PKR Karim keep on repeating the same mistake.

I am puzzled that SAPP did not issue any strong statement to reply PKR startegist Datuk Karim Ghani's remarks that SAPP must join Pakatan Rakyat on the old excuse that local Sabah parties are ineffective.

Karim's point is that only big national parties like PKR and the Pakatan coalition have the power to solve Sabah's problems. Wasn't that the same reason Karim used when campaigning for UMNO entry into Sabah?

Karim used to pride himself as the man who brought UMNO to Sabah and a party man whose only duty is to the party (UMNO). That was after he was sacked by USNO in the late 1980s.

He was very close to the than UMNO Deputy President Anwar Ibrahim, no doubt, but was also implicated in the murky world of UMNO politics in the 1990. It was reported that he was the head of UMNO's task force on "Pengundi Luar" (Outside Voters, aka Phantom Voters).

It is a mystery that PKR has not only accepted him but even made him "Director of Strategy". As chief strategist, his first strategy was to offend SAPP supporters and other Sabahans who have gotten fed up with "Big Brother" talk by West Malaysian parties.

As I recall, Karim's reason for leaving UMNO was because he said the Federal Government under PKR (Pakatan) would revive USNO, the party that he was responsible for putting an end to. Any USNO man today can vouch their regret for the dissolution of USNO in 1992.

Sabahan (Daily Express Sunday Forum)

SAPP to BN govt: Don’t shift your own Failure to manage properly and Burden the Rakyat unnecessarily.

Malaysia is one of the few oil and gas producing countries in the world. Sabah especially, being rich in oil and gas, has been contributing millions and millions of Ringgit to the Malaysian government.

Electricity is a basic utility and being one of the most basic needs for people, it comes as both logical and obligatory for the BN government to provide for a stable, reliable and affordable supply of electricity to a contributing state like Sabah in return.

SAPP CLC Api Api Organizing Secretary Clement Lee says that it is totally unfair, unjustifiable and unacceptable, relating to the press statement issued by the Datuk Seri Peter Chin today (24/6/2011) with The Daily Express carrying the title “Power Tariff Review” was due to the increase of the fuel prices.

Clement Lee would like to ask TNB (which owns SESB), the main electricity supplier in the state, how it can still make losses in a monopoly state of business, like that of Sabah's ?

The main causes of loss incurred by TNB and SESB are mainly due to mismanagement, incompetency, poor planning and execution methodology, lopsided deals, high maintenance costs due to the purchase of used and second-hand power generators, parts and very possibly, inferior services.

The compensation of about RM70 million to a Chinese company due to the scrapping of the coal power plant in Sabah recently proved yet again that poor management, planning and decision making have caused our tax money to go down the drain. The government should have consulted the state assembly, people and NGOs before committing and signing an agreement with the supplier to prevent wastage of time, money and other resources.

This was clearly contradicting to the BN's 1Malaysia slogan “People first, Achievement is main priority”.

Another one of the contributing factors that made TNB and SESB suffered losses was due to power theft mainly committed by illegal immigrant in the state which prove to be a long term liability to the government.

The people of Sabah have been suffering and enduring with one of the highest cost of living of any states in Malaysia and yet the lowest take-home pay, especially for young working adults for umpteenth years.

I reckon the present BN government will need to solve its internal problems first as mentioned above before shifting the burden to the people.

So, the suggestion by Datuk Seri Chin Fah Kui to review the current electricity state tariff is totally unfair, unjustifiable and utterly unacceptable.

Clement Lee is SAPP CLC Api Api Organising Secretary

If the State government was really financially strong, why was there a need to issue Bonds?

KOTA KINABALU, June 21, 2011: SAPP CLC Api-Api Organizing Secretary Clement Lee would like to query the RM544 million worth of bonds issued by BN-led government as stated by the Chief Minister during his budgeted speech on 19 November 2010 at State Assembly.

"The estimated revenue for 2010 being over the RM3 billion level takes into account proceeds from the issuance of bonds worth RM544 million effective this year.” which in actual fact meant that the estimated State revenue was merely RM2.5 billi

Bond is a form of debt investments where state government loans a certain amount of money, for a certain period of time, with a certain rate of interest, to companies and individuals at large at a discounted price.

"How could the BN government account the RM544 million worth of bonds issued, which in essence are debts, as State Revenue in 2010?

When such bonds mature in 5 years time, the State government will need to buy back the bonds at the original price from the investors.

"If the BN-led government really had a strong financial backing in the state coffer, why would they still need to issue bonds in order to raise funds? It seems like the present BN government is not telling the truth and utterly misleading the public.

The present government should seek more sources of income like opening up more land for cultivation and increasing the productivity of the present state-owned GLCs and reducing the operational costs which would surely translate to revenue, among others.

"What about the RM1 billion special allocation promised by the federal government for the Sabah Development Corridor project?

"Another pressing issue is that, why did the state government give away 5,000 hectares of palm oil land to United Malacca Berhad whilst local based Sabahan companies were more than capable to develop them?

"We want the BN government to explain on these matters and clear public ambiguity and confusion.

Kerajaan rugi RM70 juta batal loji sinakut

Oleh : Datuk Eric Majimbum

DALAM sidang Dewan Parlimen kelmarin, Menteri Tenaga, Teknologi Hijau dan Air telah menjawab soalan bertulis saya (Sepanggar) mengenai pembatalan projek penjanaan 300 Megawatt Loji Arang Batu di Sinakut, Tungku.

 

Menteri KeTTHA mengesahkan bahawa pemilik projek terpaksa membayar pampasan ganti rugi kepada pihak kontraktor USD22.5 juta sebagai pembayaran muktamad bagi kontrak yang telah ditandatangani.

Saya amat kesal di atas kebongkakan kerajaan yang menandatangani perjanjian awal tanpa menjalankan laporan EIA terlebih dahulu sehingga menyebabkan kita kerugian sebanyak RM70 juta.

Tentunya kerugian ini boleh membangunankan lebih banyak infrastruktur di Sabah, terutama untuk menaiktaraf hidup dan mengeluarkan rakyat Sabah daripada kekangan Miskin Tegar.

Jumlah tersebut juga boleh digunakan untuk membayar elaun Ketua Kampung dan Pengerusi JKKK dan JKDB sejumlah RM800 seorang seperti yang dijanjikan Perdana Menteri dalam Bajet 2011 bermula sejak Januari 2011, tetapi sehingga kini belum dilaksanakan di Sabah.

Kerugian ini, kata Eric bolehlah disifatkan sebagai ‘berniaga buluh kasap, hujung dapat, pangkal lesap!’

Sabah’s Tai Chi Master – Datuk Dr. Yee Moh Chai

The Minister of Resource Development and Information Technology, Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai should stop this melodrama and exasperation over the dismal broadband services in Sabah.  Stop playing Tai Chi and away with the Mahathir syndrome because as the Minister who looks after information technology development in Sabah the buck stop with YOU!!  Grow up and take the blame like a man.  What a pathetic behavior from a Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah.

As a learned man (who happens to be a lawyer, doctor, Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah and, a British Permanent Resident), he should be aware that 2 years ago he appointed a reputable consultant to prepare the ICT blueprint for Sabah (unless he has selected memory when he lied to the Chief Minister).  Today after more than 2 years we have yet to see the final report of this blueprint.  A check at the Unit Kemajuan IT Negeri website (http://www.sabah.gov.my/info/itmp/) still has the old IT Master Plan for Sabah which was made 15 years ago in 1996.


In the IT industry, progress relies on fast and up-to-date communication.  Anything over 6 months old are deemed obsolete.  So with the 15 year old Sabah IT Masterplan, it is well and truly a dinosaur, encased in the ancient tablets found only in the pyramids of Egypt.  How desperate it is in need of a review!!  Now the 2 sen question is can we blame the Federal Minister of Information Communication and Culture, Dato’ Dr Rais Yatim for being ignorant about the state of ICT development in Sabah when our own State Minister went AWOL?

"Tak boleh Datuk, mau wang mesti ada Masterplan"

Perhaps due to lack of any ICT Plans and real information, in his ignorance, the Federal Minister decided to give out free Netbooks to thousand of remote rural folks in Sabah who, as we know, has no electricity or let alone broadband connections.  In addition, his ministry has spent millions by giving away free Astro B’yond decoder and LCD TV to 1,800 recipients in Sabah recently…and how the rest of us in Sabah have to live with unreliable broadband services even when we do have electricity.  Sigh!!

Dato’ Rais, it seemed, is ignorant about the backwardness and the level of info-structure and utilities development in Sabah.  Dato’ Rais is, after all, from Negeri Sembilan, which is smaller than the District of Beluran.  In all honesty, I feel his mind cannot grasp the size and spread of Sabah’s population.  When he was still in high school in Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak was not in their school’s curricula.  Therefore, can we blame him if he is ignorant about Sabah?  Who was supposed to educate him about us?  We the people of Sabah or the Minister-in-charge of ICT in Sabah?

To add salt to our already open and maggoty wound to this whole episode, Yee Moh Chai is also the Minister RESPONSIBLE (with a capital R) for employment in Sabah.  Sabah is a state with the highest unemployment rate especially those categorized as “white collar” workers.  SEDIA as the implementer of Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) boasted recently that they created 32,000 jobs in 2008 and 40,000 jobs in 2009.  However, SEDIA never mention whether the 32,000 jobs are “white collar” JOBS or agriculture workers because for the same period the whole of Malaysia only managed to create less than 100,000 jobs.  This means Sabah generated 30 – 40% of employment opportunities in Malaysia!

What I want to know is where all the industries are? In comparison even the PROTON City in Tanjung Malim required a 10 year plan to generate 10,000 jobs. Tanjung Malin is close to Kuala Lumpur. Shsssss…YB Yee! Are you asleep kah?

So coming back to the issue of employment, where are all the jobs that SEDIA has boastfully claimed they have created?  Maybe being “economical with the truth” is what YB Yee’s best solution because we do not see hard-facts.  On the other hand, to be accountable the Ministry of Resource Development should provide this simple service to the public by listing through the internet and newspaper types of jobs available in Sabah.  We want to know as responsible citizens of the State, the truth!  Is that too much to ask?!

With all these Tai Chi’s and leaders going AWOL, it appears the state government is not satisfied to just making use of phantom voters during elections.  They are now even resorting to twisted, untruth reporting.  I put to Datuk Dr Yee this simple question; does Sabah really have the money for its own ICT development?  Better still, with you being in the cabinet and having firsthand knowledge of all the cabinet discussions (or am I asking too much), can the State in this moment in time even pay for the civil service salary?  Or are all these claims about billions of ringgit being spent in Sabah’s development are just some wild fantasy?  If you cannot answer this simple question then you are no more being “economical with the truth” but all the information given to the public to date becomes just blatant lies.

All the Ministers are responsible for their portfolios.  If they cannot execute their portfolios then they must take the blame.  Take it on the chin and admit their mistake, No Mahathir syndrome here by blaming others.

So to sum it up Dato’ Rias’ ignorance is as a matter of fact the whole of BN Sabah’s fault especially our dear leader, who went on absent without leave, our very own Datuk Dr Yee Moi Chai.  The buck stops with you YB Yee.  On the same note, the senior officers in the state civil service should equally share the blame for not being brave or forthright in their advice to their Ministers.  Therefore, Datuk Sri Panglima Musa Haji Aman should seriously consider that failure from the likes of Yee Moh Chai and the rest of BN Sabah, the civil service and the GLCs, REFLECTS the weaknesses of your own leadership.

Be advised Datuk Musa that your political future depends very much on your colleagues performances and the abilities of the people whom you appoint to head the GLCs and government departments.  The people of Sabah will remind you how well they perform when the next GE comes…which is just around the corner! 

Sabah Sifu

Where is SGD16 Millions in HK came from?

On June 7th 2011, Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) had detained Datuk Richard Christopher Barnes a senior lawyer, a confidant of Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman on links to Micheal Chai and his alleged smuggling of 16 million cash out of Hong Kong airport. 5 MACC officials went to Richard Barnes legal firm, Shelley Yap Leong Tseu Chong Chai and Co in Kota Kinabalu, and took away boxes of files in relation to this case. As of now, Richard Barnes is in remand for 5 days in the MACC office in Putrajaya. 

Yes, Premier Najib Tun Razak’s fight against corruption is closing in on Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman. 

Initially, the Premier was in a quandary and was unwilling to pass a routine political directive for the arrest and prosecution of Musa Aman’s cronies for the allegedly involvement in illegal foreign currency dealings and the smuggling of 16 million cash out of Hong Kong airport by the adopted brother Micheal Chai‏. But not for now. 

Premier Najib Tun Razak is going after one by one, all of Musa Aman’s timber cronies and nominees and so far 14 have already been roped in by the MACC. Well done!

In Malaysia no arrest or prosecution takes place without Premier Najib’s sanction and this is a fact. It is a political formality that the police or MACC and Attorney General adhere to.

The MACC’s criminal investigations department started to investigate Musa Aman’s close allies, for flouting exchange control regulations and running Mafia-type shelf companies in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore which runs to hundreds of million. Most of the money is under-table payments from timber kickbacks from Yayasan Sabah Concession areas made to Hong Kong-registered companies said to be linked to Musa Aman.

These companies would buy and trade foreign currency on the black market with money from the timber kickbacks. Micheal Chai and GANG then made weekly transfers involving millions of dollars which amounts to sabotaging our economic reforms by trading on the black market and flouting the Exchange Control Act in both Malaysia and Hong Kong, an offence punishable with jail time or a fine.

Since Mahathir’s pegging of the US Dollar in the late nineties, when the exchange rate was fixed, several business people, timber tycoons, hoteliers and bankers have been arrested for illegally dealing in foreign currency. However, it appears that no one had the guts to go after Musa Aman’s Cronies, Micheal Chai and Gang of 14 including Freddy Lim— whom many have dubbed the Godfather of murky foreign currency dealings in Malaysia. Freddy Lim was at one time put under the Internal Security Act ISA for economic sabotage.

The Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) revealed that a docket was opened last year and handed to MACC for action. But no political directive was forthcoming, so MACC put an end to the investigation.

I was reliably informed that a second probe was conducted by the MACC only after the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) officials came to Sabah to investigate Musa Aman personally last year. Sometimes January this year, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) officials had informed their Malaysian counterparts that if they do not act on the individuals link to the money laundering in Hong Kong, the ICAC Hong Kong would get a arrest warrant in Hong Kong for the arrest of the Chief Minister Musa Aman as his name had been implicated in the smuggling of the 16 million cash out of the Hong Kong International Airport.

The docket was made available to the MACC by a high-ranking source in the government of Hong Kong. It is all there.

License to govern does not mean license to be corrupt and Musa Aman has to learn this the hard way.

One wonders when there will be enough awareness in this country that citizens would learn to question the ‘civilised robbers’, question them, fight them and fix them. Newspapers in the meantime will be busy with Anwar’s sodomy or Ketuanan Melayu debates or New Parliament in Putrajaya, while this nation is being robbed by those who are supposed to be guardians.

'At all Cost' a dangerous statement?

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali called Datuk Seri Najib Razak “uncivilised” today for urging Umno to recapture the country’s wealthiest state, Selangor, with whatever “weapon was at their disposal”.

The prime minister said last month that Umno must forget it lost the central state to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in 2008, but rise to win it back.

“I want to ask Najib, what does he mean ‘at all cost’?” said Azmin at the launch of PKR’s “Jelajah Selangor Tawan Putrajaya” (Jelas) campaign here today.

“Kill? C4 (bombs)? Rob? Snatch? Blow up? Bribe? This is a statement of an uncivilised prime minister who doesn’t believe in democracy,” he added.

Azmin also pointed out that PR only needed swing votes of 2.8 per cent in Sabak Bernam and 3.1 per cent in Pandan to win the parliamentary seats.

Umno’s Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakri is the Sabak Bernam MP while MCA’s Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat is the Pandan MP.

Azmin said PR was ready to wrest the Tanjong Karang parliamentary seat from Selangor Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar in the next general election that is expected to be called within a year.

“Even though Tanjong Karang is not represented by Keadilan but PAS, we want to tell Najib that our ties in Pakatan Rakyat are strong enough,” said the Gombak MP at a hall packed with some 200 PKR members.

“Our goal is one: Umno must be buried in the coming election,” he added.

Noh, who is the minister of agriculture and agro-based industry, retained the Tanjong Karang constituency by defeating PAS’s Mohamed Hanipa Maidin with a 3,820-vote majority.

Umno won the Sungai Burung and Permatang state seats in the Tanjong Karang constituency.

By Boo Su-Lyn, The Malaysian Insider

Wajarkah BN melabelkan pembangkang sebagai 'penyibuk'?

TEPIS MENEPIS dalam isu politik suatu perkara lumrah dan kebiasaan dalam permainan politik tetapi biarlah ayat dan perkataan yang dilafazkan oleh seseorang pemimpin politik itu dibuat secara lojik mahupun berpadanan dengan jawapan yang diberi kepada sesuatu isu yang ditimbulkan oleh pihak sebelah.

Contohnya, isu kemiskinan di kawasan Parlimen Kota Marudu yang diwakili Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili dimana seorang ibu telah mendapat simpati daripada pemimpin pembangkang kerana ibu itu mendakwa ianya telah disisihkan oleh kerajaan untuk mendapatkan PPRT sudah sekian lama.

Dalam rasa rendah diri dan bersimpati akan isu yang ditimbulkan ibu itu, pemimpin pembangkang membantunya mengatasi masalah yang dideritai si ibu mangsa itu namun pemimpin pembangkang bukan mudah untuk berdiam diri setelah menemui isu yang dianggap satu bahan bagi memperkecil kecilkan kewibawaan pemimpin kerajaan.

Pemimpin pembangkang sudah pasti akan menghebohkan kelemahan wakil rakyat dikawasan terbabit kerana itu adalah sebahagian daripada tanggung jawab pembangkang menegur kelemahan kerajaan dalam menangani masalah kebajikan rakyat.

Kesempatan tersebut sudah pastilah isu tersebut menjadi sajian utama dimuka depan media cetak terutamanya media alternatif yang disalurkan terus kepada parti parti pembangkang seterusnya menceritakan babak babak tersebut sehingga pemimpin pemimpin kerajaan tersentak dan tertekan dengan laporan itu.

Pemimpin kerajaan terbabit dalam keadaan tertekan mulalah beremosi lalu turun padang dan buat kenyataan mencabar pembangkang supaya membina lebih banyak PPRT untuk turut sama dengan kerajaan membantu rakyat termiskin.

Beliau juga kelihatan tanpa berfikiran panjang menuduh pembangkang mensensaikan isu isu kemiskinan dikawasannya untuk tujuan politik dimana antara lain beliau menuduh pembangkang baru sekadar membina satu buah rumah untuk seorang ibu miskin sudah menghebohkannya, berbanding yang telah dibuatnya selaku wakil rakyat disitu sudah beribu ribu buah dilaksanakannya tetapi tidak menghebohkannya.

Pemimpin kerajaan terbabit tidaklah boleh mendabik dada sedemikian rupa sehingga menyalahkan pihak pembangkang seratus peratus dalam soal itu, adalah kerana pembangkang juga mempunyai peranan yang tidak kurang pentingnya dalam aspek pembangunan Negara supaya ianya berlaku lebih telus dan adil kepada rakyat jelata.

Jika pun pemimpin kerajaan dapat membina sejuta rumah PPRT dalam tempoh setahun pun ia bukan suatu mustahil kerana memang pun ianya adalah tanggung jawab kerajaan yang memerintah. Sebaliknya isu yang diketengahkan pembangkang adalah ketidak telusan dan kelekaan kerajaan dalam proses pengagehan bantuan PPRT kepada rakyat termiskin.

Untung nasibnya kerana pembangkang juga mempunyai inisiatif terbaik sehingga dapat juga membantu masalah si ibu yang kecewa dalam hidupnya kerana disisih dari arus pembangunan perdana gara gara kelemahan pemimpin kerajaan. Tetapi sedarkah mereka dipihak kerajaan bahawa pembangunan untuk rakyat jelata adalah tanggung jawab kerajaan dan bukan pembangkang.

Bahkan pembangkang mempunyai kapasiti dalam peranannya menegur dan memantau prestasi kerajaan dalam mengagehkan sesuatu pembangunan dan bantuan kepada rakyat miskin supaya ianya dilaksanakan secara telus dan saksama.

Ungkapan yang sering kedengaran mengatakan pembangkang tidak boleh berbuat apa apa untuk membantu rakyat malah sekadar cakap kosong juga sesuatu ungkapan yang tidak tepat sama sekali dalam konteks sistem demokrasi malah ungkapan yang dilorongkan pemimpin kerajaan itu sebagai terdesak dan kehilangan modal untuk menjawab tomahan pembangkang.

Sedarkah pemimpin kerajaan bahawa peranan pembangkang merupakan kumpulan penggerak kepada pembangunan yang telah dan sedang dirancang oleh kerajaan kerana semua perancangan dan bajet ianya bermula daripada sidang Dewan Rakyat (Parlimen) dimana dalam sesi perbahasan ia turut disertai barisan pembangkang untuk meluluskan ransangan bajet yang bersesuaian untuk dilaksanakan.

Malah penyertaan pemimpin pembangkang dalam sesi perbahasan sebelum meluluskan sesuatu bajet itu bukan dilakukan pembangkang sebagai gimik tetapi pembangkang juga turut menolak ransangan bajet yang terlalu membazir dan membebankan kerajaan.

Oleh yang demikian pemimpin kerajaan diperingkat akar umbi tidak boleh tidak dengan swenang wenangnya melabelkan pembangkang sebagai ‘penyibuk’ atau tidak boleh berbuat apa apa atau sekadar melorongkan kata kata omongan kosong kepada rakyat. Sebaliknya mereka (kerajaan) harus melihat peranan pembangkang dari aspek positif dari sudut keberkesanan jentera pelaksana pembangunan yang lebih kondusif menjurus kepada ketelusan dan kesaksamaan.

Oleh: Wartawan JendelaSabah.com

(Ambrose M.Matthew)

Blind BN Government For Zero Poverty

The United Borneo Front (UBF) is blaming the State Government’s lack of a strategic plan to solve the long standing problem of poverty in Sabah.

Its President, Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan said in a statement here that this lack of proper plan is because of a lackadaisical attitude of the state leaders. 

“They are not serious nor committed to solve the problem. What they have been doing all these years is talk and make superficial and ad-hoc solutions, act only for the purpose of window dressing, without any system and they are doing it without any sense of urgency and commitment,” he said.

“To them it is just business as usual, so the problem will never be solved, and the longer the problem persists the worse it becomes.”

He opined that what the government has done so far is only gather statistics, and even the figures on poverty 

are conflicting each other. “If you can’t even gather reliable statistics on poverty how do you solve the root problem?” he asked.

He also believed that the e-Kasih and 1Azam programmes are not solving the problem but rather worsening the dependency syndrome in the long run.

“In fact the e-Kasih is being used as a political instrument to benefit mostly the Umno supporters, even those who do not qualify for the assistances,” he said.

“As such, the people’s view that it is all actually ‘pilih kasih’ (given in a preferential manner) is very true.”

“What the government needs to do is to take the bull by the horns and treat poverty as something extremely urgent,” he added.

“They must at least form a special task force especially to tackle poverty. They must establish an enabling mechanism which requires the people to internalize and adopt it as their own by which they will contribute to the solution,” he suggested.

“With this system the state government will need also to integrate a new economic model of sort in order to enable the programme to be effective and become result-oriented.”

“With this system the people will not move in individualistic isolation but are integrated into the system which would be part of the larger economic system,” he added.

“But the problem is even this may be difficult to formulate with the current mentality among the state leaders. If the leaders refuse to think, the people would also are unable to be creative.”

He said that the government approach in giving handouts as baits for political support is causing the people to become hostages to the political agenda.

“While they continue to receive handouts that do not offer long-term solutions, they become more and more dependant on the government,” he said.

“This is what the government wants, not have the people freed totally from the vicious cycle of poverty.”

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Poverty in Sabah, an Illusion?

THE fact that Sabah is still one of the poorest state in Malaysia cannot be denied by the Sabah State Government. No matter how the State Government refuted this status, it remains a fact that Sabah still has the most poor people in Malaysia, and not just poor, but hard core poor.

The revelation of the destitute family of widow Rosnia @ Annie Marambal brings to light the tip of the iceberg of the poverty situation in the State. And more disturbing is the acknowledgement by the Kota Marudu Member of Parliament YB Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili that there are over 2,000 hardcore poor households in Kota Marudu according to the e-Kasih statistics.

According to Maximus, who is also the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, the government is trying to resolve the problem under the National Key Results Area (NKRA) and he hopes to take Kota Marudu out of poverty within the next five years.

We hope the Government can be more concerted in the poverty eradication program. So much money has been allocated and spent over the 8th and the 9th Malaysia Plan but we still get reports of abject poverty in the State.

There has been so many good reports and revelation by the media on poverty related cases in the past years: the many social visits by NGOs, and even a visit by the Crotian Ambassador to Kampung Morion in Kota Marudu.

The Kota Marudu MP should appreciate the contributions by the various sectors of society who show concerns in his constituency. Even Rosnia was quoted as saying that if not for the media help, she would not be getting all the attention when the relevant authorities entrusted with poverty eradication efforts failed. After the recent media reporting, Rosnia was registered under the e-Kasih programme.

"The plea of Rosnia and her family revealed that the delivery system is not reaching the people who most needed help! Which also means that the billions of dollars spent may not be reaching the target group. And Rosnia and few others reported in the media are just the few who get reported but there are still so many who are not reported but in equivalent destitute condition. What about our youths from the northern region who have to go and find work in KL and some even got stranded!," lamented Melanie.

The least the Kota Marudu MP could do is to appreciate the contributions by the civil society and all quarters in helping and heeding to the pleas of the needy. Perhaps he could also help to ensure that there is a greater degree of efficiency and accountability of the public spending.

---

SAPP persoal kredibiliti Felda

Penolong Setiausaha Agung SAPP berkata, kredibiliti Felda terjejas kerana projek penempatan masyarakat yang telah dijanjikan di Lahad Datu tidak siap sepenuhnya.

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Maju Sabah (SAPP) mempersoal kredibiliti Lembaga Pembangunan Tanah Persekutuan (Felda) membawa pembangunan serta kemakmuran kepada rakyat Sabah ekoran masalah projek milik agensi itu yang tidak siap sepenuhnya.

Penolong Setiausaha Agung SAPP Suaib Mutalib berkata, kredibiliti Felda terjejas kerana projek penempatan masyarakat yang telah dijanjikan di Lahad Datu tidak siap sepenuhnya malah membazir wang sahaja.



“Pada tahun 2006 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yang ketika itu Timbalan Perdana Menteri telah melancarkan projek penempatan masyarakat milik Felda bernilai RM50 juta di Lahad Datu.

“Najib berjanji bahawa sebanyak 350 unit rumah lengkap dengan segala kemudahan akan dibina, tetapi sehingga ke hari ini hanya 12 buah rumah sahaja yang telah disiapkan.

“Lebih teruk lagi kesemua rumah itu tidak dilengkapi dengan kemudahan asas seperti air dan letrik, manakala jalan raya pula tidak sempurna,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan di sini hari ini.

Suaib mengulas kenyataan Pengerusi Felda Mohd Isa Samad baru-baru ini bahawa Felda telah melancarkan projek pembaikan perumahan miskin bernilai RM20 juta dengan membina sebanyak 150 unit rumah di Tungku, Lahad Datu.

Isa dilaporkan sebagai berkata bahawa projek itu adalah sebahagian daripada tanggungjawab sosial korporat Felda yang akan memulangkan semula sebanyak 30 peratus keuntungan kepada rakyat dalam usaha membantu kerajaan Sabah membasmi kemiskinan.

Suaib berkata, beliau tidak mempersoalkan usaha Felda membantu kerajaan Sabah tetapi hanya ingin tahu bagaimana kesudahan projek di Sabah Baru itu yang bernilai RM50 juta.

“Jika dikira secara kasar saya dapati 12 buah rumah yang telah siapitu walaupun tanpa kemudahan asas bernilai lebih RM4 juta se unit.

“Persoalan sekarang ialah adakah masuk akal se unit rumah kos rendah boleh menelan kos lebih RM4 juta?,” soal Suaib.

Suaib seterusnya ingin bertanya samada projek perumahan di Lahad Datu itu akan disiapkan atau dibiarkan begitu sahaja.

Katanya, jika projek di Lahad Datu itu tidak dapat disempurnakan besar kemungkinan projek lain di mana-mana sahaja kawasan di negeri ini juga akan menerima nasib yang sama.

Michael Kaung

Courageous leaders who dare to defy KL

Any p'sula party will find SAPP cannot be controlled

Political observer in Forum recently claimed that Pakatan Rakyat "returned the favour to SAPP" (for leaving the BN) by giving SAPP the "cold shoulder", Sabahans must not stop being naive any more. SAPP must wake up. PR leaders in KL will finish off SAPP for one simple reason - it is not that SAPP cannot be trusted. It is because SAPP cannot be controlled by KL.

The last thing they want in Sabah is a political party like SAPP which dared to defy their national leaders.Remember what happened to Usno's Tun Mustapha?

PR, like BN, wants to control Sabah and its resources such as oil, land, forests and wealth, When Malaysia was conceived in 1962, KL only wanted Sabah and Sarawak to balance oil off the Singaporean Chinese population.

"Development" was only an afterthought to lure the naive peoples of Borneo. Neither BN nor PR will change this basic power equation in Malaysia's
Politics of Federalism .

PKR, DAP and PAS leaders saw how SAPP declared no confidence on the Prime Minister in 2008, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had shrewdly used SAPP for his Sept 16 bid to take Putrajaya. This failed miserably and remains Anwar's biggest blunder. SAPP left BN and sacrificed posts; benefits and access to government.

PR does not want such courageous leaders who dared to defy KL; they cannot let SAPP set an example for Sabah PKR, DAP and PAS leaders. Such defiance of national leaders would make Sabah uncontrollable. Look at what happened to Dr Jeffrey Kitingan whose ambitions of rewriting the Malaysian constitution to elevate the Borneo states to equal status with Malaya scared the hell out of Anwar.

As for DAP, in the April Sarawak state elections, the Sarawak DAP's authority to appoint election candidates used from 1978 until 2008 was withdrawn by the DAP Secretary General.

Because SAPP refused to be like a buffalo led by the nose, PR will plot and manipulate and manoeuver to finish of SAPP and put an end to any more talk of "autonomy". PR will say SAPP cannot be trusted. They know that it is not because SAPP cannot be trusted but because SAPP cannot be controlled.

How is SAPP going to fight to win? The answer to that question is Sabahans want to know.

Sabahan Malaysian (Lifted from Daily Express)

Implications of Sarawak election on Sabah

In view of the super confidence of DAP that only they can bring change to Sabah, we wish to share with the public our party analysis of the DAP performance in the April Sarawak state elections and its implications on the coming general elections. SAPP had sent five teams to lend moral support to Pakatan and to learn about the Sarawak elections. 

Sarawak DAP conducted a superb campaign, tapping into the widespread unhappiness among the urban Chinese whose discontent with the Taib Mahmud government has been simmering ever since 2006 over the urban land leases renewal issue. Other than national issues, the community generally found it difficult to do business due to monopolistic policies.

The anger is directed at the Chief Minister who has served for thirty years. It is as if the Chief Minister of Sabah today is still Datuk Harris Mohd. Salleh of 1981. The Chinese had at one time overwhelmingly supported Taib and BN ever since the 1987 Ming Court incident. That support has now being withdrawn.

DAP sent their entire party machinery from KL, Penang, Selangor, Perak and other states to Sarawak. 

Money and time was not a constraint. Sarawak DAP was also smart enough to quickly settle the seat sharing formula with Sarawak National Party (SNAP) and PAS. The tension with PKR over two Chinese urban seats was resolved when the power to select candidates (by issuing the Authority to Use Party Symbol) was taken away from the Sarawak DAP chief by the DAP HQ in Kuala Lumpur. That way, PKR and DAP leaders in KL were able to settle the seats sharing whatever the wishes of the local leaders. This KL top down method is the same as the BN, which SAPP is uncomfortable with because it is against the principle of autonomy.

Out of the 15 seats contested by DAP, DAP did very well in the big towns (winning 10 seats with big majorities). In mixed seats, DAP won another two (Dudong and Batu Kawah with majorities of 317 and 543 votes respectively). DAP lost in two mixed seats (Bawang Assan and Simanggang by 1808 and 2447 votes). In Limbang's Bukit Kota mixed seat, where the entire Sabah DAP was encamped to help, DAP lost by a whopping 5001 votes (BN 6835 to DAP 1774).

It is safe to assume that DAP would have won also Batu Lintang in Kuching (won by PKR) and Senadin in Miri (PKR lost by 58 votes) if DAP had contested in these two seats. This makes a maximum potential of 14 DAP state seats. But this is Sarawak DAP's maximum because in parliamentary elections, DAP resources will be stretched nationwide. The fact that, after the Sarawak elections, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang openly called for a DAP-SNAP merger shows that the DAP leadership knew that DAP has reached its peak in Sarawak.

The outcome in Sarawak is that the Chinese represented by DAP is now in the opposition and the bumiputras, represented by other parties, remain in government. This is the "two parties system" championed by DAP, with the Chinese in the opposition and the Bumiputras in government. This is the DAP "416" promise of change of toppling Taib Mahmud on April 16. Instead, "416" turned out to be Taib's victory because Taib was sworn in on the evening of "416".
 

This is why SAPP had called on DAP green horns in Sabah not to be over elated by their so-called success in Sarawak. Sarawak "416" is neither a success for the opposition nor for Sarawak nor for the Chinese community.

 

Implications for the parliamentary elections

Translating the state results into parliamentary seats, when counted with neighbouring BN strongholds, the DAP and PKR combined strength is only 3 to 5 parliamentary seats. For instance, Bakelalan (PKR majority 473) would be outnumbered by Bukit Sari (BN majority 5063) when counted as one parliamentary seat (Lawas). This means BN could keep 26 to 28 of the 31 MPs in Sarawak. This is no secret because every party head quarters, be it BN, UMNO, DAP, PKR, PAS or SAPP has done their own analysis.

Therefore, to achieve Pakatan's target of 15 MPs from Sabah and Sarawak, the combined Sabah opposition (Pakatan plus SAPP) has to garner 10 to 12 MP seats out of the 25 MP seats in Sabah. To achieve this target, SAPP respects the wish of the people that the opposition works together. SAPP has been playing our part; our leaders have met with PKR and DAP leaders at various levels from top to bottom, attending Pakatan functions and building mutual confidence.

But we do not agree with the Lim Kit Siang's view that "to change Sabah, we must have change in Malaysia". In fact, to change Malaysia, we must have change in Sabah. This is because, if the national opposition cannot win in Sabah and Sarawak, then there is no change in Malaysia. SAPP aims to restore autonomy to Sabah by having a change of government in Sabah and in Putrajaya. It is not sufficient to have a mere changing of urban YBs like what happened in the recent Sarawak elections.

Datuk Richard Yong We Kong is Secretary General, SAPP

QEHII delayed again!

KOTA KINABALU, May 25, 2011: With the extended delay in the completion of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II (QEH II) renovation, it is only appropriate and dignified that Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai take full responsibility and bow-out gracefully, said Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

Asserting this was SAPP Information Chief Chong Pit Fah following the expiry of its final extension due date on May 23.

He reminded that in February this year, Liow came to Sabah for the umpteen times to give excuses for another delay in completing the RM72.6 million renovation works on the former Sabah Medical Centre (SMC) building.

February was supposed to be the month of the revised completion date that Liow had given after reportedly issuing a stern warning to the contractor concerned on Aug 11, 2010, which at that time was 13 days late.

Hence, in a follow-up, Chong urged Liow to keep his words because ever since the SMC building was purchased for conversion into a General Hospital, he had already made three different announcements over the completion date.

The contract work for QEH2 included the construction of a five-storey parking lot, elevators, refurbishment of the accident and emergency department, development of cardiology and cardiothoracic centre as well as expanding minor operation theatres at the nine-storey building.

Chong said SAPP noted that many excuses were given by Liow that he attributed to the delay such as weather condition among others.

But, Chong contended that constructing a hospital and in this case doing renovation works on it should be different from any other ordinary building like shopping complex.

"The government should treat the case as an emergency to ensure no hiccups of the works schedule no matter rain or shine," he said while illustrating a case during the natural disaster in Sze Chuan, China, where its government managed to complete a temporary hospital with all the medical facilities within just a few days.

"Our country will be in trouble in the event of such calamity because just doing renovation works take the government years to complete like in the QEH2 case," he reiterated.

"Now, what more excuses does he have over the delay completion, for the third time?" he asked.

Citing that Malaysia is now aiming for a high-income and developed nation status, Chong said such a blatant show of incapability on the part of a Minister could not be tolerated. Hence, resigning was the only way to redeem the public's loss of confidence on the government of the day.

"In Japan, though not necessarily now, a person who had publicly ridiculed himself by making false promises even commit hara-kiri (suicide)," he quipped.

Towards this end, Chong said SAPP would be holding a peaceful demonstration at its headquarters in Bornion to remind the government the number of days Sabahans in the State Capital were left without a proper general hospital if the renovation works still continued on May 20 at QEH2.

At the same time, SAPP would also be calling for Liow to step down besides apologizing to the people of Sabah, over the fiasco.

"If he refused to step down then the people of Sabah will know what to do in the coming General Election," he said.

During his last visit to inspect at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital I it was reported that Liow would not be entertaining any more request for an extension to the completion date.

"The work was supposed to have been completed by February.

"However, only about half of the 455 beds in the hospital could be used at the moment due to the delay," he said.

He said then that work completed included the construction of a four-storey car park with 328 bays while construction was still ongoing for two wards on the seventh floor of the building.

Liow said all additional equipment for the hospital, which had been delivered, could not be installed due to the delay.

"The contractor should not treat the extension given as leisure time," he was quoted as saying.

SAPP 14-point memo on 'Mother of all Threats'

PAPAR: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has submitted a 14-point memorandum on the illegal immigrant issue in Sabah entitled "Mother of All Threats" to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government but it has never been acknowledged.

President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee said that the memorandum containing among others proposals on how to better manage the long withstanding problem affecting Sabah was submitted even when SAPP was still in the BN.

Speaking at the SAPP South Zone Pesta Kaamatan in Kampung Kalatuan, Kimanis near here Sunday, he said SAPP had submitted the memorandum just after the 1999 General Election.

Among the points included proposals to manage the maritime monitoring and requiring foreigners arriving using ferry from neighbouring countries to put up a RM500 bond that would be forfeited if they failed to return using the ferry.

"We tabled this one-by-one in Putrajaya in front of then Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi but before we finish our presentation he fell asleep.

"Yes, he fell asleep, we have witnesses but what to do he is an old man," he said, adding that similar memorandum was also presented to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Datuk Seri Musa Aman but until now there was no response whatsoever from them.

Yong believed that the BN leadership felt it was no longer necessary for them to response to the issue, especially after Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) returned to the BN's fold in 2002, effectively ending the presence of opposition in the State Assembly then.

"Also they are reluctant to respond because it involves their 'fixed deposit'," he said.

Yong said there was a brief window of opportunity after the 2008 General Election when Sabah and Sarawak became the 'kingmaker' for the BN following its dismal performance in Peninsular Malaysia.

"Never before Umno needed Sabah more but still they did not listen … we say that if Umno refuse to listen to us then it is better that we leave the BN," he said.

So in September 2008, he said SAPP and its leaders made a sacrifice to ditch the coalition.

"A day before we declared SAPP's vote-of-no-confidence against Abdullah Badawi, I receive an offer letter for a senatorship, which I turned down because we don't want position but we want is for the problems in Sabah to be addressed and there must be a change," he said.

"I think we have a chance to make the changes after the election this year or next year," he said.

Yong said during his tenure as Chief Minister of Sabah for two years and despite the short period SAPP managed to hold a major offensive against illegal immigrant in the Sabah involving the army and police.

Due to the comprehensive operations, many foreigners who were staying in Sabah illegally went back to their home country fearing prosecution, he said, adding that foreign workers were also regularised and given proper documents.

Migrant workers and employers alike were more relaxed because of the move, he said, adding "this should be the way".

Meanwhile, Eristifeni Emma from Kinarut was adjudged as SAPP South Zone Unduk Ngadau winner followed by Clara Paul Manjakon also from Kinarut and Shirella Simbi from Kampung Kalatuan in second and third place, respectively.

On hand were SAPP senior leaders and supreme council members as well as organising chairman, Jamil William Core.

Anwar predicts election this year

Michael Kaung

The 38% increase in native votes in favour of the opposition in Sarawak is a 'clear' indication of change, says the PKR chief.

KOTA KINABALU: PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has a gut feeling that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership will call for a snap general election in July this year.

“With all these issues – religion, sex video, my court case and abduction threat to my daughter Nurul Izzah – it is a clear message that the election is coming very soon,” he said.

The former finance minister urged party leaders to work hard and update their respective election machinery in preparation for the 13th general election.

“We must get ourselves ready in facing the coming general election which is expected to be held in July this year,” Anwar told a news conference after meeting with top party leaders from Sabah at its headquarters in Penampang near here yesterday.

Anwar arrived here on Saturday for a series of public talks and meet-the-people sessions in Pitas, Kota Marudu, Kota Belud and here.

After meeting with Sabah PKR leaders, Anwar left for Sandakan.

He said that it was the responsibility of PKR under Pakatan Rakyat to fight for the people in getting back their ancestral land that had been taken away from them.

Anwar also touched on the on-going discussion among the opposition parties, particularly between Sabah PKR and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), as part of their preparations in taking on the ruling BN in the coming general election.

“We’re hoping the negotiation will go on smoothly as long as the decision does not breach the PKR constitution,” he said.

Changing voter trend
 On the recent Sarawak state election, Anwar said the outcome of the election indicated a wind of change in favour of the opposition.

He said the 38% increase in votes from the natives in certain areas in Sarawak was a clear message that the voting trend had changed and was now favouring the opposition.

He attributed this to the corrupt BN’s politics.

Anwar also pointed out the need to review the existing Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 to allow Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan and Terengganu to control 20% of their own oil and gas.

“We want this 20% for these four states. We want to change the Act and every single contract must be transparent and open to all Malaysians; the decision is not with the prime minister alone.”

Anwar said it was clear that under the existing law only the prime minister has the right to approve any contract in Petronas and the company did not even have to report to the finance minister.

Also present were PKR Kota Kinabalu divisional chief Christina Liew and Darell Leiking, who heads the Penampang division

Musa fears ‘fixed deposit’ tag a liability

Sabah Umno, under the leadership of Musa Aman, has come under heavy fire from smaller Barisan Nasional coalition members for its arrogance.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman is worried that the “fixed deposit” tag affixed to the state Barisan Nasional (BN) may have one foot in the grave.

Speaking to delegates at the simultaneous opening of the Libaran Umno women’s wing and youth wings, Musa who is also Sabah BN chairman said they should not take for granted that the coalition has a firm hold on power in the state.

Giving a sneak peak of disquiet within the BN ranks, Musa warned that there are “elements” that were capable of jeopardising the coalition’s chances in the coming 13th general election.

“We must always be wary of the enemies within and outside the party and ensure that there are no elements that can break Umno,” he told the delegates in Sandakan on Sunday.

The Sabah Umno leadership under Musa has come under fire from within and outside the coalition for its unfair treatment and unilateral decision-making in state affairs.

Smaller BN coalition members, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), have all strongly criticised Sabah Umno for its go-it-alone approach on state matters.

They have warned that the BN government could suffer major damage in the coming election due to the arrogance of top Sabah Umno leaders.

Even Sabah Umno’s main supporter within the coalition, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), worried that its supporters are having second thoughts about the party, has cautioned Umno leaders at federal level to look into the myraid of problems or risk losing the state.

Political strategist have also noted that all is not well within Sabah Umno.

Musa is wary of a leadership threat from Umno national vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal.

It is common knowledge that Shafie and Musa are on poor terms.

Phantom voters

Shafie himself has warned Umno leaders, who placed importance on holding onto positions, that they would remain merely ‘party leaders’ if they failed to strengthen the party ahead of the coming general election.

A source who requested anonymity said that the “fixed deposit” tag that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had placed on the state could be a liability going into next election.

“Most Sabahans read the tag as a boast by the federal government and Umno that they have taken control of the state by using phantom voters during elections to tip the balance in the coalition’s favour.

“And there is nothing that the electorate can do about it,” said the source.

The swift release on Sunday of former Sabah Umno member Mohd Akjan Ali Muhammad, a businessman with strong ties to the Filipino community in the state  who was arrested last week, is seen as a bid to mollify his supporters.

According to political activists, many in the community are recruited during elections to vote for BN candidates and the government can ill afford to antagonise them in the run-up to the general election.

Akjan was arrested following a hue and cry when he declared himself to be the 33rd reigning Sultan of Sulu on Feb 2.

He and several others were detained under the ISA in the mid 1990s after he was allegedly caught with a briefcase containing about 2,000 Identity Cards at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on a return flight from Kuala Lumpur.

It was alleged then that he was selling these documents for up to RM3,000 to those who were not qualified to hold them.

How he came to be in possession of the documents was never explained.

Kenapa BN Terus Hukum Rakyat Sabah?

KENAIKAN harga petrol RON97 sebanyak 20 sen untuk setiap kenaikan pada 1 April 2011 dan 5 Mei 2011 dan menjadikan harga petrol RON97 sekarang RM2.90, merupakan satu tindakan yang kurang tepat dan langsung tidak mengambil kira implikasi negatif terhadap kenaikan harga barangan secara tidak langsung terutamanya untuk penduduk di Sandakan serta Sabah pada umumnya. 

Sekarang kita pula sedang menanti debaran yang bakal diumumkan oleh pihak kerajaan berhubung dengan kenaikan harga petrol RON95 dan diesel pada bila-bila masa dari sekarang. 

PETRONAS selaku sebuah syarikat GLC yang telah berjaya mengaut keuntungan dan terlepas daripada masalah kewangan seperti yang dihadapi oleh syarikat-syarikat GLC yang lain seperti MAS, TNB, PLUS, MISC dan TELEKOM MALAYSIA, merupakan antara firma yang terbesar di dunia dalam senarai 500 Global Fortune dan telah meneroka di peringkat global di lebih 33 negara seluruh dunia terutamanya di Indonesia, Thailand, Iran dan Sudan.

Namun yang demikian, isu yang berkaitan dengan kenaikan harga minyak telah menyedarkan betapa pentingnya hak minyak negeri Sabah dikembalikan kepada rakyat Sabah memandangkan proses pemulihan dari sebuah negeri yang termiskin di Malaysia kepada sebuah negeri yang selari dari segi pembangunan dan jurang perbezaan dari segi kemudahan infrastruktur dan lain-lain lagi, dapat dinikmati oleh setiap pembayar cukai.

Perlu diingatkan bahawa setiap perbelanjaan yang kita belanjakan seperti membeli mi segera, barang permainan untuk kanak-kanak, ikan sardin, tisu tandas, gunting, pen, buku-buku latihan, kasut, baju dan barang-barang keperluan harian yang lain lagi, telahpun dikenakan cukai jualan, cukai perkhidmatan dan cukai pengangkutan tanpa kita sedari.

Ramai yang beranggapan bahawa mereka yang menghantar borang penyata cukai pendapatan dan yang membayar cukai melalui penyata cukai tersebut adalah pembayar cukai.

Anggapan mereka adalah salah memandangkan setiap rakyat yang hidup di dunia ini merupakan pembayar cukai tanpa mengira latar belakang agama, bangsa, kaum, warna kulit, seorang kakitangan kerajaan mahupun swasta, orang kelainan upaya (OKU), orang kaya mahupun miskin, Yang Berhormat mahupun Yang Berkhidmat atau Yang Bertaubat, kesemuanya merupakan pembayar cukai yang begitu taat setia menunaikan tanggungjawab kita sebagai pembayar cukai!

Mulai 1 September 2009, minyak petrol RON92 dihentikan jualan dan digantikan dengan RON95. Ini bermakna dalam perkataan lain, minyak petrol yang kita isi sekarang ini merupakan minyak daripada RON92 yang mana kualitinya begitu diragukan ke atas kereta import dan kereta baru buatan tempatan sehinggakan kerajaan terpaksa memberi penjelasan tentang prestasi minyak yang terdapat pada RON95.

Tentu sekali kita tidak akan lupa dengan kenaikan harga minyak yang langsung tidak munasabah pada 5 Jun 2008 di mana harga petrol RON97 (yang juga dikenali sebagai petrol RON95 pada masa sekarang) adalah RM2.70 daripada harga RM1.92 iaitu kenaikan sebanyak 41% walaupun harga dunia minyak adalah pada paras USD121.00 setong pada ketika itu!

Pembelian dan pengisian minyak yang luar biasa yang berlaku pada masa tersebut, sentiasa berada di dalam ingatan semua rakyat Malaysia terutamanya di Sandakan ini yang mana begitu ramai yang berbaris panjang untuk mengisi minyak gara-gara kenaikan yang tidak munasabah sedangkan gaji dan mata pencarian yang begitu rendah yang dihadapi oleh penduduk di Sandakan ini.

Kenapalah penduduk di Sabah khususnya di Sandakan ini perlu berhadapan dengan situasi yang langsung tidak adil daripada kerajaan pusat mahupun negeri terutamanya dari segi pengagihan royalti minyak dan baru-baru ini, kita dikejutkan pula dengan pengagihan kontrak oleh pihak PETRONAS yang langsung tidak memberikan peluang kepada penduduk Sabah sebagai Kontraktor Utama (main contractor) dan hanya layak sebagai sub-kontraktor untuk projek-projek sejak PETRONAS bertapak di Sabah berpuluh tahun yang lalu.

Apakah rasionalnya keuntungan daripada hasil minyak di Sabah cuma dikembalikan sebanyak 5% dalam bentuk royalti minyak sedangkan 95% dikebas oleh PETRONAS dan kerajaan pusat untuk membangunkan negeri di Semenanjung?

Untuk pengetahuan pihak umum, Malaysia bukanlah anggota Pertubuhan Negara-negara Pengeksport Petroleum (OPEC) dan adalah wajar pihak PETRONAS mengkaji untuk menyalurkan keuntungan yang diperolehi kepada negara sendiri secara langsung dengan cara menjual petrol dan diesel yang jauh lebih rendah harganya daripada syarikat minyak dari luar negara seperti SHELL, EXXON, ESSO dan lain-lain lagi kepada rakyat Malaysia.

Kerajaan sering memberikan alasan pemberian subsidi yang sangat tinggi dari segi subsidi minyak, dan adalah begitu menghairankan kenapalah PETRONAS dahlah untung banyak, namun apabila ada kenaikan harga minyak, kerajaan pula yang harus menanggung dan bertanggungjawab untuk pembayaran subsidi kepada PETRONAS?

Sepatutnya syarikat-syarikat yang berkaitan dengan kerajaan (GLC) yang harus membantu meringankan beban kerajaan dan bukannya kerajaan mengalihkan tanggungan kepada rakyat!

Oleh yang demikian, minyak yang diperolehi di tanah milik Sabah, haruslah dikembalikan kepada rakyat Sabah! Perjanjian yang dimeterai berpuluh tahun yang lalu, tidak lagi relevan dan ‘Harus Disemak Semula’ memandangkan perjanjian inilah antara penyebab Sabah tercatat sebagai Negeri Yang Termiskin Di Malaysia!

SAPP Sandakan CLC Tanjung Papat Secretary Bryan Chang

Subsidy cuts by BN Government

BN Government is cutting subsidies due to massive public debts and huge deficit

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said .... “We cannot guarantee there will be no increase in the prices of goods. We cannot control the prices but where the government can intervene to decrease public burden, then we will."

Escalating public debt and a record budget deficit have forced the Najib administration to reduce subsidies on  several basic items like fuel and sugar already undergoing subsidy cuts.

However, rising cost of living and low wages have put  pressure on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to channel more funds into existing subsidies.

Observers say potential voter backlash over escalating cost of living has given the opposition more ammunition, forcing a delay in subsidy cuts .

Najib said recently the government is willing to fork out an additional RM4 billion in addition to the RM10 billion allocated for subsidies this year.

Subsidies will be one of the major issues the Najib administration will have to deal with as it gears up for the coming general election.

Is PBS still relevant for KDM?

Illegals put PBS in a tight spot

After reading the long answer written by Datuk Henrynus Amin in response to Politikampung, I have come to the conclusion that what Henrynus is saying is that Umno has changed, it can never be toppled, so it is best for everybody to support it by remaining in BN.

And when Datuk Marcus Mojigoh voiced out Upko's dissatisfaction about the perennial problem of the illegal immigrants in Sabah, he had to come up with something a lot stronger.

His whole, very comprehensive outline of complaints against the Federal Government about the same issue was in almost total contrast to what he said about Umno in response to Politikampung.

And then as if fearing a backlash from Umno like what has been suffered by LDP, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan immediately issued another statement to say that the problem of illegals in Sabah cannot be blamed on the federal of the State Government! Now, it doesn't take an Einstein to realise the ridiculous implications from this series of statements.

Several questions immediately comes to mind, and the most obvious is whether Henrynus as the PBS Secretary General and Pairin as PBS President, have different stands on the issue! And if that is true what really is the PBS' stand on illegals? If Pairin says both the Federal Government and the State Government cannot be blamed, then who should be blamed? Who should have implemented the immigration laws if not the Federal and State Governments? Doesn't Pairin realize that we have been talking about the Project IC, phantom voters, extraordinary increase in the state population, and so on for years now? As the Deputy Chief Minister and the former Chief Minister who was also the Chairman of the State Security Committee he should have a clear explanation about how the problem got worse over the last decades.

And also, he needs to give a suggestion on how to solve the problem.

As it is he just wants to wash his hands off the problem as if he is afraid of offending his political bosses.

As such, this begs the question - What is PBS in BN for? Now that Pairin had said that, what about his previous statements in which he said he wanted the illegal immigrants problem to be resolved by 2012? Is PBS still holding on to this demand? This awkwardness is not going to stop.

Sooner rather than, later, PBS will betray its own dilemma with other issues as well, proving that it cannot decide on doing the right thing.

PBS must know that it is high time PBS thinks about re-evaluating its real struggle and how it should fit in the current and future political setups of Sabah, especially on its relevance to the Kadazandusun struggle.

But then I don't see how PBS can resolve this dilemma if it still believes it should continue in BN.

But then, PBS cannot find the guts to leave the coalition for fear of repeating the previous 'blunder' for which Pairin has publicly apologised.

So it seems it is stuck with BN, and will continue to live in a dilemma.

And it will become more and more removed from its original struggle.

This article is lifted from The Borneo Post 15 May 2011 and written by Raymond Tombung