CONTEMPORARY MALAYSIA

con·tem·po·rar·y - Modern times in its generic sense, living, occurring, or existing, at the same time; often also used as a synonym for "modern" Ma·lay·sia - A country of southeast Asia consisting of the southern Malay Peninsula and the northern part of the island of Borneo.

Dear Readers,

Well the truth has been told, please refer to my previous posting where I mentioned that the scrap metal thieves are illegal immigrants, it was acknowleged by Sabah Industrial Development Assistant Minister Jainab Ahmad as per the news article below.


Kota Kinabalu: Industrial Development Assistant Minister Jainab Ahmad believes the scrap metal thieves who had caused the electricity pylon to collapse on April 22, were from the squatter colony near the tower at Kampung Numbak.

She said their act had embarrassed the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, who many quarters blamed for the massive power blackout.

According to her, the squatter colony there is a haven for illegal immigrants, who driven by hardship, saw the opportunity to make fast money by stealing the metal struts.

"I believe these illegal immigrants were the ones who stole the steel bars," she told reporters after the swearing-in of 60 assemblymen/women at the State Legislative Assembly building.

She said it was very unfortunate that the BN Government was blamed for the power disruption that day that plunged almost 90 per cent of Sabah into darkness.

She called on the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), Immigration Department, police and Special Task Force (STF), among others, to conduct an integrated operation so as to eradicate rampant metal thefts in the State.

Jainab, who is also Karambunai Assemblywoman, urged the public especially villagers to report to the authorities if they see anyone stealing metal items.

The opposition, on the other hand, she said should not just heap the blame on the government but inform the police of the heinous crime.

"This problem can be rectified although some things are beyond our control," she said.

Nevertheless, she said that the squatter colony must go and in this respect called on City Hall to act quickly.

She said the colony must be removed fast because once the squatters have been evicted, the safety of the electricity infrastructure there would be better ensured.

But Jainab said it is hard to evict the squatters, some of whom had been staying there for many decades.

And when the time came to evict them, the Government had to fork out money as compensation to ask them to move elsewhere although in the first place, squatting on Government land is wrong and illegal.

She said if the authorities had been firm from the beginning, the squatter problem would not be difficult to address.

On other developments, she urged City Hall to firmly monitor development projects in her constituency.

"The recent flash floods in Tebobon is the doing of nature but were caused by humans," she said.

Jainab said the developers had indiscriminately cut the hills and in the process exposed the soil.

The soil, she said, would be washed down to the rivers during the rainy season, which is the reason why the rivers become shallower.

She said that developers should be compelled to pay compensation to the people whose properties were damaged or destroyed by the floods.

In many cases, she said the developers did nothing with regards to their social responsibility.

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