6 theSun | THURSDAY MARCH 5 2009

news without borders

Maria J. Dass and Giam Say Khoon at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday

Under-the-tree cracks abound in the House

THE Parliament sitting yesterday
was void for about five minutes
in the afternoon when two minis-
ters scheduled to wrap up ques-
tions raised during a debate on
a motion of thanks for the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong’s address.
Information Minister Datuk
Ahmad Shabery Cheek had just
completed answering questions
and Deputy Speaker Datuk Wan
Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar called
for Human Resources Minister
Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam. As
Subramaniam was not present,
Wan Junaidi called for Domestic
Trade and Consumer Affairs
Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul
Samad. However, he too was
absent from the House.
This resulted in a ruckus
with parliamentarians from both
sides poking fun at each other to
fill the vacuum.
“What kind of session is
this, we’d better hold it under a
tree la,” Datuk Mahfuz Omar
(PAS-Pokok Sena) quipped.
“Gemilang! Terbilang! Hilang!”
he exclaimed, poking fun at the
government’s tagline Cemerlang,
Gemilang, Terbilang.
Just then Subramaniam
walked in: “Hey! Where were
you? Under the tree with the
deers?” Mahfuz asked, referring
to the deer sanctuary outside
Parliament.
Wan Junaidi remarked that
the ministers may have expect-
ed the Information Ministry’s
wrapup to take longer.
Earlier, Shabery said he would
pray that slander befell Jeff Ooi
(DAP-Jelutong) and his family
so that “you realise how it feels
to be slandered”.
Shabery was wrapping up
his debate when Ooi had inter-
rupted to ask about a text mes-
sage being circulated about RTM
personality Zamzarina Zamri and
Information Ministry secretary-
general Datuk Kamaruddin
Siaraf being caught committing
khalwat (close proximity).
Shabery replied that although
he had not received the mes-
sage, “it was probably untrue as
the official was in London at the
time of the alleged incident”.
“This is slander and a person-
al matter, not a policy matter to
be brought up in the House, but
as the minister, I have to correct
a wrong perception.”
“Why don’t you bring this up
outside, don’t use House im-
munity to hurl accusations at in-
nocent people who are not here
to defend themselves,” Shabery
said, accusing the Opposition of
slander and dirty politics.
N. Gobalakrishnan then stood
up and asked Shabery to retract
his statement on slander, to
which Shabery asked: “Who is
using slander?”

5% of rivers polluted Syabas audit reports

AN ANALYSIS of river water qual-
ity last year showed that only seven
basins or 5% of the country’s rivers
are polluted, Natural Resources and
Environment Minister Datuk Douglas
Uggah Embas said.
He said the analysis showed that
water quality in 76 basins (53%) was
clean, and 60 others (42%) moderately
polluted.
“The polluted basins are Sungai
Pinang (Penang), Sungai Air Baloi,
Sungai Rambah, Sungai Segget, Sungai
Tebrau, Sungai Danga, Sungai Buluh,
Sungai Latoh, Sungai Masai, Sungai
Perembi and Sungai Tukang Batu (all in
Johor),” he said in reply to a question
from Dr Lo’Lo Mohamed Ghazali
(PAS-Titiwangsa).
Lo’Lo had asked which the coun-
try’s 10 most polluted rivers were
and efforts to treat them and prevent
pollution.
referred to AG
Embas said the Department of
Environment was monitoring the water
quality in 143 river basins nationwide
via 1,064 stations. THE Energy, Water and
He said the ministry was imple- Communications Ministry
menting programmes to treat the has referred the numer-
rivers and prevent pollution at the ous discrepancies in Sya-
source while stepping up enforce- rikat Bekalan Air Selangor
ment of the Environmental Quality (Syabas)’s audit reports to
Act 1974. the auditor-general.
Other programmes included “If the company has
placing garbage traps and improving done wrong, we will allow
cooperation with agencies such as the law to take its course.
the agriculture and veterinary services It’s not up to us to decide
departments and the local authorities. whether it was right or
“The cooperation of agencies is wrong,” Minister Datuk
necessary to step up enforcement Shaziman Abu Mansor
and prevent pollution at the source. said.
Environmental awareness among the “But the restructuring
public and industry players is impor- has to go on,” he said in
tant to overcome pollution and ensure responding to questions
compliance with the law,” Embas said. raised by Khalid Abd
– Bernama Samad (PAS-Shah Alam)
and Charles Santiago (DAP-Klang) on the water
restructuring exercise in Selangor.
Shaziman said concession companies whose
performance was not up to the mark would have
their licences – which are reviewed every three
years – terminated.
He also said Selangor which is governed by
the Pakatan Rakyat is not being discriminated
against.
“The water industry model introduced in Se-
langor is the same as in Barisan Nasional-ruled
states,” he said, refusing to discuss the issue
further and ignoring questions while debating
the royal address.
theSun reported on Jan 30 that an audit had
revealed Syabas breached several key terms of
a 30-year concession agreement, and that the
Selangor government was using this to press for
the termination of the lucrative contract.
Syabas, which is owned by Puncak Niaga
(70%) and Selangor investment arm Kumpulan
Darul Ehsan Bhd (30%), had failed to comply fully
with the requirement that contracts be awarded
by open tender.
The audit had shown that more than 72%
of contracts worth a total RM600 million were
awarded to selected companies through direct
negotiations and only 25% by open tender.
It also found discrepancies involving more than
RM325 million between the summary of contracts
awarded in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and Syabas’
review document (referring to general accounts).
The audit was a requirement before the
company could be allowed to implement a
tariff hike scheduled for Jan 1. That has since
been deferred, with the Pakatan Rakyat state
government still in negotiations with the federal
government on the management of water assets
and related issues.
theSun learnt that the state has written to the
ministry asking for the concession agreement to
be terminated.

Anwar’s motion to debate Umno

Youth fracas rejected
THE House rejected a motion by Opposition
Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PKR-Perma-
tang Pauh) to debate Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit
Gelugor)’s contention that a group of Umno
Youth should be held in contempt of the House
for preventing him from entering Parliament last
week.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee said
this was because a committee had already been
set up to investigate the matter.
“We will act based on the committee’s
report,” he said.
The committee will meet on Tuesday and its
findings are expected to be known the following
day, he said.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department
Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, in tabling
a motion to set up the committee, said the panel
would be headed by Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar
Amin Mulia, and would have power to act under
the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers)
Act 1952.
In the incident last week, a group of 15 Selan-
gor Umno Youth members had stopped Karpal
from entering Parliament House, demanding that
he retract the word celaka (damned) – which he
had used to describe Umno Youth in reference
to two live bullets which had been mailed to him
– when debating a motion of thanks on the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong’s address. – Bernama

Endowment land projects MCMC monitoring

must follow procedure
THE development of endowment (wakaf) land
nationwide must follow proper procedure,
including obtaining approval and suggestions
from the State Islamic Religious Council.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Dep-
artment Senator Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim
said this is because endowment land falls under
the jurisdiction of the council.
“At the federal government level, we must
ensure that the development of endowment
land is optimised. The government can help with
funds, but proposals to develop the land come
from the council itself,” she said in answering a
question from Datuk Lilah Yasin (BN-Jempol),
who had asked why the Endowment Land
Development Committee, responsible for the
development of the land, was slow in taking
action and had limited funds. – Bernama
text messages
THE Malaysian Communications and Mul-
timedia Commission constantly monitors
text messages sent by individuals and con-
tent providers. Deputy Energy, Water and
Communications Minister Datuk Joseph
Salang Gandum said legal action can be
taken against people spreading obscene,
fraudulent or threatening messages.
Replying to Raime Unggi (BN-Tenom)
during question time, he said people found
guilty under Section 233 of the Malaysian
Communications and Multimedia Act
1998 are liable to a fine of RM50,000 or a
maximum one year in jail or both. Raime
has asked how far the government was
able to contain what he described as “SMS
pirates”, including those sending chain text
messages. – Bernama