Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by kevinwawa

GE14 may use old boundaries

kevinwawa — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 14:33:19 +0800

Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Hashim Abdullah has not discounted the possibility of using the existing electoral boundaries for the coming general election (GE14) in view of the ongoing court cases over the redelineation of electoral boundaries.

“If we are not able to complete the process due to the various court cases, we shall have to use the old electoral boundaries,” Mohd Hashim said.

He said the EC could not adopt the new redelineated boundaries in States of Malaya without Selangor and Melaka.

On March 8, the EC issued and gazetted its second round of proposals for the review of electoral boundaries, but excluded Selangor from these recommendations because of the Selangor state government’s court challenge of its first round of proposals.

In Melaka, seven voters on April 4 sued for a declaration that the EC’s second round of proposal was unconstitutional and invalid for five reasons, including the omission of Selangor and the use of an allegedly ‘defective’ electoral roll which has no addresses of 44,190 Melaka voters. They successfully obtained a stay order stopping local inquiries from going on in Melaka.

When asked whether the EC is ready to implement the automatic voter registration system, Mohd Hashim said the commission did not want to be blamed for problems arising from changes relating to voter registration.

He said online registration of voters is not reliable.

“There are loopholes in online registration. If implemented, there will be new arguments about the government controlling the system et cetera,” Mohd Hashim said.

He believed both exercises would not be implemented in the country in the near future.

penangian charge with corruption lagiiiiiiii

kevinwawa — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 13:56:48 +0800

GEORGE TOWN: A chief operating officer claimed trial in the Sessions Court here to allegedly accepting RM70,000 in bribes from a company, two years ago.

Rapid Penang COO Mohd Shukri Abdul Rahman, 54, allegedly received the bribe from Jayonik MSC Sdn Bhd through a Maybank account belonging to Nor Jasmin Mustafa as an inducement to issue a letter awarding the company a project worth RM8.4mil.

He is accused of committing the offence at Maybank, Times Square branch at Lot 77-G-13, 14, 15 and 16, Penang Times Square here, on April 20, 2015.

The charge under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 carries upon conviction, a jail term not exceeding 20 years, and a fine of not less than five times the amount, or value of the bribe.

On Thursday, Judge Norsalha Hamzah set RM50,000 as bail with one surety and Aug 16 for re-mention.

DPP Ahmad Ghazali Muhamad Nadzri prosecuted while counsel Datuk Shukri Mohamad represented the accused. - Bernama

water cutting in penang lagiiiiiiiiiiiii

kevinwawa — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 12:18:44 +0800

RESIDENTS in three areas in north Seberang Prai are advised to store water from 10pm this Saturday until 10am the next day due to a scheduled water supply cut.

Penang Water Supply Corpo-ration chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa said the corporation would be replacing a leaking 30-year-old pipe joint at the Sungai Dua water treatment plant.

“The affected areas are Taman Desa Murni, Taman Seri Murni and Persiaran Murni.

“The joint replacement work will stop water losses and prevent unscheduled water supply cuts,” he said in a statement on Monday.

Jaseni said the 12-hour water cut would affect about 9,200 consumers.

“The work to replace the 825mm pipe joint requires the temporary shutdown of a 1,200mm mild steel pipeline that delivers treated water from the water treatment plant.

“The joint replacement work will be conducted overnight and during a weekend to minimise inconvenience to consumers.

“The joint needs to be replaced urgently as it is already leaking.

“We regret any inconvenience caused,” he said.

selangor government demolish buidling againnnnnnnn

kevinwawa — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 15:22:25 +0800

THE Selangor state government has given Selayang MCA two weeks to move out of the disputed Kampung Datuk Lee Kim Sai hall in Rawang that houses the latter’s branch office for 40 years.

Rawang assemblyman Gan Pei Nei said they had been given ample time to look for alternate venue.

“The Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) has served them with notices to move out snice 2015. So they can not say that they did not know about it,” she said during a press conference.

Responding to Selayang MCA chairman Datuk Goh Ah Ling’s suggestion that they be compensated with another piece of land, Gan said their demand had no legal basis.

“The land on which the hall is built belongs to the state and has been gazetted by the Gombak Land Office for public use as a community hall in 2012.

“This is a clear-cut case and they must move out,” she said.

The hall, built in 1982, recently came under the spotlight when it was announced that it would be demolished and a new one-and-a-half-storey hall would be built.

The ownership of the community hall fell came into the spotlight after MPS served notice to the MCA to remove its signboard on Oct 5 last year.

Goh, in previous reports, stated that the hall was built with money raised from MCA members in 1978.

He also proposed that the new hall should be managed by the Kampung Datuk Lee Kim Sai JKKKP as the hall belongs to MCA.

loas

kevinwawa — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 15:13:56 +0800

loas recommended for holiday?
any suggestion?

peanag lian lagiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii jual tanah

kevinwawa — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 10:55:53 +0800

GEORGE TOWN: Residents of Kampung Mutiara near Batu Ferringhi and supporters came out to protest the demolition of the village, scheduled to take place today (Monday).

The small road leading to the village was blocked with tree logs, concrete pillars and a few vehicles, including a four-wheel drive and a multi-purpose vehicle.

A banner which read "the traditional village will be lost and Kampung Mutiara residents will be chased out by the landowner" was placed across the logs.

Aside from the villagers, Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari, Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim and the Penang Chief Minister's information officer Major Zaidi Ahmad were at the site.

The Kampung Mutiara villagers obtained a temporary reprieve on Dec 29 when the demolition exercise was postponed for a month after a discussion with the police and a court registrar.

It was reported that the landowner, Peter Loke, had bought the 1.4ha plot in 1991 at a court auction for an undisclosed price and launched legal proceedings to seek vacant possession in 2007.

There are between 40 and 60 homes on the land.

The villagers said they have lived there for almost 30 years. They are also asking the developer to build new houses for them as compensation.

Three more flyovers for KK, Sabah

kevinwawa — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 10:44:36 +0800

Kota Kinabalu: Another three flyovers are set to be constructed this time along the Lintas-Lido-Hotel No 5 stretch.
In Lintas it will be two U-shaped flyovers, the first being near Hilltop Prudential building and the other at Taman Milik.

Those taking the Hilltop Prudential building flyover can go straight to Kepayan, Penampang, the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, and Putatan as well as Papar.

Those from Tuaran, Kolombong, Hilltop and Taman Jindo who wish to go to Lintas Plaza and Lintas Square need to go through the Taman Milik U-shaped flyover.

The flyover will stretch from Lintas Plaza to the Prudential building and Lido, with motorists also able to make a U-turn at Taman Milik to head to Lintas, Foh Sang, Kolombong or Bukit Padang.

The second flyover is from Lido, going down to the F3 furniture building and from Venetian Club go up the flyover at Hotel No 5 straight to the airport.

Those coming from the airport can go through the same flyover before heading towards the Jalan Kolam flyover towards the direction of Kolombong and Tuaran.

The stretch which is expected to be completed by June 2020 will also help ease traffic at the Jalan Lintas-Kolombong stretch which is notorious for congestion, especially during peak hours.

There will also be no more traffic lights in the Lintas area once the flyovers are completed.

This will be the sixth flyover to be constructed in the State capital, the other five being at Karamunsing, Jalan Nenas, Warisan, Lintas-Bukit Padang, Mile 5 1/2 and near the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

Sabah needs new airport

kevinwawa — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 09:27:03 +0800

SABAH must build a new international airport before congestion becomes a serious problem at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Sabah chairman Ramli Amir said today.

“Beyond this (KKIA), we have to start operating from a new site,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“Sabah’s usual passenger arrivals do not register a double digit growth, it was actually accelerated by the arrivals of visitors via chartered flights, from China,” he said, adding that in 2016, Sabah recorded more than 250 chartered flights as opposed to only 20 in 2010.

KKIA is positioned to tap into a market of 139.4 million potential visitors within a three- to six-hour flight radius. On top of this, another 34.5 million international visitors pass through major aviation hubs like Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.

The 10-year-old KKIA, built at a cost of RM1.4 billion has the capacity to handle 9 million passengers a year. Last year, KKIA received 7.2 million passengers, 3.4 million of which were tourists.

“It will take at least two to three years for the Sabah government to find suitable land and another three years to build the airport, so it would be on time for operation by 2025,” he said, adding that there was not much room for KKIA to expand, given its proximity to the coastline.

The Malaysia Aviation Commission (Mavcom) also noted that Kota Kinabalu needed a larger airport because 13 million passengers a year were expected to pass through KKIA by 2021.

The airport would only be able to cater for to 12 million passengers without major construction but would be able to take in 21 million passengers a year if an additional building was constructed on the available land next to the terminal.

There was a proposal to relocate the KKIA to KImanis in 2006, but the government finally decided it was more economical to extend the present airport.

“There have also been suggestions that the new airport would be relocated to Tuaran. Even though they are just rumours, the state still needs to find a suitable land to build the new airport,” said Ramli.

Dr M: RoS okay with Pakatan constitution

kevinwawa — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 14:23:05 +0800

PUTRAJAYA: The Registrar of Societies (RoS) has no immediate problem with Pakatan Harapan’s constitution but has suggested modifications to its logo, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“So far, there is no problem in terms of our constitution and the RoS will study it and give its response, but it did make a bit of suggestion on the logo,” the Opposition coalition chairman said on Friday.

The coalition already had an updated logo in mind, and it would take about two days to redesign, Dr Mahathir said after submitting the forms and coalition constitution to the RoS headquarters here.

Pakatan Harapan submitted an online registration application last week, but its leaders came in person to Putrajaya on Friday to formally hand in the papers and discuss the RoS’ suggestions in response to the online application.

A successful registration would allow Pakatan Harapan to contest the next general election as an alliance.

Dr Mahathir, also the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman, said that while Pakatan Harapan had listed its leadership committee positions in the constitution it submitted to the RoS, no names were included with the positions as this was not a requirement.

This means that while PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's name is not included, his position as Pakatan Harapan de facto leader remains in the constitution.

“The issue of personalities does not arise. When we submitted our constitution, we did not list the names of who holds what positions, we only put in the positions themselves,” Dr Mahathir said when asked about the position of de facto leader or ketua umum.

Anwar is barred from holding any position as he is currently serving a jail term for sodomy.

“For now there is no objection from the RoS and we hope it will approve our application,” Dr Mahathir said.

MACC investigating kuching hotel

kevinwawa — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 16:58:10 +0800

PETALING JAYA: A four-star hotel in Kuching bought by Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FIC) is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Sources said the MACC is probing the purchase, which is said to be much higher than the actual market price.

"This is based on a follow-up and information obtained in relation to the ongoing high-end property purchase in Kensington, London, between 2013 and 2015, said a source.

The source added that the purchase of the property in Kuching led to losses of hundreds of millions of ringgit for FIC, Felda's investment arm.

MACC director of investigations Datuk Simi Abdul Ghani confirmed that anti-graft officers were looking into the matter.

The London property comprised 62 units of guest rooms and two units of three-bedroom serviced apartments.

It is learnt that FIC overpaid the purchase by at least £20mil (RM110mil).

FIC was established in 2013, with a focus on real estate, hospitality and oil and gas sectors.

Ipohian need to clean up and wake up

kevinwawa — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 09:21:29 +0800

IPOH was a very clean and orderly town in the mid 1980s when it was a municipal council. But mysteriously the state of this well-known town deteriorated soon after attaining city status.

There are endless complaints of rubbish dumps, clogged drains, irregular refuse collection and poorly maintained infrastructure.

These problems arose when the Ipoh City Council had ambitious plans to transform the image from a dull town into a colourful, vibrant and virtual city, which I think failed.

Remember the plastic coconut trees?

Over the past two decades, the City Council has had this obsession to regain Ipoh’s title as the cleanest city in Malaysia.

However, when it failed to achieve that, it blamed the residents for their lack of co-operation and civic mindedness.

Councillors are aware of the City Council’s weaknesses in essential services and know they are responsible for the sad state of this city. Instead of persuading the City Council to improve services, they organise more gotong royong events.

Is the maintenance of cleanliness the responsibility of the residents? Residents have paid for these services and it is the responsibility of City Council to carry them out efficiently.

Pedestrians are also slowly deprived of their right to obstruction-free five-foot ways.

Motorcycles parked on five-foot ways are a common sight and a nuisance, but action is seldom taken.

The state of cleanliness is reaching a critical stage and the City Council must plan a major spring cleaning of the whole city soon.

why penang no want keluar malaysia

kevinwawa — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 08:20:56 +0800

orang pening suka suka complain
complain people cuz jam their place
curse other state increase their food and house price
no like malaysia
y no penis?

1.5 lane road

kevinwawa — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 14:04:31 +0800

i dont understand y penanag government build road half half
they build 1.5 lane road
is the 0.5 can use or not use?

I didn’t know was voluntary

kevinwawa — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 11:58:17 +0800

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (pic) said Penang did not know that the signing of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s corruption-free pledge had to be done voluntarily.

“I will need to discuss the matter with the state exco on Friday as the situation is out of the ordinary.

“Usually in any matter involving governmental process, we would be contacted. It is rare for us not to be contacted,” he told a press conference after the investiture ceremony at Dewan Sri Pinang yesterday.

Lim was responding to the comment by MACC chief commissioner Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad, who said there was no need for Penang to be “invited” to sign the pledge as other states had signed up voluntarily and so had the police.

On July 15, Dzulkifli said the Penang government’s CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) slogan would mean nothing if it still resisted signing the pledge.

It was reported that Opposition-led [/B]Penang and Selangor are the only states that have not signed the pledge[B], as even PAS-led Kelantan is expected to sign it soon.

selangorian want tourism tax

kevinwawa — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 11:30:03 +0800

THE state government wants the proceeds of tourism tax collected from hotels by the Customs Department to be channelled back to Selangor for the development of its tourism sector.

Selangor Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs committee chairman Elizabeth Wong said RM654mil was expected to be collected in a year from 29 hotels of four- and five-star ratings in the state.

“There are 7,121 rooms available in the four- and five-star hotels combined. If you do a rough calculation, if each room is charged RM20 tax, and with 70% occupancy a day, RM99,694 will be collected a month.

“We do not know how the money will be spent but we hope a proper system to manage the collection is set up,” she said.

Wong said the collected funds should be used to build and improve infrastructure for the local tourism and that it should be a transparent process to enable the public and tourism industry to see how much revenue was collected and how it was spent.

She said the Tourism Ministry did not provide any new information on the implementation of the tourism tax and the Customs Department too did not inform on agencies that would manage the collection.

Wong said the state government did not agree with the implementation of the tourism tax claiming that it brought a negative impact.

“The tax is introduced in the country when the tourism industry is improving and inflation is rising.

“It will slow down the economy and will affect the people’s income especially those in the small and medium industries that contribute to the tourism industry.”

She added that the implementation would also increase the cost of stay and travel expenses among others, affect the sale of hotel rooms and tourists’ visit to the state, especially local travellers

MRT to expand to other cities

kevinwawa — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 11:02:08 +0800

JOHOR BARU: The Government is looking at introducing the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in other parts of the country, depending on the needs and viability of respective cities.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said if there was such a need for it in Johor Bharu, Pekan, Kuantan, Alor Star, for instance, then the MRT could be built here since railways were the future of transportation in the country.

“We are carrying out a transformation plan for the rail system, which is quite extensive.

“The Government wants to link all cities in the country by train to make sure our economy is able to grow at a fast pace, which is possible when we have a system that can transport people as well as goods,” he said.

This was also the main reason the Government was pushing for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) and East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), he added.

It was reported earlier that tram services were being considered here as part of the city centre transformation project to rejuvenate and rehabilitate Johor Bharu.

The tram services could be part of the integrated public transportation services in south Johor, including the Rapid Transit Bus and Rapid Transit System linking Johor Baru and Singapore, according to the Iskandar Regional Development Authority.

KLian fed up with no water, traffic

kevinwawa — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 10:54:03 +0800

TRAFFIC congestion, intermittent electricity and water supply disruptions, and safety issues are among the problems faced by residents and business owners of Hulu Langat since the Langat Centralised Sewage Treatment Plant project began last year.

Fed up with the recurring problems, they held a protest to voice their displeasure.

Taman Impian Ehsan, Seri Kembangan resident Shairi Mokhtar said water disruptions in his neighbourhood occurred two to three times a month.

“It would happen suddenly. It also occurred during the Hari Raya festive period,” he said.

“Within two months, there have been 12 cases of burst pipes near one of the project sites.

“Contractors dug up holes and just left them there, without putting up any warning signs, making it dangerous for motorists.

“There was no notification when they closed the roads and we had to reroute our journey,” he said.

“There was no proper traffic planning before the project started, and not enough flagmen and warning signs.

“The project has also damaged roads and the repair work was below par.

“It has also led to cracks and damages to building structures near the sites,” he said.

“Like in Jalan Tun Perak, (Cheras) the holes were dug up for the fourth time, three lanes became two (due to lane closure) and this has caused congestion.

“Problems keep recurring and we cannot tolerate it anymore,” he said.

driving attitude of penang

kevinwawa — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 13:50:02 +0800

y driving in penang is terrible?
cuz small road or they want fast?

pattaya

kevinwawa — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 13:51:10 +0800

is this good holiday destination?
or chiang mai?

federal widen penang road

kevinwawa — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 09:10:00 +0800

MOTORISTS can expect a smoother ride from Bayan Lepas to Teluk Kumbar by the end of the year when the road upgrading project between the two places is completed.

Project manager Che Iskandar Che Din said the RM207mil project, which includes the widening of a 3km stretch from Bayan Lepas to Teluk Kumbar, was expected to be fully completed and opened in December.

It also involves the construction of a 750m-long flyover connecting Jalan Bayan Lepas to Jalan Teluk Kumbar and an elevated U-turn along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah in Sungai Tiram.

He said the federal project began in February 2014 and was originally scheduled to be completed in August last year.

“Unfortunately due to unexpected circumstances involving underground piping and cable wirings from nearby industrial and residential structures, we extended the completion date twice.

“We are positive the project will be completed at the end of this year,” he said during a site visit by Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin yesterday.

Sim said the upgraded road would shorten the journey time for many people.

He thanked locals for their patience and co-operation during the on-going works for the project.

Resident engineer Zamri Yusuf said the project required the demolition of some buildings and infrastructure in its early stage.

These included the old Bayan Lepas police station, south-west district health office’s vector control unit and Bayan Lepas Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK) hall.

Zamri said temporary buildings were constructed for the station, hall and vector control unit.

“We have begun constructing the new buildings for them at or near their previous locations” he added.