Posted: 17 Aug 2011 09:45 PM PDT

Pua: GLCs must reveal contents of Nazri's Tajuddin letter
By Yow Hong Chieh August 17, 2011

Pua lambasted the failure by MAS and TM to divulge the contents of Nazri's letter. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — The government-linked companies (GLC) now suing Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli must disclose the contents of Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's letter to settle the cases, in the interest of transparency and corporate governance, DAP's Tony Pua said today.

The DAP publicity chief said there was no point confirming receipt of the de facto law minister's letter without providing details as shareholders and the public still did not have confirmation that the GLCs were told to drop their suits and seek an out-of-court settlement.

"Until today, we do not have confirmation of what exactly is in the letter. We have hearsay," he told reporters at DAP headquarters here today.

"It is ridiculous to say you received a letter but don't say what's in the letter. It's like I'm a company... and I announce that I got a contract but I don't tell you from who, I don't tell you the amount, I don't tell you how long the contract is and I don't tell you what the contract is about."

In separate filings made to Bursa Malaysia last night, Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS) and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) confirmed receiving a letter from Nazri instructing them to drop their suits against Tajuddin and to seek out-of-court settlements.

Neither, however, revealed the contents of the letter in question.

Pua also highlighted what he claims to be "unjustified" interference by state investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd in GLC operations after several of them issued near-identical statements on Bursa Malaysia last night in connection with their suits against Tajuddin.

Both MAS and TM announcements read: "However to date, MAS/TM has not received any proposal for settlement from TSDTR, and is not engaged in any negotiation with TSDTR in regard [sic] to an out of court settlement of the legal suits concerning MAS/TM.

"As a general rule, MAS/TM is always open to explore an amicable out of court settlement in any dispute it is involved in, provided the Board of Directors of MAS/TM are fully satisfied that based on proper legal advice, a settlement and the terms thereof are in the best interest of the Company and its stakeholders."

Khazanah has a 48.83 per cent stake in MAS following last week's share swap with AirAsia, and a 36.78 per cent stake in TM.

"Did Khazanah draft this announcement for them or is it the respective boards and management crafting their own announcements?" Pua said.

"It's a massive, uncalled for and probably unjustified interference by a major shareholder in the regular operation of these GLCs."

Read the full article in The Malaysian Insider here.

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 07:38 AM PDT

DAP tells Nazri to 'dream on' that it will join BN
By Debra Chong August 15, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — Senior DAP leaders today laughed off an offer from Barisan Nasional (BN) Cabinet member Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz for the opposition party to join the ruling coalition and swell its ranks.

Both party adviser Lim Kit Siang and national publicity chief Tony Pua rejected Nazri's offer made yesterday in an interview with Chinese daily Sin Chew Daily, saying the DAP would immediately be forced into a racial mould the instant it joined the powerful coalition, which went completely against the party's beliefs.

"Nazri can dream on. He needs to get his perspective correct. We are not a representative of the Chinese community. We represent the Malaysian community at large," Pua told The Malaysian Insider today.

De facto Law Minister Nazri had purportedly extended the invitation based on the BN's predecessor, the Alliance's, past record in winning the opposition Gerakan to its side after the latter party took Penang in the 1969 general election.

Gerakan was among a host of parties that joined the three original Alliance members — Umno, the MCA and MIC — to form the BN in 1973.

While he acknowledged that the DAP remained a Chinese-dominated party that appealed largely to one ethnic community, Pua stressed that "they are not a racial party".

"We do not subscribe to BN's divide-and-rule ideology," he said.

"Only a new politics and a new national compact, breaking completely away from the politics of 'divide and rule' along ethnic lines, subordination of public interests to private greed resulting in destruction of independent national institutions, rampant corruption and cronyism where privatisation has become piratisation and NEP an instrument to foster Umnoputras in the name of Bumiputeras, can save Malaysia," Lim said, elaborating on Pua's remark.

Read the full article in The Malaysian Insider here.

MRT: Chinatown Land Acquisition II

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 05:30 PM PDT

Traders and shop owners express their opposition to the proposed acquisition
of their properties for the MRT today. — Picture by Jack Ooi

Prasarana should stop making outrageous excuses to make unnecessary property acquisitions on the pretext of making way for the MRT in Chinatown.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd project development director Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff said last week that the land and buildings above the tunnel in Chinatown had to be acquired because "Section 44 of the National Land Code 1965 states that property owners not only have the right to the plot itself but also the air above and ground below."

At the meeting with the affected property owners on Thursday last week, Zulkifli said that SPNB had spent "three to four months" in talks with the Attorney-General's Chambers to see if it was possible to tunnel underneath existing properties without having to acquire them but was told it could not be done.

"We had months of discussion with the Attorney-General's Chambers on how we can have the tunnel underneath and the buildings remain... but under the current law, there is no such provision," he said.

The above "excuse" for the compulsory acquisition of land above the tunnel is complete and utter nonsense. Either Prasarana is trying to get away by telling tall tales, or the Attorney-General's Chambers does not know what laws have been passed in this country.

The National Land Code 1965 had been specifically amended in 1990 to allow for the acquisition of underground land without affecting surface property by inserting Part Five (A) (section 92A to 92G) under Clause 3. The amendment enables the disposal of "underground land", which can then either be alienated or leased or can be subject to the right of use.

In fact, when the Amendments were debated and passed in parliament on the 15 December 1989, the then Deputy Land Development Minister, Dato Haji Mohd Khalid bin Mohd Yunus had presented the bill and clarified that this was to enable the construction of underground car parks, underground railways and underground pipes and other conduits.

…Terdapat juga keadaan di mana kawasan-kawasan yang terhad yang berada di kawasan strategik, perlu dikekalkan sebagai kawasan lapang, padang permainan dan lain-lain kegunaan awam. Dalam keadaan sekarang tanah yang berada di bawah paras bumi tidak dapat dilupuskan secara berasingan. Dengan kemampuan teknologi yang ada pada masa ini, tanah di bawah permukaan bumi mungkin bloeh dimajukan bagi kegunaan yang tertentu, seperti tempat letak kereta, keretapi bawah tanah dan lain-lain.

…Pindaan kepada Kanun Tanah Negara pada kali ini timbulnya dari… Keperluan mengadakan peruntukan bagi membolehkan pelupusan tanah di bawah paras bumi bagi kegunaan yang berlainan daripada kegunaan tanah di permukaan bumi dan Kajian semula Akta Hakmilik Strata 1985… (Hansard 15 December 1989 pp 11320-11321)

Clearly then Prasarana is attempting to hijack the above pieces of land which affects the heritage shop lots in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown for the purposes of profit and not for the purposes of MRT construction works 100 feet underground. Such action for profit is clearly the use and abuse of the Land Acquisition Act 1960 in bad faith.

Given that it is possible for Prasarana to acquire the use of land underground without having to acquire property on the surface, it must now immediately withdraw its order to the affected landowners without causing any further inconvenience to them.

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