From Dewan Rakyat 20 March 2007

shoot markiman shoot


Table FTA Document In Parliament For Debate - Backbencher
KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- A backbencher today called for the Malaysia-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) document to be tabled in Parliament to be debated.
Datuk Markiman Kobiran (BN-Hulu Langat) said the Government must explain to the people the contentious issues being negotiated in the FTA talks as many Malaysians are of the view that the pact would have a negative impact on the country.
He said the International Trade and Industry Ministry must explain the issues at stake through special columns in the newspapers and via information sessions on radio and television, he said when debating the motion on the royal address.
Markiman said the explanation was crucial as many Malaysians did not understand what the FTA was all about and how the negotiations are progressing.
He said the people's anxiety on the FTA stemmed from the failed negotiations in Mexico where the agreement purportedly favoured the US.
"The reality is Malaysia cannot avoid from signing a FTA with any country including the US as the world is heading towards a free market," he said.
Malaysia and the US have held five rounds of talks so far but negotiations have bogged down over 58 unresolved issues. No further rounds have been scheduled between the US and its 10th largest trading partner.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz insisted after last month's round that the talks would continue and that both sides were trying to resolve outstanding obstacles informally.
Markiman urged Rafidah to discuss the FTA with members of parliament.
"The FTA negotiations should not be concluded based on the thinking of a selective few but with the overall participation of Malaysians," he added.

tunku : datuk markiman kobiran is right, this issue should be an open debate at parliament. Not only the member of parliament should debate it but also the public at public forum organize by the government before the government come to an agreement on it. This is the future of our country, we can't let only certain people decide on it.history has proven that fta with usa is always favour them, so we have to take extra precaution.


before the hair do


Samy Vellu Explains Cause Of Delay In Building Alor Setar Hospital
KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- A period of up to one year to verify the strength of the foundation of the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar that was built on former soft padi-growing land was partly contributory to the overall delay in the construction of the facility, the Dewan Rakyat was told Tuesday.
"The padi land was soft and the foundation had to go down some 120 feet (36 metres). We needed up to one year to ensure that the foundation was really strong," said Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu when replying to a supplementary question from Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong).
Dr Tan had wanted to know the reason for the delay in the construction of several projects of the Works Ministry, including the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital.
Samy Vellu said the construction was also delayed by several additions that had to be made to the hospital building because the safety level had to be taken into account at each step of the construction.
"At first, the construction went on as per the time specified in the contract but subsequently there was a request from higher authorities for a hospital such as the National Heart Institute (IJN).
"As such, the (Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital) had to be incorporated with the (IJN type) building. After that, we had to build the Royal Ward. Various additions were made and each addition required additional time," he said.
Construction of the RM500 million hospital began in August 2000 and it was scheduled to be ready in 2003 but was only handed over to the Health Ministry on March 15 this year. It is expected to be fully operational in six months.
Samy Vellu, who was seen to be annoyed by the question, said: "The period for the additional work had not been accounted for; only that for the original contract. In the end, we shoot (down) the Public Works Department (JKR)."
In replying to Dr Tan's original question, Samy Vellu said discussions had been held between the contractor and JKR to claim payment for repair work to the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) in Kepong.
"We are making a claim from the original contractor of the MRR2 because we undertook the repair work by using government funds. If we had waited for payment from the contractor, the repairs cannot be made even in the next three years," he said.
Samy Vellu said his ministry would take at least three months to analyse every segment to determine the total claim that the government could make on the contractor.
A 1.7km section of the MRR2 flyover in Kepong was closed to traffic on Aug 8 2004 after cracks appeared on 31 pillars. The road was reopened to light vehicles on Nov 12 2004 and to all vehicles on Dec 7 2004 following the repairs.
However, the road was again closed in February last year for repairs and four lanes of the six-lane flyover were reopened to light vehicles late last year.

tunku : dear samy, the contractors should had studied thoroughly before the construction so do JKR and Health Ministry. These happens when there's no good coordination plus direct nego projects.Anyway its too late for that, hope the government will be more transparent in awarding contracts and study each project thoroughly.


Issue About Govt Not Fulfilling Its Promise Just Political Talk
Claims by the opposition that the government has not fulfilled its promises and that the people have lost faith in it are baseless and are mere political talk, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said today.
He said the opposition had been making such accusations all this while because it had run out of ammunition to find fault with the government.
"It's better for the opposition to concentrate on the national building agenda and work as hard as the government to enrich the country," he said in reply to Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) during question-and-answer in the Dewan Rakyat.
Kit Siang had wanted to know the progress in the government's promises to bring about change in the past 40 months and how it could restore the confidence of the people who were disappointed with its failure to keep the promises.
Nazri said the people's faith in the leaders had never been shaken and this could be gauged from the support given in the Batu Talam by-election early this year.
To a supplementary question from Lim, Nazri said it was already a practice in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government for every minister to have certain responsibilities to answer questions raised at every sitting of the Dewan Rakyat.
"The prime minister has placed his belief in me to answer this question...it does not mean that if he is not present to answer questions he has done a David Copperfield (disappearing act).
"Look at his diary. The prime minister has many other programmes. In our system, we have certain ministers responsible for answering questions," he said.
Nazri also said that to achieve the Vision 2020 objective to become a developed nation by 2020, the government had drafted and implemented the National Mission as announced in the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
The National Mission comprised five main thrusts -- increasing value-added in the nations' economy, enhancing knowledge capability, creativity and innovation besides nurturing a first-class mentality, tackling differences in the socio-economy constructively and productively, improving the quality of life and strengthening institutional capability and implementation.
Various efforts had been made to achieve these five main thrusts and strengthen measures to enhance integrity in the country, Nazri added.

tunku : is that so nazri, the claims are baseless, its not only the oppositions but umno members too like me.nowadays we don't need ammunition to hit the leadership, it's so obvious.The present leadership talks more than working.Ask any layman or small businessman everyone is complaining of the current economic.Nazri don't have to listen to oppositions but listen to the public.we know that oppositions no matter what they will always accuse the government, but the public can't be lying too.well done mr cleaner.