Another BN's grand bailout of cronies water concessionaires....

The government’s decision to use taxpayers’ money to bail out Selangor water concessionaries with a 73.3 per cent premium above market value drew strong reaction from Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua.

“It is bad enough that the Federal Government has decided to bail out the Selangor water concessionaires, but for it to pay a whopping 73.2% higher than the market value of these bonds borders on being outrageous and an abuse of taxpayers’ monies,” Pua said in a statement to Harakahdaily today.

Citing a report from The Edge Financial Daily on Wednesday, Pua pointed out that a source had revealed that Syarikat Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) would be acquiring the bonds issued by the Selangor state water concessionaires through its-wholly owned subsidiary Acqua SPV Bhd for the amount of RM6.5 billion which was at “94.49 against mark to market value of only 54.54 at the end of last month”.

He said the bailout is similar to the Federal government's rescue plan for Malaysian Airlines (MAS) in the past, in which it purchased MAS shares at RM8.00 per share, or 121 percent higher than the market price of RM3.62 per share to Naluri Bhd, a company owned by UMNO-linked tycoon Tajuddin Ramli in December 2000.

“In fact, the Government has yet to see any returns on its 'investment' for the stock price has slumped to RM1.59 (as at yesterday) or a 80.1% decline for its investment after 10 years.

"MAS continues to be troubled as it made RM242.3 million in losses for its first quarter this year in its financial results released this week with no end in sight to its problems,” said Pua, drawing attention to the national airlines' dismal performance in the first quarter of 2011.

Yesterday, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin denied the move to purchase the bonds was a bailout, saying that the Federal government was trying to 'stabilise' Selangor's water services industry.

“I wish to stress that the takeover does not mean Selangor water companies who issued the bonds are released from their obligations to pay back their liabilities prior to the takeover by Acqua SPV.

“Thus if the Acqua SPV's bid is successful, the takeover should be looked at as a change in investors from current bondholders to only Acqua SPV,” Chin was quoted as saying.

Despite Chin’s denial, Pua claimed that the debt bailout was made worse by the fact that the government had not been transparent in the whole exercise.

“To date, we still do not know how the Federal government plans to restructure the water industry in Selangor based on the Water Services Industry Act 2006 after taking over these debts and whether these private concessionaires would be required to repay the Government for the bailout, despite the denial of a "bailout" by the Minister,” he said. This is because all four Selangor water concessionaires - Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) and Konsortium ABASS - are unable to pay their bondholders.

Pua said shareholders of Selangor water concessionaires must own up to their debt, and if the companies were profitable, they would have declared high dividends for shareholders. Pua named the concessionaires as Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Holdings (SPLASH), whose parent company is Gamuda Bhd, which declared dividends of RM578.6 million in 2007 while Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd declared dividends amounting to RM214 million between 2006 and 2010.

"The above certainly makes true the dictum of the BN Government privatising profits and socialising losses by taking over the debt burden of these companies," he added.

Pua warned the bailout was set to affect the basic right to water of all residents in the Klang Valley.

“Unless of course, he (Chin) is completely powerless in his own ministry, with key decisions made without his knowledge, in which case, he should then just resign honourably to protect his personal reputation and integrity," he said.

source:harakah daily

Hutang air: 'Putrajaya terlebih bayar 73%'

The UMNO govt tells us that it has no money to subsidise the price of petrol, gas, sugar, flour, electricity etc.

Walla! now it has RM 6.5 billion to bail out her cronies private water companies.

Gomen bercakap beria-ia tentang perlunya megurangkan subsidi.

Tapi,sebaliknya gomen menggunakan wang rakyat untuk selamatkan syarikat2 kroni yang hampir bankrup...

cheers.

'Mystery person travelled with Razak, Altantuya'...

There was a third person accompanying political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda and murdered Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shariibuu on their travels in connection with the purchase of three French submarines by the Malaysian government.

Human rights NGO Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel told Malaysiakini today that the identity of the third person involved in the travels is being verified by French investigators.

Although 'a name' had come up during the probe, she said, it was too early to reveal the identity of the individual.

"Our lawyers have informed us that a third person's name came up during the investigations... the probe is going on, but it is still too early to determine who the person is," Gabriel said.

It had been earlier been revealed that a company named Gifen, established in Malta by Jean-Marie Boivin, had intervened in negotiations for the purchase of the submarines to facilitate monetary transfers to finance Abdul Razak and Altantuya's travels.

The negotiations involved the sale of an Agosta and two Scorpene submarines to the Malaysian government under a RM4.3 billion (1 billion euro) contract inked in 2002 between Malaysia and DCNS, formerly known as DCN, a shipyard builder allied with Spanish warship builder Thalès.

It is uncertain whether this 'mysterious' personality could be the missing link in the murder of Altantuya, which has dogged Prime Minister Najib Razak since 2006. Gabriel declined to discuss this matter further.

Blown up with C4 explosives

In 2006, Altantuya, a translator and intermediary for the French submarines deal who was believed to be romantically linked with Razak, a close friend and adviser to Najib, was killed with C4 explosives at a jungle clearing in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Najib was then deputy prime minister and defence minister, while the two special task force officers convicted of murdering Altantuya were Najib's bodyguards.

Gabriel had revealed last month that there was not just one commission paid out but two others as well: a RM129 million (30 million euro) payment by DCNS to the commercial networks of Thalès as "commercial fees linked to the negotiations and the enactment of the contract" and another payment of RM10.8 million (2.5 million euro).

She said the second commission had reportedly been paid by Thalès to an intermediary, still unidentified, in order to convince the Malaysian government that it was necessary to have some more works initiated.

Although Suaram was yet to find out who this 'unidentified' intermediary was, Gabriel said Gifen had reportedly intervened in the negotiations to facilitate monetary transfers to finance the travels of Razak and Altantuya. Gabriel also said today that Suaram was planning massive fund-raising dinners in Penang and in Kuala Lumpur to support its legal fund. The events would be held in July and the dates are yet to be confirmed.

She said the dinners would also serve as a platform for Suaram to reveal and explain the findings behind the December suit it filed in a Paris court against against French submarine maker DCNS for "active and passive corruption, trading of favours and abuse of corporate assets".

"The French lawyers who took up the case in Paris will be here to explain in detail and update the public on the findings and information we have got so far," she said.

"We would like members of the public to be aware of what is happening in the case, and that we must continue discussions and question the authorities on suspected corruption surrounding the matter," she added.

Initially, it was suspected that a bribe of RM492 million (114 million euro) had been paid by Amaris, a subsidiary of DCNS and Thalès, to "unidentified Malaysian officials" through a company called Perimekar.

The majority shareholder of Perimekar, officially created to "coordinate" the sale of submarines, is alleged to be Razak's wife. The agreement to purchase two Scorpene submarines worth billions of dollars was signed when Najib became defence minister in 2002.

source:malaysiakini

'Individu misteri iring perjalanan Razak, Altantuya'

I want to know the motive behind the henious murder.....

Orang ke-3 ini, sekarang makan tak lalu dan tidur pun tak lena.....

cheers.

Hooray...!!!!!! Power tariff up...thanks Najib...

The National Economic Council (NEC) has today approved an increase in the electricity tariff but details will only be announced on Monday. The NEC convened today in Putrajaya at a meeting involving several cabinet ministers chaired by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin is expected to hold a press conference on Monday to deliver a formal announcement.

In recent weeks, cabinet ministers have been repeatedly telling the public to brace for an electricity tariff rise as the government embarks on a subsidy-slashing exercise. On Wednesday, the cabinet deferred plans to hike up fuel prices, which critics argue cannot be justified unless the federal government first embarks on an austerity drive.



Over the past 18 months, the government has pushed up sugar prices by 58 percent and allowed RON97 grade petrol to hit a record high of RM2.90 per litre. Coupled with the '5-in-1 hike' on July 15 involving RON95, RON97, diesel, liquified petroleum gas and sugar prices, inflationary pressure is mounting.

According to the plan, electricity tariffs will be raised by 2.4 sen/kWh initially, followed by 1.6 sen/kWh hike every six months spread over the next five years until July 2014. Currently, the average electricity tariff stands at 31.3 sen/kWh.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd has frozen its base tariff rate since 2009 and complains that currently the tariff covers only coal cost of up to US$85 against the prevailing coal price estimated at US$117 per tonne, reported StarBizWeek.



Meanwhile, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said that Malaysia's industries must be prepared to face the electricity tariff hikes but stressed that it would be done gradually.

"The government needs to be financially strong. Therefore, the increase is necessary and some industries are expected to feel the pinch once it (tariff) goes up.

"The surge in power costs would, however, be done in stages. This is to enable industry players to be prepared," Mustapa told reporters in Shah Alam, reported Star Online.

source:malaysiakini

K'jaan luluskan kenaikan tarif elektrik

Inilah rasional Najib kenapa perlu:

1. Naikkan harga gula - Supaya rakyat tak ramai dapat kencing manis dan mampos, lantas ini akan kurangkan kematian dan rakyat boleh undi BN lagi.

2. Naikkan harga minyak - Supaya mengurangkan Mat Rempit di jalanraya dan akan selamatkan banyak nyawa rakyat, agar mereka ini boleh undi BN lagi.

3. Naikkan tarif letrik - Supaya rakyat boleh jimat pembaziran letrik, masuk tidur awal untuk menambahkan populasi, supaya generasi baru yang lahir nanti akan undi BN lagi.

cheers.

Pelaku video seks sudah disiasat dan kenalpasti...

Polis semalam mengesahkan pihaknya menyiasat pelaku di dalam rakaman video seks yang didakwa membabitkan seorang lelaki mirip seorang pemimpin pembangkang dengan seorang pelacur di sebuah apartmen di ibu negara yang didedahkan kepada sekumpulan wartawan pada 21 Mac lalu.

Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara, Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar bagaimanapun enggan mengulas lanjut mengenai skop siasatan pelaku dalam video seks tersebut termasuk identiti pelakunya itu.

"Memang kita siasat (pelaku) sebab kita sudah kenal pasti dia," kata beliau pada sidang akhbar di Bukit Aman di sini semalam.

Menurut beliau, kertas siasatan yang lengkap berhubung kes rakaman video seks telah diserahkan kepada pihak Peguam Negara pada minggu lalu dan menunggu maklum balas daripada jabatan itu untuk tindakan selanjutnya.

Difahamkan, kertas siasatan di bawah Seksyen 292 Kanun Keseksaan iaitu memiliki dan mengedar bahan lucah itu sebelum ini pernah dipulangkan semula oleh Peguam Negara sebanyak dua kali kepada polis untuk siasatan semula.

Pada 1 April lalu, Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Ismail Omar mengesahkan rakaman video seks berdurasi selama 22 minit bermula pukul 10.23 malam, 21 Februari lalu adalah rakaman tulen selepas disahkan oleh pakar. Baca di sini.

source:Kosmo Online

Apakah orang yang dipanggil itu sdr. Anwar?

Semalam sdr. Anwar berada di mana - rumah atau balai polis?

Jika sdr. Anwar tidak dipanggil ianya menjelaskan kepada kita bahawa selama ini UMNO dan pandikutty2nya telah melakukan fitnah demi untuk memusnahkan kredibiliti Anwar Ibrahim.

Sama2 kita tunggu laporan polis seterusnya.....

cheers.

PKR gears up for snap polls...

While a July date for snap polls remains speculative, PKR is not taking any chances as it began getting battle ready should the 13th general election actually take place in the next few weeks.

The opposition party held a two-day retreat in Port Dickson for its top leadership and political bureau members with special attention focused on its nationwide polls campaign.

Vice-president Tian Chua said the retreat - which ended yesterday - is the start of the party's push to complete their polls preparations before July.

“The retreat centred on policy issues such as our (campaign) machinery, training of election volunteers, our website and mobilisation,” he said when contacted.

Tian Chua was sparse on details surrounding the two-day retreat, though he did not disagree when asked if the top leadership will now embark on a state to state tour to get their party machinery up to speed.

“Definitely, part of our preparation is to consolidate (the party machinery) in every state,” the Batu MP said, without revealing much else.

Fellow vice-president Fuziah Salleh was equally tight-lipped on the retreat, playing down its significance by describing it as a “regular” political bureau meeting.

“This was not the first time we discussed the general election at our meetings. This was just an extended meeting of our regular political bureau meetings.

“We went through and updated our checklist, basically making our final checks so that we are prepared, considering that snap polls could be called as early as July,” she said.

Anwar's non-stop schedule

Inside information, however, indicates that the retreat was a culmination of months of effort aimed at getting the party's machinery at both the national and state levels geared up for snap polls.

A source close to the party's top echelon revealed that there was more than one reason behind PKR de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim's nationwide anti-slander campaign, which followed the expose of a sex video allegedly involving a man resembling the charismatic leader.

Though stopping short of confirming Anwar's tour doubled as training for the party's machinery in each state he visited, the source admitted that it was more than just prepping the ceramah circuit for their leader.

“His (Anwar's) schedule has been non-stop over the past few months, and everywhere he went the state machinery would be mobilised... you gauge for yourself,” the source said.

It is also understood that PKR leaders from Sabah and Sarawak attended the two-day retreat, fuelling speculation that seat negotiations were raised. This appears to go hand in hand with claims that the main Pakatan Rakyat partners - PKR, DAP and PAS - have already started negotiating about seats in case the general election is called this year.

Anwar himself fanned such speculations when he told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview that he expects snap polls to be called as early as August this year.

However, if the general election is to be called this year, Pakatan-led Selangor and Penang have vowed not to dissolve their assemblies as their governments have only been in power for a little over three years.

This will allow Pakatan to focus on the parliamentary election instead of having to defend these two key states as well.

source:malaysiakini

cheers.

Selangor water bond takeover another BN/UMNO 'bailout'....

The federal government has denied that its attempt to take over Selangor's water bonds was a move to bail out industry players, said Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin.

Chin said that the bid for the bonds was a mitigation attempt to stabilise Selangor's water services industry and avoid negatively affecting the capital market.

“I wish to stress that there is no 'bailout' element as alleged by the opposition in the attempt to take over the bonds,” he said.

Yesterday, StarBiz reported that federal government unit Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) had set up Acqua SPV Bhd to make an offer for the water bonds, based on the relevant purchase yield to maturity. Bondholders have until 5pm on May 31 to agree to the terms set by Acqua SPV.

Chin explained that Acqua SPV Bhd will negotiate with bondholders directly on the quantum and thus the takeover of the bonds would be done through the open market and not by the federal government.

“I wish to stress that the takeover does not mean Selangor water companies who issued the bonds are released from their obligations to pay back their liabilities prior to the takeover by Acqua SPV.

“Thus if the Acqua SPV's bid is successful, the takeover should be looked at as a change in investors from current bondholders to only Acqua SPV,” he said.

Chin: Move might stabilise water tariffs

Chin said that once this move was completed it would stabilise the water services industry and allow the federal government to concentrate on its negotiations with the Selangor government on the water restructuring exercise. “Meanwhile, by reviewing the structure and terms of the bonds, there is a possibility that this would ensure the stability of water tariffs in the future,” he said.

The Najib Abdul Razak administration has been under pressure by bondholders, which includes major banks, to buy up the bonds which has been heavily downgraded by the rating agencies. According to StarBiz yesterday, an offer of RM6.5 billion will be announced by the federal government, against the issued value of RM9.02 billion.

Water bondholders are caught in a bind because Selangor's four water players - Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) and Konsortium ABASS - are unable to pay bondholders.

Syabas is blaming the state government for refusing its contractual demand for a 37 percent increase in water tariff, on the grounds that the company had not fulfilled its contractual obligations to reduce non-revenue water and other leakages.

'Feds forced to act'

However, there is a political element to this deadlock. The federal government is bent on nationalising all water assets, a move which Pakatan-ruled Selangor argues would inadvertedly cause a massive hike in water tariff. Selangor is instead insistent that Syabas - which is heavily linked with Umno - accepts the state's acquisition offer in order for the concession agreement to be restructured before the federal government is allowed to come in.

Meanwhile, Chin said that the federal government welcomes Selangor's willingness to return to the negotiation table to resolve the deadlock. “However, negotiations are expected to be prolonged should Selangor refuse to consider other models.

“As long as there are no proposals that are more practical by Selangor to resolve this issue, the federal government is forced to take the necessary measures to resolve problems that crop up,” said Chin in reference to the water bonds.

Tax payers made to pay yet again

In an immediate reaction, Charles Santiago, a member of Selangor government panel to negotiate on the water industry restructuring with the federal government, insisted that the buy up of the bonds was a clear bail out. He said that when a government privatises a utility, it is always done with the expectations that a private company has the funds, expertise and competency to rune it effectively.

“Now we have a case where there are companies which have failed in their obligations to pay the bondholders and the cost is being passed to the tax payers,” said Santiago, while describing such companies as irresponsible.

He said that the only viable solution now is for the federal government to convince the four companies involved to take up the state government's acquisition offer. This would allow the state to restructure the companies, a move which Santiago explained was heavily opposed by the federal government for their own interest.

“We have presented numerous proposals, but the federal government is bent on maintaining the status quo,” said Csantiago, who is also the MP for Klang.

source:malaysiakini

Takeover and bailout bagi geng2 'pandikutty' sama maksudnya. Acqua SPV ini milik siapa?

cheers.

'Evidences' of alleged vote-buying in Sarawak...

Although it has been more than a month since the Sarawak state election, polls watchdog Malaysian Election Observation Network (MEO-Net) says it has found more evidence to show that vote-buying was rampant during the campaign period.

MEO-Net coordinator Ong Boon Keong today released a short video recording showing stacks of cash purportedly being distributed to voters in the Tamin state constituency, which was retained by the BN.

The video, allegedly shot in the verandah of the Rumah Unban Anak Endu longhouse located at Tenting Terentang in Nanga Selangau, shows stacks of ringgit notes placed on the floor being distributed openly on the night of April 14, two days before polling day.

Ong claimed that earlier, the longhouse chief of Rumah Unban Anak Endu, together with other longhouse chiefs, had been summoned to the BN office in Selangau town and given cheques by three assistants to the BN candidate.

The longhouse chief of Rumah Unban Anak Endu then cashed the cheque and distributed RM50 to each longhouse resident whom he felt supported the BN, Ong claimed.

He had been detained by Kuching Immigration officials during his visit to Bengoh on Tuesday and deported to Kuala Lumpur the same night. No reason was given by the officials but Ong believes it was caused by his continuing efforts at collecting evidence of irregularities during the April state election.

MEO-Net has been furnishing evidence of alleged vote-buying, intimidation and abuses of government resources during the 10-day Sarawak election campaign.

'Tip of the iceberg'

It had earlier released another video clip, showing another longhouse chief purportedly admitting that he had received RM10,000 on behalf of his longhouse to support BN.

Tamin was won by BN through PRS candidate Joseph Mauh Ikeh, who obtained 4,998 votes, a 1,292-majority over PKR's Mengga Mikui, who finished with 3,706 votes in the predominantly Iban area.

"The evidence gathered is just the tip of the iceberg. If the authorities bother to investigate them to the full extent, such as by checking the bank accounts of all longhouse chiefs, their JKKK (village development and security committee) accounts as well as the bank accounts of the candidates involved in the election, MEO-Net is confident there are many more cases than the ones we found," Ong said in a statement distributed during the press conference.

"If these cases are investigated to the full extent, they are likely to nullify the results of the 10th Sarawak state election," Ong said.

He said he found fraud and irregularities to be rampant in the interior areas where media coverage of the election campaign was minimum. He expressed regret that candidates had not used the evidence gathered to file petitions to challenge the validity of the election.

The deadline to file election petitions has expired.

Ong also pointed out that although the Election Commission had washed its hands off the election irregularities and that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has refused to investigate the cases, the perpetrators still suffered from the condemnation by the court of public opinion with the evidence surfacing.

"That may, most likely, be the cause behind the politically-motivated deportation of myself, as well as that of the others during the campaign period."

source:malaysiakini

Lagi 'bukti' pembelian undi pilihan raya S'wak

SPR boleh buat apa, kerana SPR pun berasal daripada spesis yang sama....

cheers.

No subsidy cuts,takes into consideration the people's interest...my foot!!!

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said,

"This decision was made because the government takes into consideration the people's interest,"

"We did not listen to the opposition. The Umno Youth wing had also raised the issue. It has nothing to do with the opposition."

“Percayalah kepada kerajaan (kerana) kerajaan hari ini adalah kerajaan yang mendengar segala pandangan daripada rakyat. Sebelum membuat sesuatu keputusan kerajaan akan ambil kira semua sudut." “Apa yang kerajaan buat ini jelas menggambarkan kerajaan sentiasa prihatin kepada rakyat. Jadi, saya harap cukuplah jangan percaya kepada cerita bohong daripada pembangkang ini.”

“Saya dapat lihat dalam blog, dalam Facebook, dalam risalah yang dikeluarkan oleh pembangkang mengatakan bahawa kerajaan akan menaikkan harga. Ada yang kata 20 sen, 30 sen. Semua cerita itu adalah cerita bohong, cerita tidak benar,” katanya.

And Lim Guan Eng replied....


Lim Guan Eng listed three likely reasons behind the decision: —

1.Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had successfully exposed the large subsidies enjoyed by corporate giants,

2.Barisan Nasional (BN) intends to hold snap elections soon,

3. the ruling pact fears pushing subsidy cuts would cause a loss of popular support.

“Such unfair price increases will not go down well with the voters. BN is worried about the surprising electoral strength of PR,” he said. Lim however noted that since no deadline had been imposed on the postponement, the government was likely to proceed with its plan to cut subsidies after snap elections are called.

“Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob refused to specify how long the government would maintain current prices.

“In other words, once the snap elections are won by BN, then clearly nothing would stop them from removing subsidies and allowing prices to increase,” he said.

Lim predicted that corporate giants like independent power producers (IPPs), TNB and Felda would likely escape subsidy cuts, pointing to recent statements made by MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui.

Should I thank the Minister? NO...NO...NO

Wait and see, berapa lama harga sekarang boleh kekal..

POOOOOODAH!!!!!

cheers.