Towards a clean and green environment - The Star

Jun 4, 2008 By DEBBIE CHAN

SELANGOR is set to be the most environment-friendly state in the country if it is able to achieve its clean and green agenda.

For a start, the state government will require all new developments to have at least two hectares of recreational area per 1,000 people.

According to state Environment, Tourism and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Elizabeth Wong, this guideline is mandatory in the National Physical Plan but is currently not in force in Selangor.

“This is not happening now so a lot of things have to be rectified at the state level,” Wong said.

I promise: Elizabeth Wong showing her pledge to The Star group chief editor Datuk Wong Chun Wai before pinning it up on the MY Act board.

The state government is also looking at amending by-laws for local councils to resume their responsibilities on rubbish collection and water management instead of outsourcing them to private companies.

“The current system doesn’t seem to be working with a lot of weaknesses, from complaints of rubbish not being collected to the inefficiency of the sub-contractors, so we will look into that,” Wong said.

She said she would be tabling several environment regulations at the next state assembly meeting that would focus on amendments of jurisdiction and new enactments.

“I’m looking at a total regulation on sand mining to curb smuggling and over-mining.

“Of course I will have to look at the economic and legal aspects of it,” she added.

Wong said she would also focus on bringing into force the current guidelines on environment issues.

“There are other small measures that I have in mind, including meeting hypermarkets to discuss the possibility of using only bio-degradable plastic bags and ultimately shifting to cloth bags, as well as the idea of banning styrofoam boxes from the state secretariat cafeteria,” she said.

Since Wong took office as a state executive councillor in mid-March, the main complaints that she has had to deal with are illegal dumping, pollution and landfill.

“I think there is no use trying to implement ad hoc measures just like how I have stopped the token cleaning of the Klang River.

“We should look at the problems on the whole and resolve matters at the source,” she said.

Wong also encourages youngsters with interesting environment-friendly ideas and concepts to submit them to the state government so that they can be given due consideration in the decision-making process.

“If the youngsters have anything to propose, I’m open to listening and discussing the ideas with them.

“They can present their concepts and if it lies under the state’s jurisdiction, we will definitely look into it,” she said.

Wong believes that the community should be allowed to lobby and be part of the decision-making process.

“My personal agenda is to get people to be more active in collective movements which can bring amazing results,” she said.

Wong was at Menara Star where she made her pledge as part of The Star’s Green Every Day - Act Now! campaign held in conjunction with World Environment Day 2008.

Her pledge is to help increase the green and forest areas in Selangor.

“My portfolio covers everything in regard to the environment – from preservation to prevention, rivers, soil, pollution and oil.

“It is in my capacity to try to reclaim green areas,” she said.

“Trees are important to help urbanites to breathe fresh air and ultimately, for health reasons, we should have sufficient trees in the city,” she said.

Wong will be participating in The Star’s Green Every Day - Act Now! event at Taman Lembah Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail from 9am to 4pm on Sunday.

There will be a lot of environment and community activities on the day.

Admission is free and people are encouraged to bring along their children. The sponsor for the event is Bonuslink.

Councillors’ list finalised - The Star

Jun 4, 2008 By DHARMENDER SINGH

THE Selangor government said the delay in finalising the list of councillors for the 12 local authorities in the state has not affected the running of the councils.

State Local Government, Survey and Research Committee chairman Ronnie Liu said none of the operations of the local councils had been affected since the Pakatan Rakyat state government was formed except for the approval for large projects.

“There have been a lot of complaints over large projects in the past with claims of corruption and abuse of power that supposedly led to some being approved even on hill slopes,” he said when met at his office.

The final say: Khalid will be making the announcement soon.

Liu was commenting on a StarMetro report, which stated that haggling for the councillor posts between PAS, DAP and PKR had caused the delay in naming of the 288 councillors for the 12 local governments.

Liu said the state government held a briefing for all council heads after the new state government was formed to ask all one-stop centres (OSC) at the councils to remain operational. Only the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) closed its OSC due to miscommunication, as the council president was unable to attend the briefing and was not aware of the state government's directive to keep it open.

The one-stop centres at the local councils processed most applications from licences to projects and renovations.

“The only difference now is that we have removed the need for four councillors to be part of the one-stop centre so the council officials will approve all submissions on their own,” Liu said.

However, this did not mean that approvals for all major projects had been halted as the state government had intervened on several occasions to approve projects that were vital or part of ongoing works, he said.

He added that the two projects that were passed recently included the construction of a factory for a media organisation.

“We want to speed things up because any kind pf problem related to approvals will eventually affect business and we are in the midst of making Selangor a state that is business-friendly,” he said.

Liu added that the list of councillors had already been finalised and handed over to Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, who would make the announcement soon.

Commenting on the same issue, senior state exco member Teresa Kok said the announcement on the councillors took time as there were many factors which required consideration such as the ratio of gender and race to ensure a balanced council.

“There were too many candidates and it was hard to make the final decision.

“Nevertheless, those appointed were chosen based on the ability to lead and serve the public,” said Kok.

'Selangor has no right to question Federal govt' - NST

SHAH ALAM: Jun 3, 2008

The Selangor government has no right to question the Tourism Ministry's decision to appoint a Barisan Nasional assemblyman as the State Tourism Action Council (STAC) chairman.

Selangor STAC chairman Datuk Subahan Kamal said the Federal government had the right to appoint whoever it wanted and make decisions on tourism matters without referring to the state government, as the council was under federal jurisdiction.

"The Selangor government must remember that the Federal government is under the BN.

"It can make any decision without referring to the state, if it doesn't concern them.

"Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said used her power as minister to appoint me as chairman.

"I consider the state government immature in questioning the appointment," he said when contacted in Jakarta on Saturday.

He was commenting on the dispute over his designation by the Federal government as Selangor's STAC chairman without consulting the state.

State Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment Committee chairman Elizabeth Wong, in a statement, earlier questioned the appointment and claimed that the Federal government practised discrimination against the state.

Subahan, who is also Taman Templer assemblyman, said like Pakatan Rakyat, the BN government would also use its discretion to designate someone with similar political ideologies to help ease administration matters.

Khalid ends 'direct negotiation' contracts

SHAH ALAM: Jun 3, 2008 By V. Shankar Ganesh

Direct negotiations for Bumiputera tenders in Selangor will be abolished with immediate effect so there will be no monopolies.

Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the decision was made because 98 per cent of contracts during the previous administration were given through direct negotiations to only a few selected companies.

"I noticed that previously, although contracts were given to different companies, the shareholders were the same people," he said after opening the annual general meeting of a group of Selangor Bumiputera entrepreneurs here yesterday.

Khalid said he was prepared to reveal the list of companies that had received government projects, but it may take time as there were certain procedures to be followed.

He, however, reassured contractors who had previously received many projects through direct negotiations that they would not be blacklisted.

"But this does not apply to those who failed to complete their projects in the given time."

Khalid said blacklisting all the companies was not a good idea but the government would study the value of the projects given to these companies.

Earlier in his speech, Khalid said he would not be using the so-called "all-powerful pen" to approve any projects or to give the green light to chose a particular contractor.

This "pen", said to belong to the menteri besar, refers to the act of the menteri besar putting his signature to documents, thereby asking his officers to approve it.

"Bumiputera contractors can no longer come to my office to get supporting letters for them to get projects. There is no need to see me as I have thrown away this 'pen'."

He said the state would continue to help Bumiputera contractors but they need to compete between themselves and the contractor with the best capabilities and experience would get the job.

Khalid said all executive councillors and high-ranking officers involved in policy-making could also make decisions on certain issues.

On another matter, the menteri besar said the state would appoint foreign experts to carry out a more detailed study to ensure the pig farm project in Sepang was carried out without negative impact to the environment.

He said he would be asking for help from foreign universities to undertake the study and the results, including the project's true cost, size, number of farmers and pigs, would be made public.

Three months on, Selangor councillors list still not finalised

The Star - June 3, 2008

THE Selangor government’s delay in finalising the list of councillors for the 12 local authorities in the state is causing unnecessary problems.

It has been almost three months since the general election yet the new list of 288 councillors for Selangor has yet to be finalised. StarMetro has learnt that all local authorities in Selangor were supposed to have conducted swearing-in ceremonies yesterday, but at the last minute, the state government called it off.

Legal mind: Fernandez is among those tipped for a spot.

“This is ridiculous. The councillors should have been sworn in at the end of April or May at the latest. We do not understand why the state government is delaying the announcement,” an officer in the Shah Alam City Council said on condition of anonymity.

Because of the delay, none of the local councils have held the monthly full board meetings, which are crucial for the day-to-day administration of the municipalities and city councils, the officer said, adding that even the standard committee meetings that require councillors, like finance, planning and infrastructure were not being held.

According to a state government official, the delay in the appointment of the councillors is due to the difficulty in coming to a mutual agreement on the allocation of seats between the Pakatan Rakyat members namely PKR, DAP and PAS.

“The appointment for those from the NGO and professional groups is straight-forward but for those from the political parties, it is quite problematic as three parties are still haggling on the number of councillors posts” the official said.

Among those who would be appointed as councillors are lawyers, NGO leaders, doctors, academics, journalists and retired government officials.

The official said lawyer Derek Fernandez, Malaysians Against the Discrimination of the Disabled coordinator Anthony Thanasayan and Independent Living and Training Centre secretary Gurdip Kaur are among those tipped to be appointed as local councillors.

“We need a diverse group of professionals and experts to lend their expertise to serve a society which demands not only prompt service from the local governments but also transparency and accountability for the use of ratepayers’ money,” the official said.

The list would also include ex-policemen, former magistrates and retired Anti-Corruption Agency officers.

The ratio of women serving in the councils would also be higher to reflect the Pakatan Rakyat government’s commitment to ensure women have an adequate say at the grassroots level.

Though the final list for the 288 local councillors to serve the 12 local authorities in Selangor is ready, last-minute lobbying, especially from politicians, has forced Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to delay the announcement.

More than 1,000 applications were received two months ago by the Selangor government to fill the posts.

SS2 Residents Association president Lim Theng Kau said the delay did not affect him but he was looking forward to the announcement.

Resident Jack Nadarajah said the new state government seemed to be taking a long time to announce the list of councillors.

“Though it is important to appoint the best, the state government should not delay naming the councillors as it may affect the overall running of the councils, “ said Nadarajah.

Yeoh helps out with traffic lights, licences

The Star - Jun 2, 2008

THE traffic lights near the junctions of SS19 Subang Jaya and USJ 12 have been re-timed in an effort to alleviate congestion along Persiaran Tujuan.

Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh said she had suggested the re-timing during a meeting with the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) several weeks ago.

“The council has done so and the re-timing was based on time and peak hours' needs,” Yeoh said.

“Previously, the timer did not take into consideration the hours when there were fewer cars or peak hours.


Good news: Wong holding up his licence that took him about a year to obtain.

“The congestion also happened because both sets of traffic lights were not properly synchronised,” she added.

Yeoh felt that traffic had improved following the re-timing.

“However, it is still not the best solution and we are working on it,” she said.

Yeoh was also glad to see that two traders at the morning market at GoodYear Court 2 in USJ 6 had finally received their licences.

Lee Chee Hin had begun applying for his licence two years ago while Wong Hin Fei put in his application a year ago. They claim they were given the run-around and told to resubmit their applications each time they checked on the status.

During this period, Lee and Wong received several summonses from MPSJ for trading without a licence.

After the matter was brought to Yeoh's attention, she intervened and the council granted the traders their licences last month.

“I wish to stress that my role is not to get licences for traders. I highlighted this case because traders should not need to wait for such a long period after applying for the licence,” said Yeoh.

“Licences should be granted within a month. If their applications are not approved, the council should inform the applicants and not make them wait and re-apply for the licence.”

She added that she only helped the traders when the local government system had failed them.

At present, the morning market has nine traders and that is the limit the place can take.

“The market is already full so the council will not be taking in any more applications,” Yeoh said.

She added that morning markets were important as there were people who liked to shop for groceries there.

MB: Water rebate in effect

PETALING JAYA: The Star Jun 2, 2008 By NG CHENG YEE

The 20 cubic metre water rebate for Selangor consumers is already “in effect” and this will be reflected in this month's water bill.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said as such, there was no doubt at all that the state government's pledge to consumers would be honoured, adding that Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) had already agreed to abide by the decision.

“When you get your water bill later in June, the rebate will be recorded at the bottom. There is no question (about its implementation),” he said after attending a dinner event at his Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary constituency yesterday.

Also present were Parti Keadilan Rakyat president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, her daughter Nurul Izzah, who is the Lembah Pantai MP, Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong and Batu MP Tian Chua.

Striding in: Khalid, Dr Wan Azizah and Nurul arriving at a dinner with Bandar Tun Razak constituencts in Kuala Lumpur Sunday night.

Khalid however reminded consumers of their obligation not to waste water.

On Federal Territory Gerakan chief Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong's post as co-chairman of Selangor’s special task force on land issues, the MB said Dr Tan had been invited to brief the state executive council next week on his plans.

He said the state exco and NGOs would recommend suitable candidates for the special task force, adding that not more than eight members would be picked.

On the appointment of professionals as local councillors, Khalid said he had their names and would announce it in two weeks.