Tag: Solving the Rakyat’s Problems

Budget 2014, MBPJ Focuses of 5 Key Development Sectors

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PETALING JAYA, 26 Oct: The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will focus on five key development sectors in the Selangor Budget 2014.

These sectors are; infrastructure, environmentally friendly environment, efficient traffic management, sustainable lifestyle and organisation empowerment.

The Mayor of Petaling Jaya, Datin Paduka Alinah Ahmad said emphasis will be put on providing world class services and facilities to meet the needs of the Petaling Jaya community.

“By improving efficiency in traffic management and infrastructure, the Council is committed to improving the quality of public facilities and public transport networks to address traffic problems,” she said when chairing the full MBPJ meeting here.

In relation to that, a total of RM1 million is allocated to provide feeder bus services, and RM4.67 million to provide ‘Park n Ride’ facilities in special areas, as well as RM6.07 million to build bicycle and pedestrian paths that are comfortable and safe.

She said, cooperation and full support from all parties is needed in order to achieve this vision.

“For example, support from the Petaling District Land Office is necessary for immediate processing of TOL land acquisition for the construction of the ‘Park n Ride’ facility, so is cooperation from utility provider agencies.

“This includes Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Indah Water Konsortium and other agencies so that any construction of road excavation will not cause serious disruptions to road users,” she added.

In the meantime, MBPK is also planning the development of the city so that it would become a city which is liveable, loved and has soul.

To achieve this, development planning should be focused on creating a workable public space to create social interaction among city dwellers.

“The council wants for city dwellers to be able to work, play and live in urban areas with passion, a sense of grace and wholeheartedly,” she added.

My@MPSJ for Easy Online Transactions

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SUBANG JAYA, 25 Oct: Taxpayers under the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) no longer need to go to the office for any tax payment transaction because it can be done online at My@MPSJ.

MPSJ President, Datuk Asmawi Kasbi said MPSJ will implement the system where tax payment bills will be electronically sent to customers starting next year.

“Therefore, we encourage the public to register immediately. Applications through taxpayer records will help us send the bill to them,” he said.

He said this during a press conference after the launch of the My@MPSJ Registration Campaign which was held at the MPSJ headquarters today.

He said the online service being provided is for the payment of assessments, traffic compounds, rent, water bills, security, court reservations, licence renewal and checking of contractor payment status.

“MPSJ will also provide alternatives for membership registration at the MPSJ headquarters counter and those who sign have the opportunity to receive lucky draw prizes up to RM20,000,” he said.

The requirements to become a member of My@MPSJ is to provide a copy of identification card, a copy of the business registration certificate or related documents, and send it to the My@MPSJ Hub Counter at the Department of Information Technology, the MPSJ Information counter or send an e-mail to [email protected] or through fax at 03-8024 6612.

Those wishing to obtain further information about My@MPSK can check out our website at http://www.mpsj.gov.my and come to the MPSJ Department of Information Technology.

Pakatan Budget: PWD and Senior Citizens will be given Emphasis

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KUALA LUMPUR, 24 Oct: The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Budget 2014 announced RM500 million per year to carry out development for Persons with Disabilities (PWD).

Among the initiatives is to increase subsistence allowance from RM300 to RM500 per month for PWD who work but with a monthly income below RM1,200 and to provide special allocation for those with severe disabilities, up to a maximum of RM1,000 per month.

To carry that our, PR aims to register 400,000 PWD a year beginning 2014 so that the total registered will be 80% within five years’ time, to ensure this community receive the full benefits entitled to them.

PR will also continue to emphasise in increasing access for PWD to facilities, amenities, services and public transport to enforce the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008 which is rights-based.

This includes ensuring that the total number of car park bays for PWD follows UN standards, which is one PWD car park bay per 50 ordinary car park bays, with the appropriate car park size and location.

In addition, PR will improve road surfaces so that non-step buses can be fully utilised by PWD.

PR outlines to strengthen benefits for seniors by increasing the total number of geriatricians from approximately 16 today to at least 1,000 by 2030.

The effort is in preparing for an aging population including healthcare and welfare which will increase by a single fold from 7% to 14% in 28 years’ time.

Pakatan Budget: MyKad Replacement of Cash for JKM Recipients to Purchase Essentials

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KUALA LUMPUR, 24 Oct: The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Alternative Budget 2014 proposed the use of the MyKad to replace the cash system by depositing directly into recipients’ accounts as payment method at designated stores.

The current Social Welfare Department (JKM) welfare distribution system should be replaced with a cashless payment system which enables qualified recipients to select payment for exactly what they need without utilising cash.

It is an effort to ensure a fairer and better targeted subsidy regime and encompassing welfare system.

The credit contained in the recipients’ MyKad is used to purchase essentials such as rice, flour, sugar and other necessary goods.

PR also suggests for the MyKad to be used to track expenditure made by recipients and it can be combined with other programmes with other ministries such as keeping kids in schools and additional tutoring for single mothers.

Over 8% of Malaysians live below the existing Poverty Line Income (PLI) that does not address the hardship of current realities where thousands of households earn less than RM1,000 a month.

The usual practice by the Social Welfare Department (JKM – Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat) is to credit cash directly into recipients’ accounts which sometimes leads to problems of consistent delays in cash transfer and the inability to properly ascertain whether the intended outcomes are met in the first place.

Selangor Channels RM50,000 to Help Victims of Cameron Highlands Disaster

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SHAH ALAM, 24 Oct: The Selangor State Government today announced that immediate assistance of RM50,000 will be channeled to victims of the disaster and destruction in Bertam Valley, Cameron Highlands.

Exco for Selangor State Government Welfare, Rodziah Ismail said that the assistance is aimed at reducing the burden of victims because of the property damage suffered in the flash floods early yesterday morning.

“The Government and the people of Selangor would like to express empathy towards all victims, whether dead or alive, and their families.

May God give them the courage and patience for them to get through and bounce back from the disaster that hit,” she said in a press statement today.

Rodziah said she hopes that the responsible parties will take heed to comply with safety measures and give priority to save human lives.

“The death of three people as a result of the flash floods that hit Bertam Valley is very sad. Procedures and safety measures, and saving lives should be given priority to overcoming other matters.

“The residents around the area are shocked and trapped because they did not have enough time to save themselves, and this should be a lesson so that the same thing does not happen again,” she said.

Selangor and Penang PR Governments Step Forward to Strengthen Democracy

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Youth Solidarity Malaysia (SAMM) congratulated the Selangor and Penang PR Governments for moving another step to strengthen democracy in their administration radar.

On 18 September, the Penang Pakatan Rakyat Government, through the State Government Exco meeting, approved in principle the provisions for Assemblymen from the Opposition in Penang (read: Barisan Nasional) and the subsequent approval from the Exco Meeting will be tabled in the Penang State Budget 2014.

Meanwhile, on 10 October, the Selangor PR Government announced special allowances and privileges for the Selangor State Legislative Assembly Opposition Leader.

For Samm, this are valiant efforts in strengthening and educating the meaning of true democracy in Malaysia, in fact, understanding in the long history of oppression in translating the BN-style democracy system, actions such as this is hard to be accepted by various quarters in PR itself.

But if we are talking about a mature democracy, this is the best time to show that PR is different from the oppression politics of BN. We see all this while how PR representatives, especially Parliamentarians, are denied the right to serve the people without even a single cent of allocation being channelled through PR representatives who were voted by the people.

Now, it is a tremendous blow for BN Assemblymen in Penang. Do they want to receive provisions given to them despite Do they want to receive their allocation to them despite their opposition?

If they accept it, then they acknowledge the practice of the BN Government in other states and even the Federal level BN government as wrong to not channel allocations through representatives of the people who were elected by the people. But if they reject it, they will continue to be remembered for their narrow partisan politics and they can no longer complain in front of their voters that they do not have allocations.

Through the Penang State Government, PR proved that political clash is a different matter, but in matters of democratic state governance, the people’s choice should be respected and Penang PR has acknowledged that.

The Office of the Leader of the Opposition in the House (be it the House of Representatives or the state legislative assembly) is very important. But since the independence of Malaysia, it has not been honoured like other countries of mature democracy acknowledge the post.

The Selangor PR Government made a tremendous stride when they allocated RM8,260 per month with plenty other privileges to the Opposition Leader in the State Legislative Assembly.

With this, this position which is upheld through the democratic pr In this position he also transported through the democratic process of the people’s voice can be used to jointly develop the state. Opposition leaders can have complete office efficiency with enough research officers and Opposition leaders can have a complete office efficiency with enough research officer and able to debate and make constructive criticism to state that ultimately benefit the people.

The question now is would the Opposition Leader from BN in Selangor receive the allowances and privileges or will he reject with narrow political party thinking.

If he accepts it, he would admit the wrong practice of the Central and State Governments under BN in denying the role of Opposition Leaders elected by the people.

This is how the politics of the nation should be practiced with policy competition and competition in improvements which will ultimately strengthen democracy and benefit the people.

SAMM has greats hopes to see the Prime Minister, who is also the Finance Minister, to make the word ‘transformation’ as his daily chant when tabling the Budget 2014 this Friday which can truly welcome the moves taken by the Penang and Selangor PR Governments.

This move is also positive and everyone should move to strengthen democracy by acknowledging the role of PR members of parliament by taking into account the channeling of provisions through those elected by the people and uphold the role of the Malaysian Parliament by acknowledging privileges for Malaysian Opposition Leaders.

Without that, the ‘transformation’ chant will continue being a rhetoric laughed by those from the country and abroad.

Badrul Hisham Shaharin
Youth Solidarity Malaysia

Desire to Manage Lynas, Failure to Supervise Dam

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SHAH ALAM, 24 Oct: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is disappointed with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in providing a proper early warning system before opening the dam gates, thus causing flash floods in Cameron Highlands early yesterday morning.

Member of the PKR Central Council, Chang Lih Kang said several residents informed that the warning siren sounded by TNB was not audible due to rain early yesterday morning.

He said it was worse because the siren was only sounded 10 to 15 minutes before the Sultan Abu Bakar hydroelectric dam gates opened, causing many residents to not have enough time to save themselves.

“The residents I met blamed TNB for failing to give notice, and the siren was sounded in too short a time, causing them to not have enough time to save themselves.

“Some told me that they could not hear the siren which sounded in the morning because of heavy rain last night (Wednesday). The government should be serious in this matter, if the dam cannot be managed, how can Lynas be supervised,” he said when contacted by TVSelangor yesterday.

He said this when commenting on the flash flood in Cameron Highlands when TNB opened the hydroelectric dam gates causing about 80 houses near Sungai Bertam to be hit by strong currents early yesterday morning.

In the incident, Lih Kang claimed that at least three were killed, while another victim is still missing.

Lih Kang who visited the scene yesterday also demanded that an independent inquiry committee be established to identify the cause of the incident, this ensuring similar incidents do not recur.

“This is a very sad incident. PKR will meet with the residents to see what assistance can be distributed to affected families. I estimate high losses to be shouldered by families involved based on the property damage,” he said.

Shah Alam City Centre Developments Feature Islamic Elements

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SHAH ALAM, 23 Oct: The Shah Alam City Centre will be revitalised by featuring Islamic designs as the main thrust of development.

The move will touch on standardisation of colour, design, attractive building facade and identity, public facilities as well as other measures involving development around the city centre in Section 14.

The Mayor of Shah Alam, Datuk Mohd Jaafar Mohd Atan said the development plan should be carried out immediately before property owners develop their projects.

“Since before, Shah Alam has been developed without following a real plan, so we must start the vision to redesign development in this city before it is too late.

“Usually, landowners do not want to bear costs for too long and wish to develop their projects immediately. So we must be quick,” he said after inaugurating the Shah Alam CIty Centre Development Workshop in Section 14 at the Grand Bluewave Hotel this morning.

The workshop organised by the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) also touched on planning involving the issues of peace and prosperity, thus increasing the population’s joy index in Shah Alam in addition to the tabling of the work papers for the development of the city centre based on the concept of Islamic characteristics.

A total of 120 participants consisting of developers, landowners, government agencies, institutes of higher learning, Council members and the MBSA Technical Department took part in the workshop.

Jaafar said that they will discuss with the state government to establish guidelines that need to be enforced in effort to provide parking for women and additional lights in several locations identified.

“There are parking areas that are dark and scary, especially at night. These locations should have lights and special parking for women close to entrances. We will propose this to the state government,” he said.

Abolish AES: Do Not Confuse the People

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SHAH ALAM, 23 Oct: The proposal to cancel all outstanding summonses of the Automated Enforcement System (AES) by the acting Minister of Transport, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, only adds confusion to the already burdened people.

The idea by the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government is claimed to be unfair to the people when they proposed to cancel summonses issued prior to 18 September and will only reduce the compound from RM300 to RM150 after that date.

The Legal Adviser for the Anti Postal Summons Campaign (KASE), Zulhazmi Sharif said that the government should wait until a comprehensive review on the implementation of the AES by the AES Steering Committee is complete before issuing any misleading statements.

“The proposal is premature and unfair. This is because the comprehensive review of the implementation of the AES is still pending and is incomplete. The announcement is only to reassure the people who already burdened and confused with the implementation of the AES since 22 September 2012,” he told TVSelangor today.

He was commenting on a statement made by Hishammuddin that there are other options that will be forwarded to the Cabinet by the Ministry of Transport to give justice and public interest on the issue of AES summons dated before 18 September.

At the House of Representatives yesterday, the ministry stated that 882,298 AES summons have been issued, and 91,457 from the amount has been paid involving the collection of RM27.4 million as of 8 October.

In relation to that, Zulhalmi said all summonses issued since 22 September should be cancelled and the entire execution should be halted until the review is completed by the committee, if the AES is to be cancelled.

“When all the summons are cancelled, the amount of compound fees and fines that have been paid should be refunded to recipients of the summonses. Until now, BN has failed to respond to my challenge to prove that there is a line in the AES summon, or the Road Transport Act 1987, that states that it is mandatory to pay summons and compounds.

“If there is, I will pay all the summons. But the government should cancel all summons and refund the collected money when it is proven what is claimed is true,” he said.

Budget 2014: National Deficit Expected to Increase by One Percent

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SHAH ALAM, 23 Oct: The Budget 2014 is expected to reach RM270 billion, involving an increase of nine percent compared to RM260 billion for the Budget 2013.

The increase is expected to cause the national fiscal deficit to increase by about 0.5 percent to one percent.

Terengganu PKR Chairman, Azan Ismail said the budget which will be tabled by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on 25 October will record a deficit for the 16th time in a row.

“This year, the amount if RM260 billion, but it may increase by about RM10 billion for 2014. This increase would cause the national deficit to increase by about one percent or at least 0.5 percent,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Azan said the approach used by Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, proves that the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government has failed in controlling spending by being responsible and prudent.

“For Pakatan Rakyat (PR), we will not guarantee a balanced budget, but we will try to present a budget where the deficit is not too high.

“If the increase in expenditure is RM10 billion to RM15 billion, we too have to increase to curb a higher increase in deficit,” he said.

Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, presented the Alternative Budget summary which amounts to RM262 billion, compared to an estimated revenue of RM228 billion, with the deficit of RM34 billion, on 21 October.

Among the contributing factor involved in the reduction is that the emoluments that are reduced by 10 percent involves operating expenses that do not include emoluments and the effort is a part of the long-term measures to reduce the country’s debt of over RM500 billion.

Pakatan Rakyat’s Alternative Budget the Manifestation of Caring for the People

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SHAH ALAM, 23 Oct: Jingga 13 fully supports the tabling of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Alternative Budget 2014 which is evidently the ‘Budget that Cares about the People’ which is able to lift the country’s economy, reduce deficit and is realistic.

The presentation which was done by Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Member of Parliament for Bagan, Lim Guan Eng and Member of Parliament for Tumpat, Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar, proves that PR is consistent in efforts to reduce the burdens of the people as well as prioritising welfare as the main thrust towards improving the country’s financial management.

The Chief Coordinator for Jingga 13, Fariz Musa, said that the tabling also witnesses PR’s efforts to steer the people’s economy towards improving the people’s wellbeing and quality of life.

“Leakages, wastage, abuse of power, corruption and transformation failure under the administration of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the Finance Minister, can be seen every time he Auditor-General’s Report is presented.

“The rising deficit and national debt is impacting the economic growth and the people have to shoulder it as a result of bias practiced by the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government,” he said in a press statement today.

He said that Jingga 13 also welcomed the move to review and postpone the National Service (NS) programme which is not showing resounding success through its implementation.

“Not one study has been carried out by the government to ensure the success that can be obtained from the programme despite its implementation costing RM800 million every year.

“The Auditor-General’s Report each year is like ‘pouring water on yam leaves’. Till now, the Government has failed to address, prevent and improve so that the people’s money is used well and prudently.

“The decisive action in the PR Alternative Budget 2014 to ensure that action is taken against misconduct, wastage and abuse of power of certain ministries also proves serious commitment in ensuring that the country’s finances are responsibly managed. This budget is a manifestation of ‘Caring for the People’ which is very effective and conducive for the people of Malaysia,” he said.

Selangor Government Targets for 35,000 RMM in Five Years

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SHAH ALAM, 22 Oct: The Selangor Government is targeting for 35,000 affordable housing units (RMM) in the next five years.

The Executive Councillor in charge of Housing, Building Management and Urban Settlement, Iskandar Abdul Samad, said that the government will increase the number of affordable homes through the Housing & Development Board (HDB) or but existing affordable homes and place it under the HDB.

Through the Harakah Daily portal, he said the RM450 million allocation is aimed to involve the construction of 5,000 to 7,000 affordable housing units over the next five years.

“From the total projects of private and subsidiary companies of the state government, we target for 35,000 units of affordable homes to be built in Selangor in the stipulated period.

“We will not sell all the units because a part of it will be rented out to those who cannot afford to buy a house,” he said.

Iskandar said the State Government is focusing on private companies by placing requirements to build affordable housing in the first term of the Pakatan Rakyat administration.

“The housing problem is not just in terms of house prices, but the low income of the people. So to accommodate the number of people who cannot afford to buy a home, we will create homes to be rented to them, such as council homes,” he said.