6 œ
news without borders
Najib to visit
Batu Caves
during Thaipusam
by Hemananthani Sivananadam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak plans
to continue with the tradition of
his three predecessors to visit Batu
Caves during the annual Thaipusam
festival.
“The former prime ministers of
Malaysia visited Batu Caves. I’d like
to announce that I intend to continue
this tradition simply because I am the
prime minister for all Malaysians,”
said Najib during his speech at the
1Malaysia carnival at Batu Caves
yesterday.
Najib was referring to Tunku Ab-
dul Rahman Putra al-Haj, Tun Abdul
Razak Hussein and Tun Hussein
Onn who had, during their tensure,
visited Batu Caves for the grandly
celebrated Thaipusam festival that
attracts some 1.3 million devotees
and tourists annually.
He also said the government is
willing to allocate funds to develop
Batu Caves as a major tourist desti-
nation and hoped that this could be
a new beginning for the whole area
‘State govt will not offer more
to water concessionaires’
PETALING JAYA: The Selangor state
government is not willing to offer a
higher price to the outstanding water
services concessionaires for their
water services assets as it would
result in increased water tariffs.
The current offers of June 2009
are already at significantly higher
prices than those initially offered in
February 2009, said Selangor Mentri
Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in a press
statement yesterday.
“Secondly, the concessionaires
are being well compensated based
on fair and reasonable values taking
into account all injected capital and
risks undertaken.
“Third, higher prices paid to
concessionaires would ultimately be
Kampung Buah Pala Issue
in the context of tourism develop-
ment.
He, however, did not mention the
amount of allocation or the type of
development.
He also said three Tamil school
projects that were abandoned due to
the lack of fund will be continued as
the cabinet has approved allocation
of funds for the continuance of the
projects, including a new Tamil school
that will be built in Batu Caves.
“We as the government are not
merely saying in words or slogans or
political rhetoric but we are taking
and we have taken action in terms
of approving additional financial
allocations and programmes to help
the Indian community,” said Najib to
a crowd of some 5,000 people.
He reiterated that the government
was sincere in helping all races in the
country to “build a better Malaysia”.
“I believe every community and
ethnic group will have its own needs,
its own value systems, its own
aspirations, its own religion and way
of life, and that is for us to respect
as it is enshrined in the Malaysian
constitution,” he said.
borne by the rakyat, either through
tax-payers’ money or higher tariff
rates in the future,” said Khalid.
He said buying back the water serv-
ices assets of the concessionaires at
inflated prices is unfair to the rakyat.
“The state is concerned about
the possibility that the federal
government may be willing to offer
higher prices for these assets to the
concessionaires and hopes this will
not materialise as the rakyat would
be hit twice, first through tax-payers'
money and second through increase
in water tariffs,” he said.
He said the state agrees that the
matter should be resolved quickly
and has been vigorously pursuing
negotiations since June.
BERNAMAPIX
Guan Eng alleges bid to
discredit PR govt
by Himanshu Bhatt
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SEBERANG PERAI: A reported
statement by former Penang chief
minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon,
apparently absolving himself of blame
in the Kampung Buah Pala crisis, has
incurred the ire of his successor Lim
Guan Eng.
Lim said yesterday Koh’s state-
ment, published in the Chinese
media, showed there was an agenda
to discredit the Pakatan Rakyat
(PR) administration while diverting
responsibility away from the former
government.
“It is clear what their agenda is if
Koh Tsu Koon can say that,” Lim said.
“One of two residents has a private
agenda to undermine the Pakatan
Rakyat government.”
Koh, the Gerakan president who
is now a minister in the Prime Minis-
ter’s Department, had reportedly said
Till death do us part ...
PAYA Besar member of parliament Datuk Abdul Manan (standing fifth from left) and
Lepar state assemblyman Mohd Shohaimi Jusoh (standing fourth from left) attend the
bersanding (wedding) ceremony of Fauzi Mahazir Isa Abu, 28, and Nosriza Radzuan,
22, at Kampung Megat Gelugor, in Kuantan yesterday. The couple, who work in Kuala
Lumpur, were forced to have the bersanding ceremony on wheelchairs after being
involved in a road accident two weeks ago.
I didn’t attack or insult Islam, says Jeff Ooi
by Opalyn Mok
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim
Guan Eng’s chief of staff Jeff Ooi has
withdrawn his “extremist” statement
against Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM)
but insisted he neither attacked nor
insulted Islam as a religion.
“I challenge those who accused me
of insulting Islam or labelled me as anti-
Islam to substantiate their accusations
with proof, failing which, I will not hesi-
tate to take legal action against those
who publicly label me as anti-Islam to
protect my integrity,” he said.
Ooi said he is complying with the
directive from Lim to withdraw his
statement that was published on Aug
2 in which he referred to JIM as an
extremist organisation.
the residents had never blamed the
previous BN government for their
current predicament and only criti-
cised the PR government.
“They only criticise and attack the
PR government even though the land
was taken away from them – signed,
sealed, delivered – by Koh,” he said.
“I did not sign any document. I
did not give any approval to the co-
operative (new landowner Koperasi
Pegawai Kerajaan Pulau Pinang) or
the developer (Nusmetro Ventures (P)
Sdn Bhd),” he said.
He said the state would now deal
directly with individual households
instead of having group discussions
with all the villagers.
Lim said his statement question-
ing the residents for wanting RM3.5
million, which has since been de-
nied by the residents, was based on
newspaper reports quoting one of the
villagers.
A police report was lodged on
“I have been advised by Lim that
JIM is not an extreme organisation
and so I withdraw the statement and
consider the matter closed,” he told a
press conference at his service centre
yesterday after returning from a study
trip overseas.
Ooi also plans to organise dialogue
sessions with JIM, in the presence of
Lim’s political secretary Ng Wei Aik, to
prevent any further misunderstanding
in future.
Ooi’s statement on Aug 2 had
sparked a furore among Islamic organi-
sations, prompting Forum Penyelarasan
Umat, an umbrella body for more than
20 Islamic-based NGOs in the state, to
submit a memorandum to Lim.
The statement was originally aimed
at Penang municipal councillor Mohd
Razali Abdullah whom he labelled as
theSun | MONDAY AUGUST 10 2009
Saturday by residents against Lim for
making a false public statement to
defame them.
They said they only wanted clari-
fication on conditions imposed in the
offer of terrace houses.
Speaking at a press conference at
his service centre, Lim, who is also
Bagan MP, also announced the state’s
plans to build a new four-lane road
parallel to Jalan Raja Uda to help al-
leviate congestion in Butterworth.
The 300m road, from Rumah
Hijau in Mak Mandin to Jalan Bunga
Tanjung 7, would help to provide an
alternative artery for thousands of
commuters who are forced to rely
only on Jalan Raja Uda, resulting in
traffic jams.
Lim also said the state may post-
pone its official Merdeka celebration
in view of the influenza A(H1N1)
pandemic. He said the state would
work with the federal government
on the matter.
‘Reinstate
temple
project
chairman’
GEORGE TOWN: The
Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party
and several Indian NGOs
want the state government
to reinstate Datuk R. Rajas-
ingam as Hill Top Murugan
Temple project committee
chairman.
Malaysia Makkal Sakti
Party deputy president A.
Vathemurthy said Rajasin-
gam was removed from the
committee by the Penang
Hindu Endowment Board on
July 13 without any justifica-
tion or valid reasons.
“This humble and dili-
gent man had sacrificed and
managed to complete 75% of
the project,” he said.
Vathemurthy said Rajas-
ingam had written at least
five times to the board, a
state-controlled body which
supervises several temples
in Penang, but there had
been no response.
an Islamic extremist due to the latter’s
membership in JIM.
Even after withdrawing his
statement, Ooi insisted that Mohd Ra-
zali is not fit to sit in the Penang Island
Municipal Council’s One-Stop Centre
(OSC) committee which is responsible
for approving development projects.
“Mohd Razali must be removed
from the OSC as his disruptive and out-
of-jurisdiction behaviour in the
OSC had caused grave concern to major
investors and developers who have
threatened to pull out from Penang,”
he claimed.
Ooi, who said Mohd Razali was
imposing his personal conditions on
developers and not according to the
council’s guidelines, claimed to have
received complaints from five major
developers.