[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 12 Aug 1999
Time: 09:17:21
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The MALAYSIAN Issue No. 15 (12 August 1999)
They call this being responsible? Dr M has repeatedly asserted that his regime is responsible with public funds and looks after the people’s interests. Last Thursday, we reported on the likelihood of an increase in the electricity rates next year should the BN, with Dr M at the helm, be returned to power. Amongst the reasons for this intended increase is Tenaga’s RM1.7 billion loss in Pakistan. What does Tenaga’s loss have to do with the responsibility of Dr M’s regime? After all, Tenaga is a privatised corporation. Well, the point is that government continues to own over 70% of Tenaga, making it the biggest shareholder by far. In fact, because the government is supposed to be accountable to us, the people, this 70% represents our investment in Tenaga, but is held in trust by the government. What a trustee it’s proven to be! An object lesson in pagar makan padi. Now, if you were the largest shareholder of a company, wouldn’t you exercise proper supervision over that company, and take an interest in its activities and its profitability, make sure it’s not short-changed, fend off vultures and predators and so on? Of course you would.
But what does Dr M’s regime do? They have helped others to feed off Tenaga, that’s what. There were the lop-sided agreements that Tenaga had to sign with the independent power producers (IPPs), most of them cronies and associates of the Mahathir inner circle. These agreements, which so favour the IPPs and are so unfavourable to Tenaga, are one of the reasons for Tenaga’s problems. Take, for example, the agreement with YTL Power. Tenaga has to pay YTL Power 15 sen per unit, irrespective of whether Tenaga has need of the power generated or not, and despite the fact that Tenaga could have generated this power with the same technology for something like 8 sen a unit! Then, there is this RM1.7 billion loss in Pakistan. A power generation facility that would have cost around US$48 million in this country, ended up costing US$480 million, and it has run into a snag and can’t operate.
RM1.7 billion could have funded three years worth of scholarships and educational assistance at current levels. RM1.7 billion is fifteen times the total Seventh Malaysian Plan allocation for the development of pre-school education. RM1.7 billion is five times the total allocation for teacher training development for the whole of the Seventh Malaysia Plan. RM1.7 billion is fifty per cent more than the Seventh Malaysia Plan allocation for the development of new hospitals or the allocation for the upgrading of existing ones. Is this how the Mahathir government looks after our interests and our money?
The curse of the Nipah virus, or is it the JE minister? There are reports of persons formerly infected with the Nipah virus being re-admitted to hospital. Of these, Sin Chew Jit Poh reports that one has died. Monday, The Sun had a heart-breaking front page story, dramatically headlined Village of the Living Dead, on the victims of the virus who survived, only to suffer devastating after effects of the infection which has affected their physical and mental abilities, and have to live with the uncertainty of a relapse. Not to mention the 120 who died and the economic devastation suffered by all the affected families. With a touching, almost childlike belief, they thought that because they were members of, and supported the MCA, relief and assistance would be forthcoming. Not only did this turn out to be false, they have been quietly forgotten. Their long-term future is bleak. Meanwhile, the minister of health and others took to boasting how it took only 16 days from isolation to identification of the Nipah virus, conveniently forgetting how for almost six months he insisted it was JE; indeed, he still insists that it started off as JE which somehow became the Nipah virus. He persists in this insistence despite the total absence of any evidence that it was ever JE. There lies the real cause of the tragedy, again exposing the irresponsibility of the present government -- of its greater concern for the ‘face’ of its ministers and of its arrogant insistence that it is always right, over the interests and welfare of the people.
The fact of the matter is that for almost six months, despite clear signs to the contrary, the minister insisted it was JE and would brook no disagreement. Thus, he adopted a course of action that not only did nothing to contain the spread of the virus, but indeed helped it to spread, especially with the vaccination programme for the pigs. This, despite warnings that the vaccination programme for pigs was either useless or dangerous. Never mind the millions the programme cost the country -- going by what emerged in the last session of Parliament, at least RM7.5 million.
So, to this day, the government will not make a clean breast of the tragedy, will not accept responsibility for the almost six months of doing the wrong thing, and has not instituted a programme to enable the affected people to put their lives and livelihoods back together again. As for the MCA, well, the delegates re-elected the minister in question as their vice-president with the second highest number of votes. They didn’t even care enough to deliver a reprimand or show their displeasure.
END
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