Tarikh: 1 Februari 2010

SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI WILAYAH

Pada hari ini, seluruh Wilayah Persekutuan meraikan Ulang Tahunnya yang ke-36. Sempena sambutan Hari Wilayah ini, saya ingin menarik perhatian Kerajaan serta penduduk wilayah tentang beberapa isu besar yang melibatkan kepentingan dan kemaslahatan rakyat agar sambutan Hari Wilayah Persekutuan ini dapat dimanfaati bersama.

Sebelum meraikan Hari Wilayah, marilah kita meraikan keberanian mahasiswa Universiti Malaya memperjuangkan sistem pilihan raya yang lebih telus dalam kampus baru-baru ini.

Sepertimana yang kita maklumi, rakyat Malaysia yang tinggal di luar kawasan WP berpeluang untuk mengundi wakil kerajaan di peringkat persekutuan dan negeri. Ini tidak dinikmati oleh 1.5 juta rakyat di kawasan WP yang tidak berpeluang untuk menentukan kepimpinan mereka di peringkat wilayah. Ini juga bermakna RM 2.12 bilion wang peruntukan DBKL, tidak dipantau oleh mana-mana wakil rakyat di peringkat WP. Ini bercanggah dengan prinsip demokrasi yang menetapkan penyertaan rakyat sebagai tunggak kepada sebuah pentadbiran yang telus dan adil. Justeru, saya menyeru agar rakyat Wilayah Persekutuan diberikan ruang dan kuasa untuk menentukan dasar dan halatuju pemtadbiran WP melalui dialog dan rundingan awam yang melibatkan semua lapisan masyarakat.

Saya turut berasa kesal dengan penyelewengan kuasa dan penggunaan e-undi yang berlaku dalam pilihan raya kampus baru-baru ini. Saya menggesa pihak pentadbir universiti agar lebih menghormati hak mahasiswa untuk berpolitik melalui wadah demokratik di kampus dengan bebas dan saksama.

Baru-baru ini, penahanan 9 mahasiswa Universiti di kawasan Jalan Raja Laut, Wilayah Persekutuan kerana berhimpun dan berarak secara aman amatlah dikesali. Sebagai generasi pelapis kepimpinan negara, saya yakin dan percaya bahawa mahasiswa kampus harus diberikan peluang dan ruang untuk menyuburkan demokrasi dan hak asasi di kampus ke arah Malaysia yang lebih bebas dan harmoni.

Dengan itu, sekali lagi saya ingin mengucapkan Salam Hari Wilayah dan Salam Demokrasi!

NURUL IZZAH ANWAR
Ahli Parlimen Lembah Pantai

Monday December 7, 2009
DBKL to focus on upgrading services and amenities
By BAVANI M ( STARMETRO NEWS)

A PEOPLE-centric budget for next year focusing on maintaining and upgrading existing public amenities as well as improving services is expected to be unveiled by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) today.

Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail who disclosed some details of the 2010 budget at a meeting with Kuala Lumpur MP’s on Friday had said the budget of RM2.12bil is aimed at ensuring that KLites enjoy a better quality of life with a better administered DBKL.

DBKL’s 2010 budget with the theme “Putting People First’’ is aimed at promoting integrity and transparency and to emphasise on people-centric projects.

DBKL has allocated RM1.102bil for administration costs for cleanliness, beautification, upgrading of pipes, roads, public amenities, recreation as well as safety while the RM1.07bil for development cost will focus more on projects that would benefit the residents.

As for revenue, a bulk of DBKL earnings are from assessment (RM755mil), sale of asset/housing (RM451mil), rental of public housing (RM65mil), licence and permit (RM47.96mil) and planning and construction (RM116 mil).

DBKL would also receive various grants from the Federal government totalling millions for administration and development purposes.
Even though the budget is supposed to be more people friendly, city MP’s are disappointed that their request for a more detailed budget was not granted.
“They are talking about integrity and transparency and being accountable, but they are not practising it,’’ said disgruntled Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai.

“Open up all the 20 departments in DBKL and show the various projects and contracts given out. The Public Works Department alone has over 100 projects amounting to hundreds of millions of ringgit. Show us all the contracts,’’ he said.
Tan said that the DBKL is the third biggest spender in the country.
“Compare KL’s RM2.12bil against Selangor’s RM1.2bil. On paper it would seem that KL’s two million residents are getting a fair deal compared to Selangor’s 5.6 million residents but KLites have the right to know where their money is going,’’ he added.
Batu MP Tian Chua said that DBKL should allow elected reps to give input when formulating the budget.
“Not just the budget. They should also let us see when tabling their annual audited accounts. We have the right to know how people’s money is being spent so there is some monitoring. This is certainly inadequate,’’ he said.

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said DBKL needs to review the contracts of its service providers like Alam Flora.
“Waste collection service has deteriorated ever since Alam Flora took over the management of waste in the city.
“DBKL has to honour numerous contracts that are still running but the quality and service performance of these contractors must be re-examined as well,” she said.
She also said the surplus budget, thanks to federal government assistance, formed a whopping 67.6% of the development expenditure and which also included a one-off payment amounting to RM451.3mil.
“There is no rationale for distribution of development expenditure according to constituencies. DBKL is not answerable to Parliament. One example is the number of public housing in Bandar Tun Razak, Lembah Pantai and Bukit Bintang – 11, 3 and 5 respectively.
“You would expect that the budget would follow the number of housing but Bandar Tun Razak gets RM79.2mil, Lembah Pantai 26mil and Bukit Bintang RM240mil.
“As such, the RM2.12bil budget (even higher than that for Selangor and Penang), has to be tabled in Parliament, to constituents and to MPs.
“This is made even more necessary with the disclosure that not even the Auditor General has the right to review the big budget.
“Such powers have been given to DBKL to freely use taxpayers’ money with no proper check and balance, save for some episodes of internal auditing.”
“We were also informed, after a query, that an item under maintenance costing RM250mil (for 2010) has been transferred from the FT Ministry to DBKL in the form of the said amount. Hence for 2010, the maintenance item under the FT Ministry has been effectively erased.
“How do we monitor and compare past and present implementation of maintenance works in our cities.
Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng feels that the budget allocation is a huge amount.
“Make no mistake. It is still a deficit budget despite the extra windfall from the sale of PPR units. The RM451mil revenue from the sale of the flats is a ‘one off thing’ and DBKL cannot rely on that,’’ added Lim.

Press Release by YB Puan Nurul Izzah Anwar (18 November 2009)
In a written answer to my question addressed to the Minister of Finance – “What is the rationale for Terengganu Investment Authority(TIA) to be taken over by Minister of Finance Inc, become a federal entity known as 1Malaysia Berhad, and reports directly to the Prime Minister?” – it was replied that this is done to “ensure that there will be a boost in economic development and the wealth can be equally distributed to fellow Malaysians regardless of race and ethnicity “for 1Malaysia”.
I take this as an absolute sham and an affront to the commons sense!
Is the PM trying to say that the state and an independent board of directors cannot do the same? Is this an allusion that only the PM can ensure that wealth generated from the fund reaches the people under a fair and equal distribution mechanism?
On the contrary, this is a blatant attempt by the PM to have direct intervention in the management of the wealth fund.
Recall that the initial plan in setting up the Terengganu Investment Authority(TIA), a sovereign wealth fund, in May 2008, was to ensure that the state invest its wealth, especially oil royalty, for its own people, without any political intervention.
It was stated that the TIA would “incorporate a triple-tier check and balance system comprising a board of directors who CANNOT hold positions in the government or occupy ANY political positions”. In fact, when the YDP Agong Sultan Terengganu mooted the idea, it was stated that the fund will “manage the state’s long-term oil royalty revenue to ensure sustainable income for the Terengganu people after oil and gas reserves run out”.
Taking over and naming it 1Malaysia Development Berhad is a blatant display of federal BN led control and centralization. This move contradicts the very initial plan it had which was to be free from any political manipulation and marks the end of an independent and professional management of the fund.
It is much feared, especially looking at the current distortion of facts pertaining the royalty issue vis a vis Kelantan, (now that the PM says it was never a royalty, but only a ‘compassionate payment’), and the sudden departure of IRDA’s CEO, what assurance do we have that the PM will not use 1Malaysia Development Berhad as another vehicle of patronage to reward a certain class of persons, whereas the true and rightful beneficiaries of the fund – the Terengganu people, are denied from what is essentially theirs.

In October last year, I had raised the discrepancy of the crime statistics for Brickfields announced by the KL Deputy OCPD, Datuk Abdul Samah Mat (Bernama, 23 June 2008), which stated a reduction of 19.4% compared to only 7% declared by the Brickfields Deputy OCPD, Supt Azri Abdul Rahman, (Utusan Malaysia, 25 June 2008) from the month of January to May 2008.
I raised this issue in Parliament, and the then Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Chor Chee Heung, did not give me any answer.
I raise the same issue again this session, and today, in a written answer, much to my surprise, the Home Minister traced the discrepancy to a misreporting done by Bernama in the statement issued on 23 June 2008.
The public deserves an explanation for this, and if indeed a misreporting had occurred, Bernama needs to acknowledge it and carry out a retraction.
We do not want this to be another case of finger pointing between a Ministry and the press, when the crux of the matter is a blatant attempt by the police to deceive the public.

The KL Members of Parliament were given a briefing on City Hall’s 2010 Budget last Friday, 4th of December 2010. The surplus budget, thanks to federal government assistance which formed a whopping 67.6% of the development expenditure also included a one off payment amounting to RM 451.3 million.

There is no rationale for distribution of development expenditure according to constituencies, as DBKL is not answerable to parliament. One example is the number of public housing in Bandar Tun Razak, Lembah Pantai and Bukit Bintang -11, 3 and 5 respectively. You would the budget would follow the number of housing – but BTR gets RM 79.2 mn, Lembah Pantai 26 mn and Bukit Bintang a staggering RM 240 mn.

As such, to properly judge, the huge RM2.1 billion budget (even higher than that for Selangor and Penang), has to be tabled to parliament, to constituents, to MPs! This need remains even more necessary with the disclosure that not even the Auditor General has the right to review the enormous budget. Such huge powers of discretion is given to DBKL to freely use taxpayers’ money with no semblance of proper check and balance save for some episodes of internal auditing.

We were also informed after a query that an item under maintenance costing RM250 million (for 2010) has been transferred from the FT Ministry to DBKL in the form of the said amount. Hence for 2010, the ‘maintenance’ item under FT Ministry is effectively ‘erased’ by the higher ups. How then do we monitor and compare past and present implementation of maintenance works in our cities.

And finally, how do we judge the feasibility of projects chosen by the Mayor to improve services. This includes the OSC online development planning, which will speed up the process of accepting development plans -online -anytime, anywhere with expected approval time to be shortened to even just 3 months. As it stands, residents face tumultuous challenges in objecting against any development (especially those above 30 degrees) -they will not get any free lunches as the OSC only serves the needs of developers not residents. The usual lengthy process of residential objections with very ‘little one can do to stop the development’ remains, with disclosure from the mayor that those who go to the courts will be sidelined. I brought up the cases of Bukit Gasing, Medang Kapas and Medang Serai only to hear that Ekram’s decision is final, and even though the residents might decide to challenge it, it is unlikely to be cancelled save only if Ekram says so.

The tabling of the DBKL budget smacks of non transparency, lack of fiscal discipline and only aggravates the call for the council to be answerable to taxpayers yet again -not only by way of budget tabling, but also in the choice of its top officials.

Nurul Izzah Anwar
Lembah Pantai, M.P.

KENYATAAN AKHBAR 4 DISEMBER 2009
Penyerahan Memorandum kepada YAB Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri
Dato Abdul Khalid Ibrahim oleh YB Nurul Izzah Anwar mewakili
penduduk Kg. Kerinchi, 1030 pagi, 4 Disember 2009
Pada tepat jam 1030 pagi tadi, saya beserta seluruh AJK Bertindak Rumah
Pangsa Kos Rendah PKNS 4 Tingkat telah menyerahkan MEMORANDUM
MENGENAI KEMELUT PEMBANGUNAN SEMULA TANAH DI TAPAK
RUMAH PANGSA KOS RENDAH PKNS 4 (EMPAT) TINGKAT, KG.
KERINCHI, KUALA LUMPUR SERTA PAMPASAN KEPADA PEMILIK
RUMAH BERKENAAN kepada YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim melalui
Setiausaha Politik beliau, YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Daripada maklumat yang diterima, jelas bahawa pembangunan semula ini
penuh kontroversi, kepincangan dan manipulasi yang akhirnya meminggirkan
hak penduduk rumah pangsa tersebut. Tentunya semua ini membangkitkan
kebimbangan serius saya selaku Ahli Parlimen kawasan setempat.
Mereka yang merupakan pembeli unit-unit rumah pangsa tersebut telah
dikerah berpindah dalam upacara penyerahan kunci pada hari Rabu, 2
Disember dengan kehadiran pimpinan UMNO kawasan yang dilihat lebih
berkuasa daripada DBKL sendiri. Pemindahan sementara ditempatkan di
PPR yang diselenggarakan oleh DBKL sedangkan status tanah di mana
rumah pangsa tersebut bertempat masih tidak dimaklumkan dengan jelas.
Pemilik Rumah Pangsa tersebut adalah pemilik benefisiari setelah membuat
Perjanjian Jual Beli dengan PKNS lebih 30 tahun yang lalu. Pada tahun 2006
pemilik dimaklumkan bahawa PKNS telah menjual tapak tanah dimana
Rumah Pangsa milik mereka dibina kepada pihak Ketiga untuk dimajukan
dengan PKNS bertindak sebagai Pemegang Amanah. (Lampiran 1)
Tawaran pampasan untuk perpindahan telah dilakukan dan JKB tidak
berpuashati dengan tawaran yang diberikan oleh Pemaju pertama dikatakan
Maha Construction and Development Berhad yang kemudiannya ditukar
kepada Amanah Raya Berhad. Manakala dalam borang kaji selidik DBKL
menyatakan bahawa projek pembangunan semula telah dikategorikan di
bawah projek kerajaan serta kenyataan terbaru Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan
bahawa projek pembangunan tersebut akan dibuat melalui tender terbuka
(Lampiran 2, 3 dan 4)
Beberapa isu pokok seperti berikut perlu dipersoalkan:
Bagaimana tanah PKNS ini diserahkan kepada pemaju dan kenapakah
mantan Ketua Bahagian UMNO Lembah Pantai bertindak sebagai jurucakap
bagi projek pembangunan ini dan berterusan meminta agar penduduk
menyerahkan surat pemegang kuasa kepada pemaju?
2
Kenapa perumahan awam DBKL digunakan sebagai tempat menyimpan
penghuni rumah pangsa tersebut untuk 3 tahun sewa berbayar? Siapa
sebenarnya pemaju dan kenapa gesaan untuk berpindah dilakukan oleh
DBKL atas arahan Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan?
Justeru, memorandum ini diserahkan kepada YAB Tan Sri Dato’ Khalid
membantu merungkaikan dilema pemilik Rumah Pangsa tersebut serta
penduduk setempat dalam mendapatkan status milikan tanah, serta perincian
pelan pembangunan untuk kawasan yang merangkumi Rumah Pangsa ini jika
benar ia akan dibangunkan. Kami bukan menolak pembangunan, tetapi
sebarang proses yang dijalankan perlu mengikut prosedur serta tatacara yang
telus, profesional dan adil.
NURUL IZZAH ANWAR
Ahli Parlimen Lembah Pantai