership. They are always quick to jump the gun and calling for BN leaders to resign the moment they are alleged of any wrongdoing."

"However, when their leaders are linked to any controversy, the party adopts a silent mode and create other issue to divert the public from the issue at hand," he said.

As such, Mohd Ali urged Muslims in the country not to fall into Lim's political twist by playing up the word of 'Allah' issue and instead focus on the land ownership issue.

Lim, in his Christmas message on Monday had urged the federal government to allow Christians to use the word 'Allah' in their Bahasa Malaysia version of Bible.

128 illegals arrested in Langkawi waters

LANGKAWI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) arrested 128 illegals believed to be Myanmar nationals, about five nautical miles from Pulau Rebak in Langkawi waters, yesterday.

Langkawi MMEA enforcement chief, Maritime Captain Zulkarnain Mohd Omar said in a press statement today that the group included four women and nine children.

He said the arrest was made by an MMEA patrol boat team who became suspicious of a cargo boat they saw in the waters here and upon inspection, found the illegals and that the bot was skippered by a Myanmar.

He said the illegals were then brought to the Bukit Malut fishery jetty for further investigation under the Immigration Act for illegally entering Malaysian waters.

Zulkarnain said this was the third arrest of illegals made by MMEA here this year.  -- BERNAMA