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Thursday, 30 June 2011
SIAPA DAPAT ‘KEK’ GAS ASLI SABAH?
Oleh : MEDIA SAPP
AHLI PARLIMEN Malaysia (Sepanggar), Datuk Eric Majimbun berkata Kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) tidak telus mengenai peruntukan sebenar dan perbelanjaan dalam Projek Saluran Paip Gas Sabah-Sarawak (SSGP).
Beliau berkata, sehingga ke hari ini Kerajaan BN tidak memberi maklumat terperinci mengenai projek mega itu dengan melindungi jumlah peruntukan sebenar dan perbelanjaan yang telah di buat.
“Pada awalnya Kerajaan BN berkata, peruntukan bagi projek mega itu ialah RM3.2 bilion, bagaimanapun saya difahamkan bahawa peruntukan itu telah naik berlipat kali ganda,” kata Eric dalam satu kenyataan di Kuala Lumpur, hari ini.
Katanya, Perdana Menteri melalui jawapan bertulis pada sidang Parlimen baru-baru ini berkata bahawa setakat ini, 81 peratus daripada 521 kilometer saluran gas projek mega itu telah siap.
Eric turut berkata Perdana Menteri juga memberitahu bahawa hampir 62 peratus peruntukan daripada Petronas telah dibelanjakan.
“Bagaimanapun, Perdana Menteri tidak menyatakan jumlah peruntukan sebenar,” kata Eric yang juga Timbalan Presiden Parti Maju Sabah (SAPP).
Menurut Eric, Perdana Menteri seterusnya memberitahu bahawa projek mega itu dijangka mula beroperasi pada 2013.
Katanya, Perdana Menteri turut memberitahu bahawa setakat 1 Januari 2011, Sabah mempunyai simpanan minyak sebanyak 2 bilion tong yang boleh bertahan selama 33 tahun.
Perdana Menteri turut memberitahu bahawa Sabah juga mempunyai simpanan gas asli sebanyak 12 trilion kaki padu yang boleh bertahan selama 30 tahun.
Eric berkata, keengganan Kerajaan BN memperincikan peruntukan sebenar mengenai projek mega itu menunjukkan bahawa hak rakyat Sabah terhadap sumber yang dikeluarkan di negeri sendiri telah diketepikan.
Katanya, hak rakyat Sabah untuk menggunakan hasil sumber itu untuk keperluan negeri ini untuk menjana tenaga supaya kadar tarif letrik dapat dikurangkan juga telah dinafikan.
Beliau berkata, Kerajaan hanya mementingkan segelintir penyokong BN dan hak rakyat Sabah diketepikan.
Katanya, Kerajaan BN sepatutnya sedar bahawa Sabah adalah negeri yang mempunyai bilangan penduduk miskin di negara ini.
“Laporan yang dikeluarkan agensi kerajaan menunjukkan terdapat 5,988 keluarga miskin tegar di Sabah manakala miskin seramai 30,745 keluarga. Manakala jumlah miskin mudah seramai 14,223 keluarga termasuk 3,203 lagi keluarga.
“Jumlah mereka yang telah mendaftar dengan e-kasih ialah seramai 53,982 keluarga, bagaimanapun masih ramai lagi yang belum mendaftar khasnya rakyat di pedalaman yang hidup kais pagi, makan pagi; kais petang, makan petang,” katanya.
COMMUNAL TITLES BENEFIT MAJORITY
SABAH Land and Survey Department (JTU), Director Datuk Osman Jamal defended the issuance of communal titles, saying they were introduced with the noble intention to expedite land alienation to natives and to ensure they develop their land at the same time.
Commenting on a recent statement by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) that the beneficiaries of the communal titles had not been briefed or engaged in discussions earlier, Osman said this was not the case because the Government had talked to them before they agreed to sign the document.
He said it was, therefore, not practical to simply delay or stop the process of issuing communal titles just to satisfy some non-governmental organisation's plea, because the issue was to see that the majority benefited from the programme.
"We accept any suggestion, as long as it is constructive and sincere for value-addition. But why must we delay, when there is more advantage than disadvantage?
"In fact, there is only a lack of understanding on the part of the villagers. They have not rejected the programme. As in most new programmes, we tend to face challenges. So, we will have to continue but, at the same time, we will continue giving information to beneficiaries. And the public can also come to JTU for more information on communal grants," he said.
At a national inquiry held in Penampang last week, Suhakam commissioner Jannie Lasimbang said many rural people in Sabah who were recipients of communal titles were still vague about how these grants worked.
She said a community-based NGO, Partners of Community Organisation (Pacos), had proposed that the government consider delaying the issuance of upcoming communal titles to allow for all the issues to be ironed out first.
Among the issues she mentioned was the clause in the communal title that says the Land and Survey director can remove and add any of the beneficiaries.
Osman explained: "There is no such thing as the Director simply changing the beneficiaries. The Director may be the middle person but there are a lot of instruments and laws involved here. One can't simply do what one likes.
"And, furthermore, 'tertakluk kepada kelulusan pengarah' (subject to the approval of the director), that term has been used since the Sabah Land Ordinance started in the 1930s. It was not an issue before.
As I have told Jannie, there are mechanisms and people should not make such comments unless they have studied all the conditions first."
On civil servants earning more than RM1,500 a month not entitled to become beneficiaries of the programme, Osman said this was more than justified as they wanted to help the hardcore poor and poor people first.
"It is unfair to give to people who have jobs and a salary. Of course, we put the poor and hardcore poor first as priority. If there is extra (land), the civil servants who are interested may apply, but they still have to get approval from the directors of their respective departments first," he added.
Osman explained that the communal title was not actually a new concept but something that had already existed in the State Land Ordinance.
"In this ordinance, government issues four types of title, namely Town Lease, Provisional Lease, Native Title and Communal Title. This means the communal title we are issuing, it was already there since that time, but rarely applied, usually the first three types," he added.
However, in 2006, JTU received a memorandum from Pacos saying that the state government had discriminated against Sabah natives in terms of land allocation, and that was when JTU started looking at the best alternative to expedite land issuance to the people.
"As I've mentioned before, due to the limited manpower of 56 staff around Sabah, we only have a capacity of processing 15,000 to 16,000 land applications a year.
"With 248,000 outstanding land applications flooding the department now, we can't rely 100 per cent on normal methods. That's why we had to amend the law, which was gazetted on Dec 2009," he said.
He said that when the chief minister proposed that a site be developed, he could sanction the communal titles without the need for applications or the filling of forms.
"I would like to stress again that these communal titles are being issued not because of elections. We have been thinking of this approach since 2007," he said.
He said a government-linked agency was included in a joint venture to develop the land under communal titles because, from previous records, only 40 per cent of owners of Native Title (NT) land in the state had actually developed their land.
"To date, we have issued NT to 169,729 natives, totalling 64,584 hectares. But why do the researchers say there are still a lot of poor and hardcore poor people here. It is because 60 per cent of these NT holders did not develop the land.
"Also, some of the areas do not have infrastructure such as roads, so that makes it difficult to bring development there. That is why we find a government agency which has a proven track record in the joint venture," said Osman.
He said that within a year of the issuance of communal grants in the middle of last year, the state government had issued 33,600 hectares to 7,000 beneficiaries.
"So I do not see why we must stop. It will be a loss, because we have targets (to meet). Right now, the figure of natives owning land in Sabah is only 23 per cent. The target is 30 per cent by 2020, so we can't stop. We need to use both the land application process and communal grants to achieve this (target)," stressed Osman. (DAILY EXPRESS)
JPN BANTU SELESAI ISU PENGUNDI HANTU
JABATAN Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) akan mengkaji untuk mewujudkan sistem pangkalan data yang menghubungkan JPN dengan Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR), dan pihak-pihak yang bertanggungjawab mengeluarkan permit kematian seperti polis.
Langkah ini dilihat dapat menangani rungutan orang ramai mengenai wujudnya pengundi hantu, terutamanya setiap kali menjelang pilihan raya, kata Ketua Pengarah JPN yang baru dilantik, Datin Jariah Mohd Said.
Beliau yang merupakan wanita pertama memegang jawatan itu berkata langkah itu perlu memandangkan pihak JPN tidak boleh sewenang-wenangnya menghapuskan data pengenalan diri seseorang individu itu sekiranya waris atau pemaklum tidak memaklumkan kematiannya ke JPN.
"Jadi menerusi sistem itu membolehkan JPN mengemaskini maklumat pemilik MyKad sebaik permit kematian dikeluarkan dan sekaligus dapat mempermudahkan SPR mengemaskini data pengundi pula.
"Selain kesedaran orang ramai penting dalam perkara tersebut JPN juga akan memastikan penerangan dibuat setiap masa mengenainya selain meneliti rekod individu yang umurnya melebihi 90 tahun," katanya dalam temubual di sini Rabu.
Bagaimanapun, Jariah yang mula menyandang jawatan itu pada 22 Jun lepas berkata, isu pengundi hantu tidak sepatutnya wujud kerana bukan mudah untuk seseorang menggunakan MyKad individu lain.
Mengulas mengenai ramai yang dikatakan masih tidak mempunyai kad pengenalan diri terutama di Sabah dan Sarawak beliau berkata JPN sedang melihat sekiranya ada keperluan untuk petugas JPN turun ke kawasan-kawasan tertentu dengan lebih kerap.
"Selain itu pihak JPN kini sedang memproses semua permohonan yang dihantar melalui kempen Mydaftar," katanya sambil menyifatkan kempen Mydaftar itu berjaya mencapai objektif.(BERNAMA)
POLIS GUNA SEKSYEN 27 (5) AP HALANG BERSIH
POLIS akan menahan sesiapa sahaja yang mempamerkan apa-apa perkataan atau lambang yang menghasut orang ramai menyertai perhimpunan haram yang dianjurkan oleh beberapa kumpulan di ibu negara pada 9 Julai ini, kata Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Ismail Omar.
"Bukan sahaja baju, kereta, bas, kasut, seluar dan apa sahaja yang berbau hasutan akan ditangkap di bawah undang-undang yang boleh diguna pakai," katanya kepada pemberita di Bukit Aman di sini.
Beliau berkata antara undang-undang yang boleh digunakan dalam tindakan ini ialah Seksyen 27(5) Akta Polis iaitu percubaan untuk mengadakan perhimpunan haram.
Sehubungan itu, Ismail menasihati kumpulan yang berlainan ideologi itu supaya membatalkan hasrat mengadakan perhimpunan haram demi keamanan negara.
Terdahulu, Ismail memanggil pemimpin kumpulan yang dijangka terlibat dengan perhimpunan haram itu di pejabatnya dan menerangkan kepada mereka tentang kesan perhimpunan haram itu terhadap keselamatan negara.
Antara yang hadir ke Bukit Aman hari ini adalah Setiausaha Agung Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Syed Hassan Syed Ali mewakili Presiden mereka Datuk Ibrahim Ali, yang tiba pukul 10 pagi.
Turut hadir adalah Naib Ketua Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO, Datuk Razali Ibrahim, yang juga Timbalan Menteri Belia dan Sukan yang tiba pukul 3 petang manakala Pengerusi Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil, Datuk S. Ambiga akan dipanggil pada Khamis.
Ambiga sebelum ini menyatakan bahawa kumpulannya akan tetap mengadakan perhimpunan haram itu walaupun tidak mendapat permit polis dan tidak menghiraukan tentang soal keselamatan negara.(BERNAMA)
NAJIB, THE ONLY PM VISIT SIPITANG?
By : AMDE SIDIK
SIPITANG looks set to welcome it's honorable guest- Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib Tun Abd Razak on 30 of July in conjunction with Sipitang's Gasing and Tamu Besar also known as Gata a Biennial Feastivity since 2003
This is the first ever visit by Prime Minister, none of our previous Prime Ministers had visited Sipitang.
Sipitang the durian town of Sabah is also the gateway for people from Sarawak and Brunei to visit Sabah situated about 8 kilometers from Sabah and Sarawak border.
The Prime Minister is expected to officiate a RM10 million Sipitang esplanade .
He would be in Sipitang town by noon traveling from Tenom via a new high road which take less than 2 hours driving from Tenom.
Sipitang has about 30,000 people. About 60% of Sipitang population is made of Kadayan community, 30% is Lundayeh and Murut and the rest are including Brunai, Chinese and others for 10%.
The main employment provider, a paper and pulp factory also called the Sabah Forest Industry which was set up during Berjaya government in the 70s but sold to an Indian company in year 2005.
Sipitang is a coastal town situated at Brunei Bay, historically had abandon of fish and marine life but now all are dilapidated rapidly. The dramatic reduction of quality of marine life is suspected due to the toxic disposal from SFI to the sea.
A question was asked by our Malaysian writer who happens to be Sipitang born some years ago which infuriated the then SFI Public Relation Officer at that time
Sipitang has changed from all wooden buildings to now of mostly made of concrete. But like any other tows in the state, the design and planning of the town is typically done haphazardly which will take many more years to meet European standard, if Kota Kinabalu can't that wouldn't be a surprise to see Sipitang.
Sipitang may change the composition in future this was highlighted recently in local media with regards to the increase number of foreigners buying local Native Title Land by dubious means, the most common modes operandi is by the used of local proxy.
The case in hand, an eleven acres of land in Kg Ulu Naparan bought by forty foreigners, raised up fund of RM280,000 they used one Kadayan on their behalf, allotted one lot for him as an enticement to build a house.
The Kadayan and Brunaian alike at the surrounding areas are furious of dare the Kadayan take advantage of the situation which some local leaders is still at the investigating stage to bring the matter to higher up authority.
Sipitang town may look pretty for a short while, others argue it wouldn't carter to provide employment which the district is in the dire needs. A half million ringgits cost to build an arch erected a donation by Sabah Land Development is very questionable way of spending public money. A part from badly design and creates unnecessarily congestion long before it should.