6 theSun | THURSDAY MARCH 19 2009

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Giam Say Khoon and Hemananthani Sivanandam at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday

Four Selangor Umno Youth members testify

THE special committee set up
to investigate the Feb 26 fracas
in Parliament involving Selan-
gor Umno Youth members and
Karpal Singh, heard the testimo-
nies of four members of the wing.
At a press conference at
the Parliament lobby, Umno
Youth Council member Datuk
Mukhriz Mahathir (BN-Jer-
lun) told reporters the four had
attended the inquiry to show they
were not running away from
their responsibility to provide the
committee with an explanation.
“Umno Youth will certainly
speak up when some parties
make baseless accusations. The
wing has taken a civil approach,
and what was reported was not so
accurate. We therefore welcomed
the opportunity given to us by the
committee,” he said.
On Feb 26, a group of Selan-
gor Umno Youth members had
obstructed Karpal Singh (DAP-
Bukit Gelugor) from entering
Parliament House, demanding
that he apologise for his state-
ment in the House that the wing
was responsible for the two
rounds of live ammunition that
he had received.
Mukhriz said the witnesses
– leaders from the Umno Youth
wings of Gombak, Petaling Jaya
Utara, Shah Alam and Serdang
– had been told not to give any
press statement. He expected the
outcome of the investigation to be
raised in Parliament next week in
view of the fact that the meeting
ends on March 25.
“I was told that
the witnesses were
shown a video foot-
age of the fracas
and statements were
taken based on it.
When I watched the
footage, I did not think
the Youth members
had over-reacted in
attempting to get an
explanation from Kar-
pal, who made a harsh
accusation. We as the
people would want to
hear his explanation,”
Mukhriz said.
“If an MP is unable
to answer a question
from the people, who
else can? This is the right
of the people to come
to Parliament and get Mukhriz
explanations on issues (right) with
raised by MPs.” Gombak
He said that although Umno
he agreed MPs should Youth’s
enjoy immunity for Megat
statements made in the Zulkarnain
House, the privilege Omardin
(left) and
other Youth
members at
Parliament
House
yesterday.
should be exercised responsibly. Mulia, met for the third time
“I also believe the absence of yesterday. Opposition MPs have
Opposition MPs at the inquiry boycotted the proceedings since
was a tactic to discredit the com- Tuesday, after the House failed
mittee. We will see what to do to agree to transform Parliament
when the outcome is presented into a court to hear the case. The
in the House.” media was barred from covering
The committee, chaired by the proceedings after witness tes-
Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin timony on Monday was reported.

prices of petroleum and urea.

‘Trade not affected briefs

He was replying to a question
from Datuk Siringan Gubat (BN-
Ranau) on measures to reduce the

by slowdown’ price of fertilisers to enable small-

MALAYSIA’S trade has not been
affected by the global financial turmoil,
as although total exports dipped by
7.4%, imports fell by 12.3% in the fourth
quarter of last year, compared with the
corresponding period in 2007, Deputy
International Trade and Industry Minister
Datuk Liew Vui Keong (BN-Sandakan)
said.
Liew was responding to a question
from Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian)
on the impact of the global economic
situation on the country’s import and
export of products and services, new
measures to increase exports and the
latest markets explored.
He said total trade for 2008 rose 6.8%
to RM1.185 trillion, with exports up 9.6%
to RM663.5 billion and imports up 3.3%
to RM521.5 billion. Some main markets
in which Malaysia recorded positive
trade growth last year were Japan (30%),
India (22.4%), Australia (19.7%), China
(19.2%) and South Korea (12.4%).
However, it recorded reduced
growth in traditional export markets
such as the United States and Europe
due to a decline in demand, especially
in electrical and electronic goods.
New export markets included Ukraine
(126.7%), Russia (47%), Egypt (45.8%),
Saudi Arabia (42.6%), Mexico (33.7%),
United Arab Emirates (UAE) (24%), Brazil
(23.8%) and Iran (15.3%).Other main sec-
tors such as natural gas (55.7%), palm oil
(46.3%), crude oil (31.5%) and chemical
products (10.4%) also recorded positive
growth in exports.
Liew said steps taken to ensure in-
creased exports include programmes to
promote the services sector in the Mid-
dle East through the Malaysia Services
Exhibition in the UAE, and the diversifi-
cation of promotional activities this year
for markets in Asia and the Middle East,
in order to reduce dependence on the
American and European markets.
“We also plan to provide a market
development grant and export service
funds to promote and expand the
export of products and services to new
markets. The ministry is providing a 30%
to 100% tax exemption on exports to
increase the value of local companies in
the manufacturing sector,” he said.
“We will also provide incentives in
the implementation of RosettaNet, an
electronic system that connects export-
ers to supply chains.”
Liew said double tax exemption
would be provided on premium insur-
ance and export credits. More outreach
programmes will be conducted for local
export companies on tariff benefits un-
der the Free Trade Agreement, to which
Malaysia is signatory.
No action against
AirAsia
THE Transport Ministry will not order
Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
(MAHB) to take action against AirAsia
for non-payment of backdated airport
tax, minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee
Keat (BN-Pandan) said.
He was responding in a written
reply to a question from Wee Choo
Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju) on why
AirAsia was allowed to owe MAHB
airport tax which the company col-
lected from passengers.
As of Feb 29, AirAsia’s debt for
airport tax stood at RM65 million.
Ong said the problem was con-
sidered resolved as both AirAsia and
MAHB had reached agreement on
the matter and found a solution.
Emergency calls direct
to Kuching
EMERGENCY calls to the police, fire
department, civil defence and Health
Ministry in Sabah and Sarawak will
now be diverted to an emergency call
centre in Kuching starting today.
If lines in Kuching are busy, the
calls will be diverted to call centres
in Kuala Lumpur or Malacca.
Previously, emergency calls in
Sabah and Sarawak were directed
to call centres in Malacca before
being directed to the respective
departments, Deputy Energy, Water
and Communications Minister Datuk
Joseph Salang (BN-Julau) said.
Norah Abdul Rahman (BN-Tan-
jong Manis) had sought clarifica-
tion on whether emergency calls
in Sarawak to the fire department
through 999 were diverted to Kuala
Lumpur before Sarawak firemen
were directed to act. Salang said the
call centres were handled by Telekom
Malaysia and that the 999 service was
not affected by the diversions.
Fertiliser firms can’t be
made to reduce prices
THE government cannot force
local fertiliser manufacturers
to reduce the price of the com-
modity despite the drop in the
prices of petroleum and urea this
year, Agriculture and Agro-based
Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa
Mohamed said.
He said the ministry had regular
meetings with fertiliser companies
to urge them to reduce the price
of the commodity in line with the
holders to enjoy a better income.
Mustapa said the higher cost of
raw materials had forced fertiliser
companies to raise prices besides
the rising price of the commod-
ity in the international market.
– Bernama
No EU recognition for
UM’s MBBS since 1990
THE medical degree (MBBS) from
Universiti Malaya (UM) has not been
recognised by the European Union
since its student intake in 1990.
Deputy Higher Education Minister
Datuk Idris Haron said that accord-
ing to the General Medical Council’s
stipulation, MBBS programmes
outside the EU did not qualify for
recognition. “This ruling does not
only apply to medical degrees from
Malaysia, but also from universities
in Hongkong, New Zealand, Australia
and Singapore which offer the same
programme and have produced top
medical specialists,” he said in reply
to a question from M. Manogaran
(DAP-Teluk Intan).
To a supplementary question from
Manogaran on the government’s ef-
forts to regain recognition, he said
student exchange programmes were
being undertaken with universities in
the UK. – Bernama