6 theSun | FRIDAY JUNE 19 2009

news without borders

Guan Eng slams ferry

takeover plan by PPC
by Himanshu Bhatt
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan
Eng has expressed concern that the Penang Port
Commission (PPC), a federal agency chaired by
MCA’s Tan Cheng Liang, would be prejudiced
against the state’s proposal to take over opera-
tions of Penang’s cross-channel ferry service.
Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, said
the PPC’s response to the state’s idea would be
“skewed or biased” as Tan had now announced
the PPC was planning to take over the operations.
He told a press conference in his office here
yesterday the state government will continue to
make its submission to take over the service.
Lim accused Tan, who is also Penang MCA
Wanita chief, of not being completely honest
in announcing the PPC’s plan to reassign the
ferry’s operations.
Tan reportedly said on June 4 that the PPC
was looking at handing over the operations to
the federal government as the current operator,
Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB), had been incur-
ring severe losses. In 2008 alone, PPSB lost some
RM21 million in the ferry service.
The PPC is the licensing authority for the port
under the Transport Ministry, while operator
PPSB is an agency of the finance ministry.
It was only later, after the state government had
said it could take over the operations, that Tan an-
nounced on June 17 the PPC was also interested.
“Why has she been taking us on a wild goose
chase all this while?” Lim asked. “Why didn’t
she come clean at the beginning and say that the
PPC was interested?”

Crooked guard caught with part of loot

by Charles Ramendran
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: A security guard who fled with
several cash bags containing hundreds of thou-
sand ringgit about 10 days ago on Jalan Ampang
was arrested by police in Rompin, Pahang on
Wednesday.
The 38-year-old man, who had stolen RM250,000
and not RM500,000 as earlier reported from an
armoured van during a cash-in-transit routine, has
spent more than half the loot paying off debts and
buying his 26-year-old girlfriend gifts.
Police who recovered more than RM110,000
from the suspect said several days earlier, the
man had travelled in a taxi to Ipoh where he
purchased a used Mitsubishi Pajero for about
RM50,000.
Cheras police chief ACP Ahmad Amer Mohd
Hashim said the suspect, who is married, then
travelled to Dungun before heading to his girlfriend’s
place in Rompin.
He said while there the Pajero broke down
and the man sent it to a mechanic for repair.
Ahmad said the suspect had also handed over
about RM110,000 to his girlfriend for safekeeping
and took with him about RM5,000.
He said police got wind of the suspect’s
whereabouts following a tip-off and waited for
the man to return to the workshop to collect his
vehicle where he was nabbed at about 7.40pm.
Police also learnt that the suspect’s girlfriend
was his ex-colleague at the security company. He
had apparently spent about RM130,000 paying off
a bank loan and buying jewellery for her. He had
also sent RM1,150 to his wife by mail.

Cabbies to be ‘eyes and ears’ of police

PETALING JAYA: Taxi drivers, who are constantly
on the move, will be roped in to help fight crime
by being the “eyes and ears” of the police.
The programme, “Role of taxi drivers in fight-
ing crime”, which was launched by the Malaysian
Crime Prevention Foundation with the support of
Selangor police at the Sunway Pyramid shopping
mall yesterday will involve at least 300 taxi drivers
keeping watch over the areas they ply daily.
“Taxis travel and move in almost every area
and cabbies will be excellent ‘lookouts’ for the
police. Their alerts to the police will shorten our
response time,” Selangor police chief DCP Datuk
Khalid Abu Bakar said.
Selangor MCPF chairman and Sunway
Group chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah said the
programme will enable taxi drivers to better
understand their role in crime prevention.

TELEKOM Malaysia Berhad will

be offering a treat for Indone- Indonesian music fest
sian music lovers at the Festival
Muzik Pesta Malam Indonesia 3
(PMI 3) tomorrow.
The music festival to be held
at Stadium Bukit Jalil will feature
music from the likes of Dewa19,
Padi, Gigi, Sheila On 7 and Andra
& The Backbone.
“We have the largest five
bands here for PMI 3. So, we are
hoping for a big turnout at the
festival,” said PMI 3 organiser
Fat Boys Records chief executive
officer Mohamed Zahid Yon.
Tickets, priced at RM63, can
be purchased at Stadium Bukit
Jalil and Axcess Tickets outlets
at Section 14, 1 Utama Box
Office and Alamanda Shopping Organisers of Festival Muzik Pesta Malam Indonesia 3 and
Centre. members of the bands pose for a group photo.

Early checks vital to prevent eye disorders

by Jonathan Mah
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
Missed
PETALING JAYA: More children are
chance developing sight disorders, especially in
to debate developing countries, thus early deten-
May 7 tion is vital to prevent them.
Visual impairments in children can be
pg 8 treated if detected early, said Tun Hus-
sein Onn National Eye Hospital director
Datuk Dr Veera Ramani at the launch of
the second phase of Kempen Jaga Mata
– Projek I Care Vision 2020 yesterday.
The project is jointly organised by
Yayasan Pendidikan Islam and the eye
hospital. It was initiated about 10 years
ago in response to the high incidence
of sight disorders in young school-going
children.
Yayasan Pendidikan Islam chairman
Datuk Mohamed Iqbal said incidences
of sight disorders were especially high
during the first five years of a child’s
life.
The deterioration is also due to
lack of attention given to such disor-
ders. Mohamed cited the example of
students who complained to teachers
about not being able to see clearly, and
instead of being referred to specialists,
they would be asked to move to the
front of the class.