Charles Santiago

---

Water concession ruling: Roadshow in the works Posted: 06 Jul 2010 09:18 PM PDT Pakatan Rakyat and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) will take their case for the public release of the water concession agreement to the people. Klang parliamentarian Charles Santiago (right) said that they will be organising a nationwide roadshow in two weeks to educate the public on the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s ruling ordering the government to disclose the contents of the audit report and water concession agreement entered between the federal government, the Selangor government and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas). The initiative of the parliamentarians and the trade union is to be held despite the stay order granted to the federal government and the Energy, Water and Green Technology Ministry, pending an appeal. Citing the judgment by Judicial Commissioner Hadhariah Syed Ismail on June 28, Santiago said that the landmark decision had clearly pointed out that the declassification of the documents was “not detrimental to national security or public interest”. “In that sense, it can no longer be treated as a confidential document because there are other major issues to be dealt with… the disclosure of the document will serve the public interest in keeping them informed on the working of the government as well as promote discussion of public affairs. “It is also counter to the principles of good governance, accountability and transparency and (that) the interests of the rakyat should come first,” said Santiago, quoting Hadhariah in her judgment. Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby, he said that it was unfortunate that the government had appealed against the decision and the stay order was granted. “They now have eight weeks to file (the appeal)… but the disclosure of the audit report is not detrimental,” he said. Copies of judgment to be translated Meanwhile, MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said the judgment will be translated into all major languages. “We will translate the document into Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia and Tamil, if possible. We will do it soon and distribute copies to the people so they will know what the court had decided,” said Syed Shahir (right). He argued that the concession agreement and the audit report are not confidential but just another “business agreement”. “No reason for them to hide. It’s a business agreement and it should not have been classified,” he said. “We will campaign (nationwide) on the importance of freedom of information,” Syed Shahir said. “We will also have a big gathering in Petaling Jaya where different people will address the water agreement issue and the audit report as well as to push for freedom of information,” Santiago added.

You are subscribed to email updates from Charles Santiago To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610