Hadi: Majority still support me

KUALA TERENGGANU: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang claims that he still commands unwavering support from the grassroots despite a recent wave of murmurs after he was blamed for mooting talks on a unity government with Umno.

“I still enjoy undivided support. All divisions, except for one, backed me (during the party’s recent seminar in Shah Alam) to helm the party.

“This shows that I still the enjoy the support of the majority,” said the PAS stalwart during a high tea and dialogue session at a restaurant in Rusila, near here, on Friday.

Abdul Hadi said he had no problem if PAS members wanted him to exit but the ground sentiment proved otherwise during the seminar.

On his relationship with PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the party’s firebrand leader replied that their bond was still strong.

“He too endorsed me as the president,” he said.

Abdul Hadi said the Kelantan Mentri Besar also accepted all the resolutions passed during the seminar and agreed to work collectively to solve any problems.

“Yes, there was some friction initially (when the issue of working closely with Umno cropped up) but I moved in swiftly to patch it up,” he said in reference to the difference of opinion with Nik Aziz.

“We are not like Barsian Nasional where disputes among leaders prolong without effective arbitration.”

He also warned troublemakers that the party’s disciplinary board would not hesitate to strip them of their membership.

On reports that academics and bloggers were of the view that his popularity was dwindling, Abdul Hadi reiterated: “We don’t need the opinions of outsiders.”

However, he added that the party leadership welcomed constructive suggestions.

Three local councils get four-stars after re-rating

PETALING JAYA: Three local authorities have obtained four-star status following a re-rating exercise by the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

They are the Kajang Municipal Council, the Johor Baru Municipal Council and the Kuala Terengganu City Council.

Kajang obtained the highest score of 81.4 out of 100 followed by Johor Baru which received 77.6 points.

Both municipal councils were upgraded to four stars from three stars given by the ministry in its earlier assessment in April 2008.

The Kuala Terengganu City Council made the most notable improvement in its performance, leaping from two stars to four with a score of 76.9 points.

They were among 10 local autho- rities involved in the re-assessment which ran from Nov 3 to 11.

The local authorities were given two months from Sept 2 to Nov 2 to prepare for the exercise.

Pontian, Kubang Pasu, Hulu Selangor and Ketereh district were upgraded to three-star status from two previously while Baling, Rembau and Jelebu district councils were upgraded to two stars from one.

The earlier rating handed out last year involved 98 local authorities in peninsular Malaysia. Ten local authorities were awarded four stars.

MB faces flak — from his own reps

KUALA TERENGGANU: Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said had to fend off sharp jibes at the state legislative assembly. And it was not from the opposition assemblymen — it was his own Barisan Nasional representatives who turned on him.

The sombre atmosphere of the Terengganu assembly became heated yesterday with endless questions from Barisan assemblymen.

Several queries were posed to Ahmad during the one-hour question time, resulting in a tense atmosphere between the mentri besar and Barisan representatives.

It began with Din Adam (BN — Bukit Besi) who asked for the name of contractors involved in the iron ore mining operation in Bukit Besi, Dungun, and its social benefits to the local residents and Ahmad replied that the government had given its consent for the appointment of three companies to undertake mining in Bukit Besi.

He said the reopening of the mining area was expected to provide jobs for the locals as the companies were required to ensure that 50% of their workers were locals.

Dissatisfied with the answer, Din asked for the names of the companies and their capabilities, and whether they had really hired local residents as their workers.

“I only know about the opening of the mining area from a worker there. I am from Bukit Besi, live in Bukit Besi and am an elected representative for Bukit Besi. Yet, I know nothing about the matter,” said Din.

Ahmad explained that the Terengganu government was planning to reopen the mining area after the appointed consultant verified that the area held five million tonnes of iron ore.

The state government, he added, had appointed TBM Minerals Sdn Bhd, Cahaya Ikhtiar Sdn Bhd and Wahaba Wangi Shd Bhd on a five-year lease.

Ahmad then took a swipe at Din, hinting that he was unaware of developments in his own constituency as he was often absent from the assembly sittings and state secretariat.

A war of words also occurred between Alias Abdullah (BN — Alur Limbat) and Ahmad when the former disputed Ahmad’s answers on the financial allocation approved by the government to implement the Baruh Muring Tasek-Padang Leban-Sungai Bukit Payong monsoon drain project.

When met outside the assembly hall, Ahmad said he saw the changes during the sitting as a positive sign.

“It’s like they are the opposition but we don’t mind.

“We can also see the maturity in the elected representatives in answering the questions. I have no problem with that,” he said.

The Terengganu legislative assembly has 24 Barisan assemblymen and eight PAS representatives. — Bernama

Undercover cops pose as drivers and farmers

By R.S.N. MURALI

KUALA TERENGGANU: Under­cover police here became lorry drivers and farmers in their bid to verify talk that southern Thai militants are hiding in rural areas in the state.

Even tom yam stalls were not spared as they staked out the eateries to find out whether “unhealthy activities” were taking place or if “sleepers” were staying there.

However, police have found no evidence of Thai militants hiding in Terengganu.

The intelligence operation began following an alert raised by Thai police that some militants were hiding in remote villages here and were planning to stage a series of bombings in southern Thailand next month.

Sources told The Star that several undercover police officers were assigned to the task.

A source said Thai police provided descriptions of the suspected militants who they alleged were planning to create unrest in Sungai Golok and Waeng at the southern tip of the country.

It is learnt that the details provided by Thai police were on Thai citizens who frequently crossed the border at Sungai Golok.

The source said local village heads were also asked to inform the authorities if they know of any “outsiders” in their midst.

He said the intelligence gathering also included the tracing of foreign-registered vehicles entering the state and the duration they remained here.

“We have embarked on active vigilance following the allegations made by Thai police,” the source said.

Based on the intelligence-gathering, the source said there was no indication that could verify the presence of militants in the state.

State police chief Senior Asst Comm 1 Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan said his men would work closely with their Kelantan counterparts in investigating such claims.

Terengganu PAS Wanita chief slams women’s groups over bai’ah issue

KUALA TERENGGANU: Tereng­ganu PAS’ women chief has slammed women’s groups and Wanita Umno for blowing the issue of bai’ah or oath of loyalty out of proportion and has told them to mind their own business.

State PAS Wanita chief Safinah Jusoh said the oath was never a written policy and she did not understand why there was a hue and cry over the issue.

“In PAS, women are respected and as such these women’s groups should not jump to the conclusion that the purported oath is insulting to the weaker sex. Let me remind these groups that people look at us as pure and motherly,” she said.

She also stressed that in PAS, it had always been emphasised that the ties between husbands and wives should last until the end of their lives.

“Our leaders never directed party loyalists to divorce their wives if they wanted to leave the party. It could be an individual choice made by some people who happen to be in the party.”

Safinah said in Islam, the role of a woman was well-defined and party members always respected and were committed to their wives.

“So, I hope these groups will stop deliberating on the issue to gain political mileage,” she added.

The oath was made public by Shah Alam MP and PAS member Khaled Samad last week.

He said that elected representatives from the party were made to take an oath that they would divorce their wives with talak tiga should they join another party.

His statement was later denied by party leaders including president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali.

Mustafa said no such directive was issued by either its Syura Council, central committee or its Ulama Council.

On Monday, Khaled said his statement was true but admitted that he should not have made it public.

He also refused to apologise to party leaders for divulging the matter to the public, saying that PAS practised freedom of speech.

RM10mil buses going nowhere

THE Terengganu government wasted RM10.5mil buying 26 buses that had to be virtually grounded when it abandoned plans to use the new buses to ply urban and inter-district routes because of objections from existing bus operators.

The wastage occurred because the state government had failed to carry out a comprehensive study before implementing the project.

The Auditor General’s Report released on Monday said such studies were needed to avoid failure in meeting the objective.

According to the report, the state secretariat had in 2007 appointed two companies to supply the buses.

The state government had in February this year decided to distribute 18 of the buses to various agencies and departments.

The report also noted that a subsidiary of a government-linked company that was supposed to utilise the buses had no experience in the transportation business.

Based on the state secretariat’s report, the audit also found the cost of maintaining two Proton Perdana V6 was higher than the cost of procuring the vehicles.

A total of RM308,731 was spent on maintenance of the two cars that were originally purchased for RM234,054.

The Auditor was unable to analyse the cost of maintenance because the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Agency had seized the files on the two vehicles.

The Auditor has also uncovered unauthorised use of fuel cards by personnel in the state secretariat and the Public Works Department.

The Auditor has also called on the state government to monitor the activities of its companies to ensure they observe good corporate governance, abide by the law, make a profit and pay dividends to the state.

Apa maknanya Kalau Isa Menang !?

KUALA TERENGGANU – Menjelang jam 5 petang ini, para pengundi DUN Bagan Pinang, Negeri Sembilan akan membuat pilihan samada ada memilih ’rasuah’ atau ’maruah’.

Sekiranya, calon BN Tan Sri Isa Samad menang, ia akan menjadi satu kes ikutan ’precedent’ dimana, kejelekan dan kebobrokan ’rasuah politik’ atau kes ’politik wang’ dalam Umno/BN tidak lagi dianggap kotor dan hina.

Isa pula akan bertukar, dari seorang tokoh Umno yang dianggap ’cemar’, menjadi seorang penyelamat maruah kerana memenangkan Umno yang sudah kalah dalam tujuh pilihanraya kecil sebelum ini.

Perlakuan ’rasuah politik’ yang menghukum Isa meletakkan jawatan sebagai seorang Menteri kerana membayar ahli Umno supaya melayakkannya kepada jawatan (Menteri) itu, akan seolah-olah menghalalkan apa yang kononnya menjadi ’haram’ dalam pemilihan Umno.

Keadaan ini adalah kerana, pemilihan Isa menjadi calon BN bagi bertanding dalam pilihanraya kecil Bagan Pinang, bukan lagi suatu ukuran ’maruah’ namun semuanya merupakan perlumbaan ’kuasa’ semata-mata.

Tidak ada lagi pemimpin yang benar-benar berwibawa dan memiliki pengaruh tulin dalam Umno sekiranya Isa menang dalam pilihanraya kecil kali ke 9 tahun ini itu.

Dan Umno tidak perlu menggilap kepimpinan muda dengan jati diri kepimpinan, cukup mendidik pemuda-pemuda Umno menjadi seorang koporat, mengumpulkan kewangan yang banyak, kerana ’wang’ dari koporat itu merupakan tiket untuk menjadi pemimpin.

Membeli undi dalam pemilihan Umno tidak lagi dianggap sebagai ’keparat’ namun ia akan menjadi satu ’standard’ penting, dan paradigma baru dalam Umno, kerana Tan Sri Isa telah meletakkan definisi baru dan garis nilai sebagaimana yang diucapkannya kepada media.

Tan Sri isa berkata; ’Saya bukan rasuah, Ini ialah politik wang’. Apa yang berlaku sebenarnya adalah, saya melanggar kod etika. Kami mempunyai kod etika dalam pemilihan parti. Kemudian, media memutar-belitkannya kepada politik wang dan rasuah," kata Isa Samad kepada wartawan MerdekaReview dalam satu wawancara pada malam Isnin yang lalu.

Bahkan sekiranya Isa diisytiharkan menang menjelang keputusan pada jam 8 malam nanti, keputusan tersebut merupakan satu titik tolak kepada Umno/BN yang lebih ’hodoh’ pada masa akan datang.

Pemimpin tertinggi Umno dan BN juga terpaksa menerima Isa demi menebus ’maruah Umno dan Barisan Nasional’ dari terus tercemar kerana kekalahan berturut-turut kepada Pakatan rakyat.

Umno/BN tidak boleh kalah lagi, dan tidak lagi sanggup berdepan dengan kekalahan.

Namun tindakan membenarkan Isa bertanding sebenarnya melorongkan Umno/BN kepada lorong ’belakang mati’ yang lebih hina !