Baru asks Masing: Who's using populist policies?

Kuching, March 22, 2012: PRS president Tan Sri Dr James Masing should look at his own BN government before accusing the Opposition of using populist policies to win support from the people.

“He should take a good look at what his government is doing, with all sorts of schemes to make themselves popular again under the so-called 1Malaysia this and that,” Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian said at a press conference today.

“In fact, opposition-run states have shown that by their prudent management, they have managed to decrease their state debt levels,” he said.

Baru said Penang managed to reduce (its) state debt from RM630 million in March 8, 2008 to only RM30 million as at end of October 2011, representing a debt reduction of 95 per cent, or RM600 million, which is the highest debt reduction of any state in Malaysia’s history.

Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri  Khalid Ibrahim has led Selangor to post the largest state budget surplus in the state’s history.

He added by the end of 2010, the reserves stood at RM918 million, and increased state revenue by RM200 million in under six months.

“The Ministry of International Trade and Industry released figures recently that showed the federal opposition-controlled states of Penang and Selangor had recorded the highest levels of approved manufacturing investment in 2011, at RM9.1 billion and RM8.74 billion respectively.

“It is all about good governance and fiscal management – investors have confidence in the opposition held state governments and are willing to invest.

“But Sarawak, with half million with no electricity, poverty level increasing and with only 25% of labour force has any form of post secondary education.

“The revenues from oil and gas  is  being taken out of the state and we arel one of the poorest states in Malaysia,” he added, calling on the people to change the BN government with Pakatan Rakyat.

Baru said the national debt is currently at 53% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which the deputy finance minister claimed is something not to worry as the country still has 2% buffer.

He said the Loan Act 1959 and Government Funding Act 1983 state that the public debt ratio must not exceed 55% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He said Malaysia has been operating on deficit budgets for the past 13 years, with the national debt reported as RM146 billion in 2002, RM217 billion in 2004, RM242 billion in 2006, RM326 in 2009, RM407.1 billion in 2010 and RM455.75 billion in 2011

He said in 2010, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala predicted that Malaysia would be bankrupt by 2019 if the government did not reduce its subsidies and the high national debt.

“The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) distinguished fellow Mohd Ariff Abdul Kareem has warned that federal government revenue was growing too slowly to keep up with its borrowings which hit 53.1 per cent of GDP in 2010.

“ Mohd Ariff  said Malaysia’s national debt will hit 100 per cent of the GDP by 2019 should Putrajaya continue to borrow more than it earns.

“But yet the Govt continues with its 1M populist schemes this election year – RM100 for school students, RM200 for tertiary students, RM500 for the lower income families  and so on.

“Where is the money coming from to fund these giveaways?” Baru asked.

Ends

PRS doesnt believe in BN-controlled media organisations?

Kuching,March 22, 2012: Are the Barisan Nasional-controlled media organisations, like TV3, RTM, New Straits Times, New Sarawak Tribune and the Borneo Post so ineffective to spread Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) propaganda that it has to set up its new media unit?

"That's the assumption I get," Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian said at a press today.

He wascommenting on the setting up of PRS new media unit launched by PRS president Tan Sri Dr James Masing yesterday.

Baru, the state assemblyman for Ba'Kelalan, said the people are more concerned with truths and that is why they prefer to read blogs and news portal instead of the traditional media.

He said it is yet to be known whether PRS new media unit is capable of telling the truths.

"I am very confident that the people are very intelligent and well-informed of issues which PRS may want to raise in its new media unit," he said.

Baru suspected that the setting up of the new media unit has someting to do with series of allegations of corruption and abuse of power against PRS leaders as reported by Sarawak Report.

Baru said a lot of bloggers have been writing juicy news about the BN and its leaders, but stressed that it has nothing to do with the Opposition parties.

"The opposition has nothing to do with these blogs, which are created by people who believe that the BN government has committed corruption and abuse of power," he said.

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This is the story in the Borneo Post on the launching of the PRS New Media Unit by Masing yesterday.

KUCHING: PRS is banking on its cyber-troopers to help the party defend its six parliamentary seats in the coming 13th general election.

Party president Tan Sri Dr James Masing said the state BN was determined not to repeat the mistake of underestimating the impact of social media in shaping public opinion.

Masing acknowledged that during the 12th general election in 2008, BN was “caught with our pants down” in terms of cyber-warfare.

“For the next two to three months before the election, Unit Media Baru (UMB) will grow in importance,” Masing told reporters yesterday during a ceremony to hand over five Blackberry phones to Majang Renggi, chairman of PRS’s UMB.

Masing, who is also Land Development Minister, noted the social media was growing more and more important by the day when compared to mainstream media in terms of readership.

Because of this, he said the party realised that shaping the people’s minds lie in cyberspace.

“I trust that my boys are very, very capable. Some of them have been trained by Malaysia’s best bloggers.”

Masing said social media had played a significantly role in BN losing five states and its two-thirds majority in Parliament during the 2008 polls.

On UMB, he said it had been entrusted with the task of countering allegations and slanderous statements against BN in cyberspace and to give the general public the true picture of what was happening in the country.

Masing expressed his regret that certain aspiring leaders have resorted to spreading lies, baseless allegations and slanderous statements online to achieve their own agenda.

“I am very confident that the majority of Malaysians will be able to differentiate between lies and truth.

“I believe that’s why in the next election, BN will still lead Malaysia because we tell what is actually happening.

“I tell my boys to never deviate from the truth. Give Malaysians the true picture of what is going on.

“This government is not a populist government. We are a responsible government, and we will implement what we have promised as in our manifesto which we put forward during the last election.”

Meanwhile, Majang said UMB was formed just before the last state election together with the other state BN component parties, namely PBB, SPDP and SUPP.

PRS’s UMB is a five-member team comprising party members, some of whom are working professionals.

Majang revealed that the members were selected based on their interests and wide ranging knowledge about political issues and happenings in the state. They underwent training in Kuala Lumpur together with other UMBs from other component parties prior to last year’s state election.

He said since the unit was a voluntary grouping, the cost for training and equipment was born by the members themselves.

When asked about the unit’s strategy to engage with the public online, Majang replied that they would work closely with the other component parties to carry out activities.

Among programmes being planned is a convention, which may be held sometime next month.

SEB to go ahead in building the 12 dams. SEB boss comes under fire

(BASEL, SWITZERLAND) (March 22, 2012:  Torstein Dale Sjotveit, the Norwegian CEO of Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB), a state-owned Malaysian power supplier, has come under fire for systematically withholding information on the implementation of twelve planned dams in Sarawak.

Despite demands from local communities and opposition politicians for full transparency over the Sarawak dam plans, SEB has been accused of deliberately and systematically pushing forward its dam plans under a cloud of secrecy.

According to official plans, the 12 dams are to be completed by 2020 despite growing criticism over a power glut caused by the recent completion of the 2400 MW Bakun dam, Asia’s largest hydropower project outside China.

Native communities affected by the 900 MW Murum dam, which is currently under construction, complain that they have never been properly informed on this project which will cause the displacement of thousands of locals.

The Murum construction site has been sealed off from the public and no journalists have ever been allowed to visit the site.

It is an open secret that the dam is being constructed by a workforce of thousands of Chinese workers brought to Sarawak by contractors from mainland China.

The 1000 MW Baram dam, another mega project soon to be started, is being pushed forward in massive violation of the affected communities’ basic right to information.

The locals are being kept in the dark in order to stifle potential opposition against the dam, which will cause the flooding of large tracts of the Borneo rainforest and the displacement of over 20,000 indigenous people.

“Mr. Sjotveit’s conduct is appalling and absolutely inacceptable”, the Bruno Manser Fund wrote in a statement.

 “In Norway, he would be charged for fraud for deliberately misleading the public in such a deceitful way.”

With an annual salary of 1.2 million US dollars, Siotveit is one of Malaysia’s best-paid executives. He works under Hamed Sepawi, the first cousin of Sarawak’s extremely corrupt Chief Mininster, Taib Mahmud.

The Bruno Manser Fund calls on Sarawak Energy to release all relevant information on the dam plans to the public, including maps, feasibility studies, environmental and social impact assessments, project finances and resettlement plans.

Mawan and Masing running scared of the well-informed Dayaks, says Baru Bian

Kuching, March 19, 2012: The leaders of the SPDP and PRS have, by their recent statements, exposed the modus operandi that has perpetuated their abuse of power and the oppression of the rakyat for over 40 years: keep the people simple and ignorant.

"At all cost, they prevent any advancements from reaching the rakyat so that they remain grateful to the BN for the little scraps that are thrown at them once every 5 years," Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian said in a statement today.

He said William Mawan’s statement in yesterday’s Star with regard to why he thinks holding the elections on 3 June is not a good idea beggars belief: ‘If election is held during this time, the young, educated professionals who work in the cities might bring everything that is new that in turn, could change the mentality of the people in their kampungs and longhouses’.

"This statement betrays the fear the BN politicians have that the rural folk will one day wake up to the sobering truth that the only people who have benefitted from this BN government are the BN politicians themselves and their families and cronies," he said.

Baru said Mawan’s desire to keep the rural people as ignorant and unaware as the proverbial frog under a coconut shell suggests that the BN government has no desire at all to help them grow and advance with the times.

"What is it about changing their mentality that frightens the BN so much? How are we ever going to catch up with the developing world if our government prefers to keep the rakyat in the dark ages?

"Is this the reason why healthcare and educational opportunities and facilities are so primitive and inadequate in the rural areas?" he said, adding:" In this day and age, up to 500,000 homes are still not connected to any electricity grid, and the majority of the rural population has no access to the internet and other amenities."

Baru said the government has no business harping about SCORE (Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy) and the miraculous riches it will bring to the raykat when it has not provided the basic education and facilities for the people to be able to participate in it.

He said to top it off, the Sarawakians are told that bringing "everything that is new" to the kampong is not a good thing.

"Obviously, encouraging the population to acquire knowledge is detrimental to the BN’s health, as with knowledge (and critical thinking) comes the realisation of the people about the power that they wield," he said of Mawan.

On James Masing’s statement, also in yesterday’s Star, Baru said it is equally astounding: that the rakyat are the bosses only for one day every 5 years, that is, during polling day, and that the rest of the days for the next 5 years, the elected YBs are the bosses and the rakyat are to be ‘subservient’, having no right to challenge anything the bosses choose to do.

"The Borneo Post quotes him: ‘If their YBs, for instance, pass a law which tells the rakyat to walk backward, the rakyat must walk backward’.

"It is extremely disturbing and disappointing that this veteran politician should cite as an example a law which clearly would not advance the welfare of the people and which cannot reflect the will of the people. Yet what an apt example for him to put forward – it reflects perfectly the policies of the BN government.

"Keep the rakyat backward and poor while the BN politicians push forward with their self-enriching land-grabbing schemes.

"In fact, the government policies over the past few decades have forced the rakyat to walk backwards - they are actually getting poorer.

"As proof of this, the Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said that since 2007, the rate of poverty in Sarawak had increased from 4.2% to 5.3% in 2009 (The Star 1 Nov 2011).

"What a shameful legacy for the BN government.

"Our elected representatives are given the privilege to sit in their positions of authority so that they can serve the will of the rakyat.

"The rakyat is not defined according to political leanings and even if it is, the will of the opposition may well be the will of the majority, given the gerrymandering and dirty politics practised by the BN government.

"Our elected representatives are not given wholesale power to act on their whims and fancies," he said, accusing Masing of using twisted reasoning to justify a decision made in an obvious case of abuse of power that will intensify the resentment of the people against a tyrannical government.

He said despite the best efforts of the BN government to keep the Sarawakian rakyat simple, they are not going to buy James Masing’s revolutionary and unique take on democratic principles.

"His perverse defiance in the face of criticism and reproach (even from some BN leaders) does not bode well for him, but has contributed in no small way to building up support for the message of truth and promise of good governance by the opposition. 

"It is clear that the time has come for the people to unite and show the elected representatives who the real bosses are.," Baru said. By Sematong Express.

SPDP delegates express their displeasures at Taib Mahmud at the AGM

Bintulu, March 17, 2012: Delegates attending the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) 9th annual general meeting today expressed their displeasures at Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in dealing with  the Gang of Five..

They said while Taib continued to retain Datuk Peter Nansian and Datuk Sylvester Entrie in his administration, he also appointed Rosey Yunus as an assistant minister and Paulus Gumbang as chairman of the Miri Port Authority.

One delegate, in an interview outside the Bintulu Civic Centre, believed that the long serving chief minister is arrogant and dictatorial.

"He cares only about himself and PBB, but gives little or no respect to other component parties of the Barisan Nasional, like SPDP and SUPP," said the delegate who requested that his name be not published for fear of reprisals from PBB and Taib against SPDP and  party president Tan Sri William Mawan.

The attack on Taib started with a delegate from Meluan branch, who said that Taib should have sacked Nansian and Entrie from his administration.

"But he not only did not sack them after they have been sacked from SPDP, he also appointed Rosey as assistant minister and Paulus as Miri Port Authority chairman.

"To us, Taib is seen to be challenging the party members," he said.

Another delegate told Taib to look at the Pakatan Rakyat-ruled Selangor government as an example when it removed Datuk Dr Hassan Ali as an executive councillor after he had been sacked as a memher of PAS.

"Likewise, Taib should have sacked Nansian and Entrie, but he did not," the delegate said to the applause of the other delegates.

Another delegate accused Taib and other BN leaders of behind the Gang of Five.

He said while the SPDP leadership was trying to solve the issue concerning the Gang of Five, these BN leaders were seen to be instigating them.

"Therefore, it was very difficult for the SPDP leadership trying to resolve the issue," he said.

Many delegates called on the Gang of Five, which also included Dr Tiki Lafe, the MP for Mas Gading, to resign from their seats if they still had the honour and respect left.

"We, the grassroots leaders, will make sure that SPDP retains the seats, if by-elections are to be held," they said.

SPDP president Tan Sri William Mawan, however, downplayed the issue concerning the Gang of Five and the BN leaders alleged to be behind them.

"We must look beyond the issue. It is time for us to look forward, moving on with our political agenda within the Barisan Nasional," he said.

He, however, appreciated the concerns and views expressed by the delegates.

Tomorrow, SPDP will hold its triennial general assembly, during which party election will be held. By Sematong Express.