Dear Editor,
IN THE run-up to the 13th
General Election, many have placed their loyalties with the Pakatan Rakyat
coalition. As people call for urgently needed 'change', the states that have
been under the opposition’s control since 2008 are valuable case studies that
highlight the inefficiency of the ruling state governments.
Several have experienced
administrative mismanagement, including cases of water shortages that have left
people without basic utilities, such as water. In Selangor, budget
restructuring and tight conditions introduced under the watch of the state
government have halted the construction of needed water treatment plants,
despite the current plants running at near maximum operating capacity.
Water concessionaires such
as Syabas have criticized Pakatan Rakyat for mismanaging the state's water
resources, accusing the state government of distorting the issue for political
gain, while thousands are forced to lug buckets of water into their homes for daily
use.
In Kedah, the PAS-led
government has been urged to halt logging activities in the ecologically
sensitive Ulu Muda rainforest, where more than 20,000 hectares of pristine
highland forests have been bulldozed.
Despite clearing the forests
for farming, minimal agricultural output has been recorded and timber
concessionaires have obviously profited from these activities. Indiscriminate
logging in Kedah's Ulu Muda Forest Reserve under the watch of PAS can threaten
water catchment forests that supply water to millions of people in Kedah,
Penang and Perlis.
The opposition coalition is
wrought with irreconcilable differences, such as the implementation of hudud
law and dress code. If state governments are unable to effectively manage
utilities and natural resources in their constituent states, it is difficult to
imagine how they can manage governing the entire country.
As Malaysians, most of us
agree that more meaningful reforms are necessary in the future to deal with
corrupt, environmental degradation and long-politicized issues of race and
religion. We should consider the possibility that a Pakatan Rakyat federal
government would only create deeper divisions between races and political
parties.
Best Regards,
.44 MAGNUM
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