18 theSun | FRIDAY NOVEMBER 7 2008

State-owned homes briefs

Police win
award
Fairus Khairuddin recently
launched the Rakyat
Entrepreneur Guidance
mittee chairman Tan Sri Dr
Yahaya Ibrahim said the
book covers the history of

for low-income group

by Humayun Kabir
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
IPOH: The Perak government is
devising a plan for the low-income
group to buy up state-owned houses
that they are renting now, to allow
them to own houses while reducing the
government’s burden of maintaining
the buildings.
“The idea is two-pronged; one is to
encourage more low-income groups
to buy up the houses they are renting
now. The other is to reduce the high
cost of charges incurred in maintaining
these houses,” said State Health,
Environment and Human Resources
Committee chairman A Sivanesan.
He said currently, the maintenance
of such houses at high cost is a burden
to the state government as the tenants
do not maintain the houses properly
because they don’t own them.
“Those who want to own houses
can either go for private financing from
banks, or if they are not successful,
get a loan from the Perak State
Development Corporation to pay for the
houses.”
“If the borrowers fail to settle the
loan, then this government agency will
take over the houses,” he added.
“I will propose this to the state
government soon and if it is approved,
then Taman Idaman in Sungkai near
Tapah will be the first such pilot project
in the state.
“There are 62 low-cost units in
Taman Idaman which have been built
to accommodate Keretapi Tanah
Melayu land settlers who are paying a
monthly rental of RM250.
“I have spoken to the residents there
and half of them have agreed to buy up
the rented houses, and they are going
to persuade the rest to follow suit, as
in the long run they will benefit as the
house will become a family asset.”
He was speaking to newsmen after
handing over cheques of RM3,000 to
each of 12 illegal squatters living on
the Kinta River reserve land who had
agreed to vacate their homes by Nov 15
to make way for the completion of the
2km-long Kinta River deepening and
widening project to reduce flash floods
in the city at the cost of RM2.2 million.
These families will be given a
three-room flat in Taman Harmoni
in Buntong with a monthly rental of
RM124 and a three-month deposit.
On a request by the squatters that
a memorial be built for the 60 people
who died when part of Gunung Cheroh
collapsed in 1973, Sivanesan said he
will raise the matter with the state
government.
The previous state government had
promised to build the memorial but to
date, nothing has materialised.
KUALA LUMPUR : The
Royal Malaysian Police
(RMP) recently received
international recognition for
effectively using wireless
technology in crisis manage-
ment and combating crime
at the FutureGov Summit
2008 in Bali, Indonesia last
month.
Inspector General of Police
Tan Sri Musa Hassan in a state-
ment said the police received
the Government Technology
Awards for the implementa-
tion of the C4i Pilot System
which puts emphasis on quick
response time.
The event organiser,
Alphabet Media, received
Flights of more than 450 nominations
fancy from all over the world for
pg 34 awards in 11 categories and
the RMP was the sole win-
ner from Malaysia.
Musa said this showed
that the RMP had achieved
international standards and
recognition for its innovative
plan in using wireless tech-
nology to fight crime.
Programme for
entrepreneurs
GEORGE TOWN: The state
government has launched
a programme to guide
and train young entre-
preneurs. Deputy Chief
Minister (I) Mohammad
Programme to provide
aspirants with knowledge
and skills to operate effec-
tive businesses.
Implemented under
the Penang Entrepreneur
Development Council,
the programme is aimed
at helping to nurture
successful entrepreneurs
with knowledge of effec-
tive business practices.
The programme also
includes follow-ups on the
individuals who have been
trained, with checks on
their progress every three
months till Nov 2009.
Assisted by business
coaching company Action
Coach, the programme’s
first activity is a free day-
long seminar for 1,000
people keen on business.
Kirkby
reunion
KUALA LUMPUR: A coffee-
table book on the history of
Malayan Teachers’ Training
College at Kirkby, Liverpool,
England (1951-1962) will be
published in conjunction
with a grand reunion of
Kirkbyites to be held at Intan
and Putrajaya International
Convention Centre (PICC) on
Nov 28 and 29.
Coffee-table book and
the grand reunion com-
the first Malayan English-
medium-teacher training
college which first admitted
149 students in December
1951.
It will include a chapter
on outstanding Kirkbyites.
The reunion will see an
educational exhibition, an
international convention, a
book launch, conferment
of distinguish awards, a
gala dinner and a tour of
Putrajaya.
Cheques are payable to
Persatuan Alumni Maktab
Kirkby Malaysia. For details,
email yes2000@studymalay-
sia.com or call Zainal Abidin
019-3281789.
Abu Hassan is
VC of BUCH
PETALING JAYA: In our
report entitled “Berjaya Uni-
versity College of Hospitality
launches website” on page
16 on Wednesday Nov 5, the
caption for the photograph
inadvertently named Freddie
Pang Hock Cheng as BUCH
vice-chancellor.
Pang is in fact Berjaya
Corporation Bhd executive
director while BUCH vice-
chancellor is Tan Sri Prof
Emeritus Datuk Dr Abu
Hassan.
More details at www.
berjaya.edu.my

Former councillor willing to pay for lost laptop

by Bernard Cheah
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: After weeks of
controversy, a former municipal
councillor from Gerakan has
agreed to comply with any decision
made by the Penang Island
Municipal Council (MPPP) over his
failure to return a council laptop
computer which had been assigned
to him but was stolen earlier this
year.
Teh Leong Meng said he was
willing to compensate the council
for the stolen laptop as he simply
wanted to resolve the matter
amicably.
“If they say that I have to pay
for it in full or at a discounted
price, I will not mind,” he told a
press conference at the Gerakan
headquarters here.
On Feb 26, Teh’s house was
broken into and the laptop as well
as other items such as an electronic
dictionary, two mobile phones,
a digital camera and RM2,000 in
cash were stolen. A police report
was lodged later.
The issue has been highlighted
in the Chinese media which quoted
council president Datuk Zainal
Rahim Seman as saying that Teh
was required to compensate the
council for the missing laptop.
Teh said he had written to
Zainal in mid-October informing of
the theft but had yet to receive any
response.
“They have not replied to my
appeal to exempt me from paying,
and I am still waiting,” Teh said. “It
is not that I do not want to return
the laptop, but it was stolen.”
Teh, who is also Penang
Gerakan committee member, said
the matter not only made him look
bad but also affected the reputation
of the party.