Penang road project yet to get greenlight

GEORGE TOWN - Penang's mega road project will only be carried out if the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report deemed it feasible.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the project – estimated to cost RM8 billion – would be scrapped if found to be unsuitable.

"Surveys and feasibility studies will be carried out and we will not proceed with the project if the studies show that it is not suitable.

"The technical specifications will be sorted out once the tender has been awarded," he told a press conference yesterday.

Earlier, Lim handed over a RM300,000 cheque to Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani hilltop temple committee for its construction cost.

The mega road project mooted in 2011 involves the construction of an underwater tunnel linking Gurney Drive and Bagan Ajam as well as three highways – a bypass connecting Gurney Drive to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway, a link between Bandar Baru Air Itam to the same expressway and a dual-link road connecting Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang.

The project will also cover road reserves or uninhabited area around Air Itam.

Lim said the mega project would not be as massive as the controversial Penang Outer Ring Road.

He said the island needs more inner ring roads to ease traffic congestion, especially if those in the city's heritage area are closed for cultural events. During such events, roads linking the city to Tanjung Bungah and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway are inaccessible.

"All sorts of criticisms will come. We decided to bite the bullet and let the people decide whether they wanted the roads," said Lim, hinting that they expect the project to be a campaign issue in the upcoming general election.

-thesundaily

Don’t take voters for granted

AS the election fever reaches a feverish level, reason, ethics, moral principles have become hazy in the minds of the politicians. They resort to actions that go beyond the propriety of good manners, etiquette and decorum.

In short the election fever may have caused them to take leave of their senses and they seem to have descended to a state of neurosis that clouds their judgement.

Mudslinging, character assassination, disseminating falsehood is the order of the day. An air of animosity stinks heavy, engulfing both sides of the divide.

The politicians become consumed with the intention of destroying their opponents.

The air is filled with such vehemence that it releases the heat of anger causing dissension and animosity that permeates the political parties.

While the general populace remain disinterested, the daily dosage of information and misinformation from the print, electronic and social media begins to affect their critical faculties thus clouding their judgements.

Most of the electorate do not have any strong positions in the political scenario of the country.

They cast their votes mechanically and do not expect any cataclysmic changes in their life; as if they are resigned to their fate.

Promises made by politicians are the usual stuff of elections and they know that everything will return to status quo once the election is over.

As the election date draws near, the politicians get increasingly feverish and they enter into a state of madness, ever ready to devour their opponents and they have no qualms to resorting to any means as long as they justify the ends.

When politicians resort to such unsavoury actions one wonders about their intention to be elected. Is it to serve the people or to be self serving?

It is a known fact that politicians scramble to be elected because it gives them power, prestige and monetary remunerations.

Normally politicians serve their masters and party first.

They will not speak up against the party and masters in favour of the electorate and will only serve the electorate if it is to their advantage.

This is most evident in parliament which has become a battle ground for warring parties set to desecrate and discredit their opponents.

It is no longer a place where politicians exhibit qualities of statesmanship in expressing their thoughts eloquently.

They merely engage in shouting matches, which are usually at a mundane and pedestrian level.

How one wishes to see the peoples’ representative engage in intellectual discourse and erudite delivery and pay heed to the needs of their electorate!

What is worse are the politicians who in the pursuit of championing chauvinistic agenda go to the extent of desecrating and deriding the opponents’ religious beliefs.

Yet again certain religious matters are blown out of proportion to create tension, suspicions and distrust among the populace just to serve the respective parties’ political agenda.

Politicians should realise that a sizeable number of the electorate is not passive anymore and no longer regards the Yang Berhormat with awe and admiration as one who is unassailable and beyond reproach, but one who is elected by the electorate to serve them.

Politicians from both sides of the divide are now wooing the electorate with all sorts of promises and give aways.

But the electorate is wise to such tactics and will evaluate the politicians’ character and their integrity as well as the track record of their political parties.

The next general election is a telling one for both the politicians and the electorate. One thing is sure, you can no longer take the voters for granted.

PM bantu Syabas

Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak hari ini mengumumkan peruntukan tambahan sebanyak RM120 juta kepada Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS) bagi membantu mengatasi masalah air di Selangor.

Mengumumkan perkara itu pada pelancaran Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia 2.0 (BR1M 2.0) di Ampang, dekat ibunegara, Najib, yang juga menteri kewangan berkata kerajaan meluluskan peruntukan itu bagi memastikan penderitaan rakyat di negeri di
bawah pentadbiran pakatan pembangkang itu diatasi segera.


Sambil mahu masalah air yang berlarutan itu ditamatkan segera, beliau berkata peruntukan itu adalah tambahan kepada dana RM606 juta yang diberikan kepada SYABAS sebelum ini.

"Kalau tidak kerana peruntukan RM606 juta kepada SYABAS yang diberikan kerajaan persekutuan, masalah air di Selangor adalah lebih berat sebenarnya.

"Kita tidak mahu rakyat di Selangor terus menjadi mangsa, dan kerana itu kerajaan telah setuju tambah peruntukan sebanyak RM120 juta," katanya.

Bercakap di hadapan lebih 10,000 penduduk daripada kawasan Parlimen Ampang dan Pandan, Perdana Menteri berkata kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) sememangnya berterusan memperjuangkan isu itu tetapi penyelesaian masalah itu sebenarnya boleh diputuskan rakyat.

"Saya mahu soal ini terus diperjuangkan oleh kita, tetapi lebih baik lagi apabila sampai masanya dan ia tidak lama lagi rakyat Selangor sendiri yang tentukannya," katanya merujuk kepada pilihan raya umum yang bakal tiba.

Beliau berkata masalah air di Selangor harus diselesaikan segera kerana keadaan itu telah menjejaskan pelaburan ekonomi di negeri itu selain 430 projek pembangunan terpaksa ditangguhkan ekoran isu tersebut.

Sehubungan itu, Najib mahu supaya rakyat Selangor bijak menilai sekaligus tidak boleh membiarkan masalah itu daripada berterusan.

Di majlis itu, perdana menteri menyampaikan BR1M kepada 30 penerima sebagai simbolik pelancaran daripada kira-kira 10,000 penerima melibatkan kawasan Parlimen Ampang dan Pandan.

Hadir sama Menteri Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani Datuk Seri Noh Omar, Menteri Kewangan Kedua Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Anggota Parlimen Pandan Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat dan Penyelaras Parlimen Ampang Datuk Ismail Kijo.

- Bernama

Selangor fails to set aside suit by water consumers

 The High Court here Monday rejected with costs the application by the Selangor government and Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to set aside a suit filed by 711 water consumers.

The suit is over Khalid and the Selangor government's failure to provide free water as promised in the opposition coalition's election manifesto in 2008.

Judicial Commissioner Datuk Hashim Hamzah made the decision after hearing submissions from both sides. He fixed April 15 for case management.

On Sept 11 last year, 711 water consumers in Selangor became the first group to file such a suit, demanding compensation of over RM400,000 and named Khalid, the Selangor government and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (Syabas) as defendants.

Lawyer Kamarudin Ahmad for the plaintiffs said the court's decision showed that the people of Selangor had the basis to drag the state government and Khalid to court for making an empty promise.

In their statement of claim, the consumers stated that during the last election in April 2008, the people of Selangor were promised free water for the first 20 cubic metres of domestic use monthly.

Based on the election manifesto, each domestic consumer in Selangor having an account with Syabas was eligible to receive a subsidy of RM11.40 per month, regardless of whether the consumer was using an individual meter or a bulk meter.

They said that after winning Selangor in the election, the state government started implementing the free water scheme on June 1, 2008.

However, they claimed that they had not been receiving the free water promised and found no deduction in charges for the first 20 cubic metres of water usage in their water bills issued by Syabas.

The plaintiffs also claimed that Khalid in a press statement issued on Aug 30 last year said that water consumption still using the bulk meter was not eligible for the subsidy.

They claimed that Syabas should be replacing their meters as the state government had instructed it to change the bulk meters to individual meters since 2007 but Syabas failed to do so.

The plaintiffs are demanding a compensation of RM405,270 from the state government and/or Syabas or alternatively, be paid compensation for the first 20 cubic metres of water monthly, which they have paying since June 2008.

They are also seeking a declaration that the free water scheme promised by the Selangor government covers all water consumers in the state, regardless of whether they are using the individual or bulk meter. -- Bernama

 Khalid  fail to manage Selangor as well...

No hotel meeting between Nik Aziz and DAP, says Karpal

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh yesterday stressed that the party did not have a meeting with PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat at a hotel in Penang on Jan 28 where the issue of the usage of "Allah" was discussed, contrary to reports by an English daily.

"Consequently, the question of Nik Aziz having explained the matter and the (PAS) Syura Council's decision (on the "Allah" usage) to the DAP and the issue having been settled cannot arise," he said in a statement.

He noted that the daily had quoted PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang as saying that the "kalimah Allah" issue had been settled between PAS and DAP through the alleged meeting.

"I had not stated at any time that there was a meeting between me or the DAP leadership with Nik Aziz at a hotel in Penang. I had stated that the issue of 'kalimah Allah' was not discussed between me and Nik Aziz when he called at my residence on Jan 27," Karpal said.

He expressed regret that the daily has not printing a correction despite his clarification to the relevant writer.

The issue of the use of "Allah" among non-Muslims has been a point of contention between DAP and PAS.

Karpal said DAP's stand on the issue remains as that stated during the Jan 8 press conference by Hadi Awang, PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, which stated that Islam does not restrict non-Muslims from using "Allah" in their religious practices, but it must not be misused to create confusion among Muslims.