Why was a sum of RM150m approved for a bridge project with an estimated cost of RM100m to RM110m?

By Chong Chieng Jen

In the press statement issued by the Work’s Ministry on 11-2-2015, it claims that the ministry’s Value Management Lab had in June, 2011, estimated that the cost for building the Batang Samarahan bridge is between RM100 – 110 million.

Taking the statement as it is, it reveals some serious mal-practices at the highest level of the Works Ministry and/or the Finance Ministry, which smacks of corruption.

Chong Chieng Jen

Make good your pledges, Baru tells Muhyiddin

 "Common sense will tell us that it is because all the decisions and selections are made by bureaucrats and technocrats in Peninsular Malaysia who do not have the interests of Sarawak at heart. " 

KUCHING, Feb 13, 2015: Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chairman Baru Bian has told Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to make good his pledge to repair and rebuild dilapidated schools in Sarawak and Sabah, and not to wait for elections to be called.

"The allocation of RM1 billion pledged in February last year to repair and rebuild 600 dilapidated schools in two states appears to have just an empty talk," he said today.

Baru Bian

Switzerland to take Anwar conviction to UN Human Rights Council

 Swiss embassy in Kuala Lumpur reminds Malaysian authorities of the importance of the principles of the rule of law and fair trial

BERN, SWITZERLAND. Feb 13, 2015.-  Switzerland will address the conviction of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim at the next meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, a Swiss government spokesperson said today.

According to a statement by the Swiss Foreign Ministry obtained by the Bruno Manser Fund, the Swiss embassy in Kuala Lumpur reminded the Malaysian authorities that Switzerland lends importance to the respect of the principles of the rule of law and fair trial.

Sarawak PKR rejects "Lain Lain" proposal to classify Dayak

KUCHING, Feb 8, 2015: Sarawak PKR has rejected a proposal to amend the "Dan Lain Lain" box in official federal government form to "Bumiputera Iban" and  "Bumiputera Bidayuh" , among others.

"We demand that the anthropologically correct term of "Dayak" be used instead to classify aLL non-Muslim natives of Sarawak, including the Kedayan and the Melanau.

"For clarity, it should be KAUM DAYAK SUKU IBAN, or KAUM DAYAK SUKU LUN BAWANG, or KAUM DAYAK SUKU PENAN and so on," Sarawak PKR information chief Vernon Aji Kedit said in a statement today.

Re-delineation excercise: Court to decide Chee How's application for judical review on Feb 17

KUCHING, Feb 2.- High Court Judge Datuk Yew Jen Kie has fixed Feb 17 whether there are legal basis  in application for leave by the Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) for a judicial review of the re-delineation exercise of the Sarawak electoral boundaries.

She fixed the date after hearing arguments from Sarawak PKR vice chairman See Chee How, who is one of the two plaintiffs, and Senior Federal Counsels Shamsul Bolhassan and Azizan Md Arshad, both representing the Federal Attorney-General's Chambers while Senior State Legal Counsel Datuk Fong Joo Chong is holding a watching brief for the Sarawak Government and Sarawak State Legislative Assembly.

See Chee How speaking to reporters