Oil royalty to states stays at 5pc (NST)

2008/05/14

Dewan Rakyat: Oil royalty to states stays at 5pc

By : Reports by V. Vasudevan, B. Suresh Ram, Eileen Ng, R.S. Kamini, Ili Liyana Mokhtar and Joseph Sipalan

THE five per cent royalty going to Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu on oil and gas extracted by Petronas will not be reviewed.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Senator Datuk Amirsham A. Aziz, said financial considerations prevented the government from acceding to their requests for an increase in royalty.

This was because any increase in royalty to the states would eat into the 10 per cent royalty the government received from Petronas.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Alexander Nanta Linggi (BN-Kapit) on whether the federal government would look into increasing its royalty from 10 per cent to 20 per cent.

To another supplementary question from Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh), Amirsham said the formula involving royalty on oil and gas saw the government receiving 10 per cent, of which five per cent was given to the three states.

To the original question from Dr Wan Azizah, Amirsham said that between 2004 and last year, Petronas paid a total of RM26.839 billion in royalty to the federal government, Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu.

The Federal Government received RM13.4 billion, Terengganu (RM7.3 billion), Sabah (RM1.2 billion) and Sarawak (RM4.8 billion).

Amirsham said that based on current oil extraction methods, crude oil and oil condensates were expected to last 22 years while gas reserves would last 39 years.

"Even though there are many years for the reserve period (oil and gas) to expire, the fact is that the country also imports oil and gas to meet some local energy needs.

"Thus, the country is expected to be a net energy importer by 2014," Amirsham said.

To another question, Amirsham said oil production in Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak for the financial year ending March 31, last year, stood at 241.3 million barrels of crude oil.

Gas production was 2,081.4 billion square feet, he added.

He said crude oil and gas products exported by the subsidiaries of Petronas were sold at current world prices whereas the price for domestic sale of gas-based products for the electrical and non-electrical sector was fixed by the government.

Telecommunication Tower causes increased incidence of cancer to residents in Taman Subang Kelana Jaya???

A local research on the increase of cancer in area close to telecomunication tower - and the research shows that there seem to be a direct link with that tower.

We all know that high tension electrical cables are also dangerous - and previously there is nothing under such cables --- but now all these protection have been ignored. Look at the Petaling Jaya Amcorp Mall parking lot ---- and is that not one of them cancer-causing high tension cables..

The new PR governments must start to ACT to undo the wrongs done by the previous government, and they must investigate and do something about :-

a) That tower in Taman Subang in Kelana Jaya;
b) Also them other telecommunication towers and high tension cables ....close to populated places...



Pendedahan medan elektromagnetik

SM Mohamed Idris Wed | Apr 30, 08 | 5:06:58 pm MYT (Harakah)

Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP) memandang berat laporan akhbar baru-baru ini yang merujuk kepada kajian yang dilakukan oleh pensyarah Fakulti Perubatan UiTM, Profesor Madya Dr Adlina Suleiman. Kajian itu mendapati lebih daripada 8% penduduk yang ditemu bual di Taman Subang di Kelana Jaya didapati mengalami kanser. Menurut Dr Adlina, kebanyakan kes muncul selepas menara telekomunikasi didirikan di kawasan kediaman mereka 10 tahun lalu. Pada umumnya, sudah pun terdapat bukti global yang mencukupi menunjukkan kemungkinan kesan berbahaya kepada manusia terutama sekali kanak-kanak hasil daripada pendedahan kepada medan elektromagnetik (EMF). Ini sudah cukup bagi penggubal dasar supaya mengambil langkah mencegah untuk melindungi kesihatan manusia. Di beberapa negara, undang-undang mengawal kehadiran wayar penghantaran sumber lain radiasi bukan ion di kawasan kediaman dan kawasan lain yang mudah terjejas memandangkan kepada keprihatinan terhadap kesihatan. Pada Jun 2001, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), cawangan Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO), telah mengumumkan bahawa medan magnetik frekuensi rendah boleh menyebabkan kanser dalam kalangan manusia, berdasarkan kaitan yang didapati antara pendedahan EMF kediaman dan leukemia kanak-kanak dan dua jenis kanser kalangan orang dewasa. CAP menggesa Kementerian Kesihatan dan kementerian berkaitan yang lain supaya bertindak tanpa sebarang penangguhan lagi untuk menggubal undang-undang dan langkah lain bagi melindungi rakyat Malaysia daripada pendedahan kepada radiasi elektromagnetik daripada sumber seperti talian tenaga, sub-stesen, dan menara telekomunikasi. Ini termasuklah memindahkan menara telekomunikasi daripada kawasan yang terjejas dan tidak meluluskan pembinaan kawasan kediaman atau tempat kerja berdekatan talian penghantaran tenaga dan sumber lain EMF. Daripada menunggu bagi semua bukti saintifik diperolehi, tindak balas kerajaan perlu berdasarkan Prinsip Pencegahan yang antara lain menyatakan bahawa "apabila terdapat aktiviti yang menimbulkan bahaya kepada kesihatan manusia atau alam sekitar, langkah pencegahan perlu diambil malah jika hubungan kesan dan sebab tidak sepenuhnya wujud secara saintifik." - lanh Penulis adalah Presiden Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang

PRM: DESAK KERAJAAN SUPAYA SEGERA RAWAT P. UTHAYAKUMAR DI IJN

KENYATAAN MEDIA

PARTI RAKYAT MALAYSIA (PRM): DESAK KERAJAAN SUPAYA SEGERA RAWAT

P. UTHAYAKUMAR DI IJN

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) memandang berat keadaan kesihatan P. Uthayakumar, Penasihat Undang-Undang Hindraf yang kini ditahan di Kem Kamunting Perak di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA).

PRM dimaklumkan bahawa P. Uthayakumar kini mengalami masalah sakit jantung. PRM mendesak kerajaan khususnya Perdana Menteri, Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi supaya segera membawa Uthayakumar ke Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) di Kuala Lumpur agar beliau mendapat rawatan yang baik.

Tindakan peri kemanusiaan dari Perdana Menteri amat perlu saat ini kerana rayuan kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri agar Uthayakumar segera dirawat di IJN telah tidak dipedulikan oleh menteri berkenaan.

PRM akan meletakkan Kerajaan Barisan Nasional di bawah pimpinan Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi bertanggungjawab sepenuhnya sekiranya keadaan kesihatan P. Uthayakumar semakin teruk atau berlaku apa-apa yang tidak diingini ke atas tahanan ISA itu.

Dalam hubungan ini PRM sekali lagi menegaskan pendiriannya selama ini agar ISA dimansuhkan dan seterusnya merayu P. Uthayakumar dan lain-lain tahanan ISA dibebaskan tanpa syarat atau didakwa di Mahkamah terbuka.

Hassan bin Abdul Karim

Presiden PRM

12-5-2008

Alamat:

Bilik 6, Aras 2,
Wisma Qaryah, Jalan Pejabat,
82000 Pontian, Johor.
Tel: 07-6881839
H/P: 012-7931148
Email: hakarim2001@yahoo.com

Blog: http://hassankarim.blog.com

ISA detainee and Hindraf adviser P Uthayakumar has suffered a mild heart attack .....

ALIRAN MEDIA STATEMENT

SHOW YOUR HUMANITY, MR PM

It has been brought to Aliran's attention that ISA detainee and
Hindraf adviser P Uthayakumar has suffered a mild heart attack while
under detention in Kamunting.

We are further informed that Uthayakumar underwent an ECG test last
Monday at the Taiping Hospital and was told that it was necessary for
him to be referred to the National Heart Institute (IJN) for further
tests.

We understand that there was no follow-up to this recommendation and
that Uthayakumar had been sent back to Kamunting without any
indication whether he would be allowed further treatment at IJN.

What is disturbing is the fact that the anxious family's appeals to
the Prime Minister's office and to the Home Minister that he be sent
to IJN for treatment have been totally ignored. There was not even the
courtesy of a reply.

In matters concerning heart disease, things can easily go wrong and
can take a turn for the worse suddenly and unexpectedly. As a human
being, Uthayakumar should not be put to this unnecessary risk
especially when IJN is so far away from Taiping if something were to
happen to his heart in the middle of the night.

Aliran, on behalf of civil society, would like to appeal to the Prime
Minister to show that there is compassion and humanity in his
administration and act in a humane manner by instructing that
Uthayakumar be referred to IJN.

P Ramakrishnan
President
11 May 2008

RELEASE IMMEDIATELY THE "Three held under Emergency Ordinance"

The law states that a person arrested must be brought before a Magistrate within 24 hours...

Further detention for the reason of completing investigation is only if there is an order of the Magistrate

The maximum length of time that one person can be detained by the police after arrest is 14 days..

After that, the police must release the said person.

The person could, of course, be before the expiry of 14 days or any time thereafter be charged in court..

If a person claims trial, then he will be entitled to BAIL unless in very limited circumstances.

It is very wrong for the police to suddenly use some Detention Without Trial Law - like the Internal Security Act(ISA) or the Emergency Public Order and Prevention of Crime Ordinance (which is most likely the ordinance referred to in the news-report below) just like that to now keep a person detained for more than 14 days ..... i.e. for a maximum of 60 days under that emergency ordinance .....

I do not believe that the reason given , i.e. "to help with investigations into the April 9 robbery" is an reason why one can suddenly resort to this Detention Without Trial Ordinance.

The fundamental human rights of all PERSONS must at all time be respected .... it is not open to the police to arbitrarily just resort to the ISA and/or other Detention Without Trial Laws to keep persons detained for longer periods than permitted.

In Malaysia, it is 14 days - and this is already 'too long' compared with other jurisdictions.

I call for the immediate and unconditional release of these 3 suspects (remembering, of course that one is innocent until proven guilty)....

Saturday May 10, 2008 (Star Online)

Three held under Emergency Ordinance

SHAH ALAM: The three suspects in the RM3.5mil heist at the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang were detained yesterday under the Emergency Ordinance for 60 days to help with investigations into the April 9 robbery, Selangor Chief Police Officer Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said.

He said the suspects were moved from the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters to the Selangor police headquarters here.

The suspects were picked up in three operations in Johor, 10 days after the robbery.

In the three-minute heist at 7.50pm, four gunmen were involved in a shootout with the bodyguards of two moneychangers and an off-duty policeman, before escaping with a bag containing S$1.5mil (RM3.5mil).

The incident left the moneychangers, bodyguards, policeman and a Nepalese contract worker with gunshot wounds in the hands and legs.

During the arrest of the suspects, the police also recovered RM298,122, S$12,000 (RM28,030) and US$129,000 (RM412,482).

They also seized five 9mm semi-automatic pistols, 284 rounds of 9mm ammunition, five rounds of .22 ammunition, a smoke bomb, five pairs of handcuffs and two cars – a BMW 3 Series and a Honda Jazz.

The charred wreckage of a Nissan Murano and a BMW 5 Series, believed to have been used in the robbery, were found in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam. – Bernama

903,000 cases still pending in lower courts... Mediation might be answer

For the poor and/or small man, small company or business, the best means of justice is the courts and judges.....not some of the alternative means like mediation and/or arbitration. All othere methods, mediation included, do not have the safeguards needed to try and ensure that justice be done... What about the COSTS....yes the additional cost involved when it comes to arbitration and/or mediation --- yes, you do not just pay for your lawyers -- but also for the mediators/arbitrators and also for the other charges..... The solution to our problems is simple --- MORE COURTS...MORE JUDGES - and make sure they are judges with calibre, brains and driven by a desire for justice 903,000 cases still pending in lower courts... Mediation might be answer

Friday, 09 May 2008 , New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: Mediation may be the answer to the mounting backlog of civil cases in the lower courts nationwide. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said mediation was widely practised in the banking, insurance and medical sectors, and reduced the number of litigants turning up in courts. He said such practice was accepted in the United States and the United Kingdom as going to court to settle disputes was an expensive affair. "I believe many of the cases registered in the lower courts here could be disposed of through mediation. It is no more business as usual but business in a hurry because we have to resolve the matter in hand." However, he said parties to a dispute must agree to abide by the mediation exercise carried out by an independent party. Zaid said this measure must be looked into seriously because of the alarming number of pending cases in the lower courts. There are more than 900,000 unresolved cases in the lower courts alone. At the High Courts, the number of cases stands at more than 91,000. "Enough studies have been carried out by the government, the Bar Council and the Human Rights Commission on causes for the backlog. It is time we see results," he said, adding he has given himself six months to reduce the number of unresolved cases. "It is cause for concern because most of the cases involving the layman is in the lower courts." Zaid said criminal cases could not proceed mainly because chemists' reports were not ready, shortage of court staff and postponements. Zaid said he would be chairing a high-level implementation committee to execute specific plans to dispose of the cases in arrears. The committee would look into: - restructuring of all positions in the judicial department from the post of chief registrar of the Federal Court and below. - Increasing the number of judges in all courts. - Enhancing criminal investigations. - Upgrading the infrastructure in courts, including employing more support staff like court interpreters. - Improving case management. - Enlisting the assistance of the Bar Council to get lawyers to act as mediators to reduce the backlog of cases in the lower courts.

544 civil servants prosecuted for corruption between 2003 and 2007

2008/05/08 (NST)

544 civil servants prosecuted for corruption between 2003 and 2007

BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, THURS:

The Anti-Corruption Agency prosecuted 544 government officers and staff for various corruption offences from 2003 to 2007, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said 217 of these officers and staff were from the Royal Malaysia Police, 59 from the Education Department, 28 from the local authorities, 19 from the Welfare Department, 14 from the Islamic Affairs departments and councils and 12 from the Public Works Department.

Also prosecuted were 13 staff from the Road Transport Department, 12 from Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces, 11 from the district land offices, 11 from the Royal Customs Department and 148 from other departments.

The corruption offences they committed included 329 cases of accepting bribes, four cases of giving and offering bribes, 103 cases of submitting documents containing false information and 40 cases of abuse of position. One case was prosecuted under the Anti-Money Laundering Act and 67 cases under the Penal Code and other laws.

Open Letter To ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting from Migrants

Open Letter To ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting,

Grand Hyatt, Bangkok,

Thailand 6^th -7^th May, 2008

We, migrants from Burma, who currently live and work in Malaysia and Thailand, have recently met and discussed the situation of migrant workers. We work as construction workers, domestic workers, factory workers, fisherfolk, migrant health workers and plantation workers. We, the migrant workers of ASEAN, have contributed to the building of ASEAN communities but our voices are rarely heard. Today, on behalf of the millions of migrants from Burma in this region, we ask for ASEAN to listen and act upon our concerns.

We call for an immediate end to corporal punishment, including whipping, and all forms of torture and cruel and degrading treatment. Migrants are regularly suffering such inhumane treatment just for migrating for work within the ASEAN region.

We are particularly concerned that State sponsored bounty hunters such as RELA (Volunteer Peoples Corps) in Malaysia and community informers in Thailand (through the Employment Alien Act 2008) divide communities, incite hatred and violence and bring about other negative consequences. We also fear that such actions will have adverse effects on the security of the region. WE call for the immediate abolition of RELA and the repeal of the relevant article in the Employment Alien Act of Thailand.

Our experiences as migrants have clearly shown us that increased border controls and travel restrictions force migrants to rely on brokers, smugglers, and traffickers. In order to travel to our work sites we have to travel in highly dangerous conditions, as witnessed by our brothers and sisters who suffocated in a container truck in Ranong on April 10^th 2008. Therefore, we call for ASEAN to honour our inherent right to freedom of movement.

Migrants within ASEAN are living and working in sub-standard conditions. For the health, safety and well-being of all ASEAN communities, we call for national labour standards to be strictly enforced and for those standards to be upgraded to fully comply with international standards. ASEAN should also put into place mechanisms for the prompt response to workers concerns and complaints, especially for high-risk occupations which include construction work, fisherfolk, steel manufacturing and saw mills. In order for us to be able to make such complaints and to improve our working conditions, we call for the fundamental right of association due to all workers.

As a long neglected group of workers, we support domestic workers call to be recognized as workers throughout ASEAN and to receive equal protection and benefits as all workers. Particularly we call for immediate provision of one day paid leave a week for all domestic workers.

Since far too many migrant workers in ASEAN continue to suffer labour abuses in their workplace, we call for the right and access to timely legal redress for migrant workers. This must also include the right to live and work in the country of destination during legal procedures, for example during labour cases for non-payment of wages, unfair dismissal and breach of agreement.

We wish to remind ASEAN once more that we, who migrate to work are people not commodities. We are not only workers but people with the right to a whole range of services. It is unacceptable for the ASEAN caring community to deny new born babies birth certificates, to refuse migrant children education and to exclude migrants from national health care systems. Therefore we urge ASEAN to immediately implement policies which will redress these discriminatory practices.

Finally, everyone is entitled to national identity, but many ASEAN peoples’ rights to nationality has been denied, we abhor the governments which fail to acknowledge and protect their citizens.

Yours respectfully,

Migrant communities from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Johore, Kanchanburi, Kuala Lumpur, Mahachai, , Pahang, Phang Nga, Ranong, Samut Prakan ,Selangor, and Tak, ,

For further information please contact:

MAP Foundation aaa@mapfoundationcm.org, 66 53811202 or for English: 0860904118

Note that the Employment Alien Act of Thailand has a provision that "whistle-blowers" will be rewarded with 10% of the fine imposed on the said undocumented migrant and/or 'occupier".

In Malaysia, the RELA was also paid RM80/- per undocumented migrant.
( MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong claimed that the reward offered had made RELA volunteers desperate to nab as many illegals as possible. - Star, Monday January 23, 2006.....
see also article "RELA’S “CATCH A MIGRANT AND GET PAID FOR IT” POLICY MUST END" which can be found in this BLOG )

Lenggeng detainees in a state of tension

Lenggeng detainees in a state of tension

Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Apr 24, 08 2:15pm

Overcrowding in the Lenggeng immigration depot - scene of a riot last weekend - is causing the foreign detainees held there to be in a 'state of tension', said Suhakam commissioner N Sivasubramaniam today. At the time of the riot, the facility was bursting at its seams with 1,090 detainees from 14 countries and suffered from chronic disruptions of water supply - two to three times a month - each disruption lasting for up to three days. The human rights commissioner came to these preliminary findings following a visit to the detention centre this morning. The riot occurred last Sunday in which about 60 detainees reportedly tried to pull down the perimeter fence and afterwards torched an administration building. “Too many detainees, their accommodation, their food, management of these detainees, water supply. These are the root issues,” Siva told a press conference at the depot after the visit. Inexperienced personnel Citing newspaper reports, Siva conceded that a number of the 17 depots, including Lenggeng, were veritable 'time bombs'. On the dire lack of personnel to manage and guard the facility, Siva said out of a total of 208 positions that are supposed to be filled by Immigration Department personnel, only 40 posts have been taken. Of these, many of them were fresh from their recruitment interviews, he said. “They recently came from their (respective) villages or city homes and posted here, without enough training to manage certain situations (when they arise),” said Siva. While the detainees did indeed hold a hunger strike on April 3, Siva said Suhakam has yet to be presented with evidence of any physical abuse of the detainees by voluntary law enforcement corps Rela personnel who are guarding the depot. “There was a hunger strike, (but it was) generally because of their living conditions,” he said. “At this time, there is no evidence (of beatings). But if we can be given evidence, we will investigate,” he said. He also said there was no evidence to suggest any such beatings led to Sunday’s riot. “We don’t want to make assumptions about this case because it is currently being investigated by the police,” he added. (Siva later told Malaysiakini that Suhakam was “taking the claim (of assaults) seriously” and called for any parties with information on the matter to come forward.) He noted, however, that there was a lot of “suspicions” on the part of the detainees towards Rela personnel guarding the depot because the former felt the Rela guards were “the same people who caught them in the first place”. “Rela personnel are good intentioned when carrying out their tasks. It is the perception towards them (that needs to be redressed),” he said. Make drastic changes Since the riot, said Siva, the authorities have moved the male detainees to several other depots and this has alleviated the immediate stresses on the facility. The incident, nevertheless, accords the opportunity for all quarters responsible to come together to address the overall issues and problems that have plagued immigration depots, he said. “We can only overcome this situation by getting assistance and support from all parties involved. This is incident opportunity to make drastic changes,” said Siva. For this purpose, Suhakam hopes to have a roundtable discussion with representatives from the Home Ministry, Rela, Immigration Department as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Negeri Sembilan police had earlier suggested that among the reasons for Monday’s riot was that the detainees were angry at the authorities after their application for resettlement to a third country had been denied. Met after the press conference, depot commandant Abdul Aziz Mansur denied the detainees are violently treated by either Rela personnel or immigration officers.

Warrior mosquito plan under fire

Everyone knows the danger of releasing genetically modified beings into our environment - how could our government even come up with such an idea. Mother nature and our eco-system are very delicate... Warrior mosquito plan under fire

Apr 27, 08 5:40pm

Environmentalists have condemned a trial plan to deploy millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in Malaysia to fight dengue fever, a report said today. Malaysia has expressed concern about the insect-borne scourge after 25 people were killed in the first three months of the year. The New Sunday Times newspaper said the genetically modified (GM) male mosquitoes will be first freed in Pulau Ketam, a fishing village south of Kuala Lumpur, in an attempt to kill Aedes mosquitoes which spread dengue fever. Environmental groups, however, oppose the plan. "Like all GM organisations, once they have been released in the wild, how do you prevent them from interacting with other insects and produce mutants which may be worse than the Aedes mosquito," said Gurmit Singh, chairperson of the Center for Environment Technology and Development. Dengue is endemic to Malaysia, which has seen a rise of 16 percent in cases every year since 2003, according to the government. Fatalities from dengue in Malaysia reached record levels in 2004, when 102 people died. Lethal genes Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in the first three months of 2008, more than 9,800 cases of the mosquito-borne disease were reported, with 25 people killed. The field trials for the GM mosquitoes will be undertaken by the Malaysian health ministry and British-based Oxiter Ltd, an insect bio-tech company. The newspaper said lab trials conducted for the first time in the world during the past one year had produced success, and that field testing would begin by early next year. The technique involves releasing GM-made Aedes mosquitoes to mate with the female mosquitoes of the same type, it said. The lethal genes from the warrior mosquitoes cause the larvae to die. Only a female mosquito can transmit dengue fever because it has a proboscis that can pierce the skin. -AFP