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news without borders
Pakatan Rakyat report card roadshow
by Maria J. Dass
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: The public in
Selangor will get a chance to evaluate
the performance of the local authori-
ties and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state
government during a road show in
March.
The road show will be held at
every local council and will be open
Panel to enhance
delivery system in KL
KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal
Territories Ministry has set up the
Modern City Management Com-
mittee to enhance the service
delivery system in Kuala Lumpur.
Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan
Rafique said the move would
hopefully turn Kuala Lumpur into
a first class city by 2020.
He said the committee would
study and compare management
mechanisms, laws and admin-
istrative and local government
structures adopted by developed
countries.
The committee chaired by Putra-
jaya Corporation president Tan Sri
Samsuddin Osman would also scru-
tinise the administrative, planning
and development implementation
systems as well as the efficiency of
municipal service delivery.
“The committee will also iden-
tify the basic criteria to meet the
Electrician gunned down
by Charles Ramendran
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: A 25-year-old
electrician returning after an outing
at an entertainment outlet at the KL
Sentral Plaza, Brickfields was fatally
shot at close range by an unidenti-
fied gunman early Monday.
Brickfields police chief ACP Wan
Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said the victim,
identified as Mohd Noor Asrulfaiz,
was walking towards his car at a
carpark with his girlfriend and male
friend during the 4am incident.
He said the assailant turned
up and opened fire at the victim
before escaping in a car driven by
to the public, said state executive
councillor in charge of local govern-
ment, research and development
Ronnie Liu.
“All local council presidents,
councillors, officers and I will at-
tend the hearings,” he told theSun
recently.
“This is how we will be evaluat-
ing our performance since Pakatan
Rakyat took over last year.
modern city management concept
and study the power and liaison
coordination mechanisms involv-
ing various agencies or institu-
tions,” he said in a statement.
Zulhasnan said the committee
had held a workshop involving
agencies under the ministry as
well as other relevant agencies
and it had come out with recom-
mendations which would soon be
fine-tuned before their tabling in
the cabinet.
He said the public assumed
that Kuala Lumpur City Hall had
full control over the management
and administrative affairs of
Kuala Lumpur but actually, over
16 ministries, 30 departments or
agencies under those ministries
and five local authorities had some
jurisdiction in matters pertaining
to the city’s planning and develop-
ment. – Bernama
an accomplice.
Mohd Noor was rushed to the
Kuala Lumpur Hospital but was
pronounced dead on arrival. He
suffered a gunshot wound to his
back.
Wan Bari said initial investiga-
tions showed that the victim was
not involved in any argument or
fight before the incident. “We have
recorded statements from the girl-
friend and friend but we are yet to
ascertain the motive of the killing.
We are trying to gather clues or
leads to the killing.”
He urged those with information
to contact the Brickfields CID at 03-
2274 2222.
“It is the people who will be giv-
ing us our report cards,” Liu added.
This will be a good avenue for the
public to voice out their problems
and grouses and to give suggestions
on how to improve the administra-
tion.
“We have to be bold enough to
face criticisms hurled at us,” Liu
said.
He said the state will also conduct
Solar spectacle ... sequence shots of the solar eclipse caught by the lenses of the National Planetarium
on Monday evening. About 2,000 visitors to the planetarium witnessed the eclipse that lasted two-and-a-half hours. The
phenomenon occurs when the shadow of the moon is cast onto the sun.
Corruption main obstacle to
development, says Dr M
KUALA LUMPUR: Corruption is the single
most important obstruction to a nation’s
development, former prime minister Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.
He said corruption was a social disease
found all over the world and that no coun-
try was absolutely free from the menace
and that in some nations, corruption had
become institutionalised.
“And corruption is among the most
difficult crimes to detect and even more
difficult to gain conviction in courts of law.
But corruption is the single most important
obstruction to a country’s development,”
he said his speech at the Global Competi-
tive Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The text of his speech, titled “Sharing
Malaysia’s Experience in Becoming a Com-
petitive World Player”, was made available
to Bernama.
The former prime minister said contrac-
tors for government projects were usually
the principal victims of corruption and “just
about anything which involves approvals
by the authorities would be subject to
demands for illegal gratification”.
“There is corruption in Malaysia, though
it was still at the first stage during my time,
that is, the corrupt officers still hid their
acceptance because they feared being ap-
prehended or they did not like doing wrong
openly,” said Mahathir.
theSun
a survey on the quality of services
delivered by the local authorities to
determine areas that need improve-
ment.
The PR has had a few hiccups
during the start of its administration
when there was much displeasure
over the appointment of several lo-
cal councillors, whose appointments
were viewed as payback for their
loyalty to their respective parties.
At this stage, he said it may still be
possible to reduce corruption but when it
reached the second stage, becoming part
of the people’s culture, and everyone, from
the top to the bottom openly expect and
accept bribes, little could be done to stop
corruption.
However, he said corruption could be
reduced although it cannot be prevented
altogether.
“In Malaysia we insisted in shortening
the process and the time for making deci-
sions. This we did by introducing manuals
of procedures for every type of work, by
having work flow charts and desk files for
every officer.
“If the time taken to approve or
disapprove goes beyond that stipulated
in the procedures we would be able to
quickly know that something was wrong
and we would know where the delay had
taken place and the culprit involved,” he
added.
He said the result of this system was
dramatic and suddenly the city of Kuala
Lumpur grew, investments were approved,
factories were built and all the infrastruc-
ture projects took off.
“Admittedly there was still some corrup-
tion but not to the extent that the develop-
ment of the country could not take place or
be grossly delayed,” said Mahathir.
| WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28 2009
Even Liu has come under fire
recently for what was perceived to
be his interference in local councils.
His predecessor, Datuk Teh Kim Poo,
has accused him of collecting money
from traders for the Chinese New
Year market in Pandamaran to help
them get a space to trade from the
Klang Municipal Council – a practice
which Liu accused Teh himself of
initiating.
BERNAMAPIX
Pilot airlifted
from crash site
JOHOR BARU: A Singaporean pilot,
who survived when the light aircraft
he flew crashed at the foot of the Gu-
nung Pulai Forest Reserve near here
on Monday, was rescued yesterday
morning.
Sanjay Purusottam, 40, was air-
lifted from the scene at 7am by a Fire
and Rescue Department helicopter to
the Sultan Ismail International Airport
in Senai before an ambulance took
him to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital.
“He fractured his right thigh and
had a swollen right eye,” Kulaijaya
police chief Supt Zulkepfly Yahya told
reporters at the hospital here.
Sanjay, a bank executive in Sin-
gapore, was treated at the hospital
before being transferred to the Mount
Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.
Sanjay, who piloted a Cessna 152
light aircraft, left the Senai airport at
9.40am on Monday and was sched-
uled to arrive at the Batu Berendam
Airport in Malacca at 10.50am.
However, due to strong winds, he
obtained permission to return, only to
lose contact with the Senai air traffic
control tower at 10.15am. Rescuers
found Sanjay trapped in the aircraft
which was stuck nose-down on the
branches of a tree in the forest at
about 5pm. – Bernama