PETALING JAYA: The Selangor government appears to be non-committal on signing an anti-graft deal for the  RM50 billion Sungai Klang clean-up projects, as suggested by Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M).

The State's Agriculture, Natural Resources and Entrepreneurial Development committee chairman Yaakob Japari said yesterday:

"The  Selangor government has always been firm in being transparent in handling every project in the State.

MUHARYANI of Subang Jaya says she was overcharged for her Jan 8 to Feb 8 water bill. As the Selangor government gives the first 20 cubic metres of water free, she is confused how the amount could have escalated.

As she lives alone, MUHARYANI says all this while, she has been getting bills with the deducted amounts.

Recently, she was surprised to receive one for RM366.90. She believes it might be the result of some  underground leakage or incorrect billing.

PETALING JAYA: Even though the planned demonstration against the tabling of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in Parliament yesterday was cancelled, the fight against it was far from over.

According to Protes, a coalition of activist groups and opposition parties against the GST, a series of campaigns and demonstrations are being planned even though the government has postponed the tabling of the bill.

The coalition plans to organise another mass gathering on May 1, in conjunction with Labour Day.

PETALING JAYA: Proton Holdings Berhad has clarified that only 481 members of their staff have been receiving RM600 as basic monthly salary, since 2003.

These staff members, according to Proton, are also the ones undergoing six-months job training at the Shah Alam and Tanjung Malim plants.

"Upon completion of training, these employees receive their first salary increment," said Proton in a statement yesterday.

PETALING JAYA: The bus terminal for passengers bound south is in its final stages of completion.

Bandar Tasik Selatan Integrated Transportation Terminal Southern Sector (ITT-S), project manager from Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd, Ghazali Abdul Latif, said about 80 per cent of the construction work has been completed, with the remaining involving road works, and refining and furnishing the terminal and its surrounding areas.

"Everything is on schedule. We will be done by the scheduled date of Nov 19," Ghazali told The Malay Mail yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Next month, local shoe lovers will be in for a huge delight as the Malaysia International Shoe Festival and Exhibition will be making its debut.

The three-day event, themed 'Walking in Unity — 1Malaysia', and organised by the Tourism Min

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of Bank Employees (Nube) this morning launched a '90 Days Maternity Leave Campaign' at the Nube House in Jalan Tun Sambanthan 3, Brickfields in conjunction with International Women's Day, annually held on March 8.

Nube president Michael Tan in his speech, said today is a good day for Malaysians to fight for the 90 days maternity leave to show their support for women's rights.

"We have been requesting since 1997 for the government to grant the 90 days maternity leave but it has been futile," he said.

PETALING JAYA: Sime Darby Property reiterated its stand on the Taman Subang Ria development plan saying the park is private property belonging to the group, and not a public park as claimed by certain quarters.

Its managing director, Datuk Tunku Putra Badlishah in a statement said, "We have every intention of upgrading the 53.66 acres of the said property as a recreational park and handing it over to the relevant authorities, who could then choose to gazette Taman Subang Ria as a green lung and public recreational park eventually."

KUALA LUMPUR: A 27-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years jail and 10 strokes of rotan for drug possession at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning.

Mohd Syaiful Effendi Mohd Daud, initially charged for trafficking, was offered an alternative charge by deputy public prosecutor Naziah Mokhtar, for possession instead.

He was earlier charged for trafficking and possessing 447g of cannabis under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries the death sentence.

PETALING JAYA: Local councils are set to act against 'Ali Baba' traders who lease their business licences and premises to foreigners.

Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail said, to stop the unhealthy trend, City Hall will be introducing identification tags for all business owners.

“City Hall is very serious about tackling this issue. With the identification tag for each business owner and at least one local assistant, we will be able to identify and nab errant traders whenever we conduct inspections.”

PETALING JAYA: The newly formed coalition of Malay NGOs, Majlis Perundingan NGO Melayu (MPM), aims to correct "imbalances" in Malay rights, says its spokesman Datuk Ibrahim Ali.

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 300 less-fortunate children and senior citizens from 17 homes in the Klang Valley were treated to a sumptuous tea-party at Hotel Nikko yesterday, in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations.

HUANG of Kuala Lumpur claims that the broadband service from Maxis is disappointing especially when, four months ago, he upgraded his Maxis modem (Huawei E220) to the thumb-drive sized Maxis modem which is able to receive up to 12GB of data.

"The download speed of the new broadband is only 0.20Mb/s and its upload speed is 0.10 Mb/s," he says.

 

K. SINATAMBY of Cheras is upset with Telekom Malaysia (TM) for delaying his fixed telephone line transfer from his old place to his new place.

He says before moving out of his old place, he signed up for TM's RM68 Merdeka package which enables him to have caller IDD in his phone.

THERE will be water supply disruption in the Serdang district due to pipe removal works by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) from 10pm on Feb 23 to 5am on Feb 24.

The affected areas are Serdang Jaya, Taman Sri Andalas, Taman Kembang Sari, Seri Kembangan Police station, Jalan Kolej, Seri Kembangan, Jalan Perusahaan Serdang and Serdang industrial areas in Sections 6 and 7.

SYED of Gombak, who recently signed up for the P1 WiMAX broadband service, was upset when later told there was no coverage in his housing area at Taman Berjaya Tambahan.

"When I tested the service at home, I saw the modem's signal colour turned to red. I then called the company's customer's service representative and was surprised when told that there was no coverage in my area," he says.

"It was strange as I managed to receive an email shortly after that. But when I tried to reconnect with the Internet again, my efforts proved futile."

KAMARUDIN AHMAD of Cheras is angry with the inconsistent garbage collection at Bandar Tun Hussein Onn since March last year which has often caused nauseating stench and attracted stray dogs to roam for food in the trash.

KAMARUDIN, representing his neighborhood at Jalan Suasana, had twice lodged complaints to the Kajang Muni

DARREN of Setapak is wondering about the presence of a 'policeman' at the Wangsa Maju LRT station.

"I thought it was weird that the policeman was standing at the monthly pass entrance or exit just to check on passengers whether or not they have passes," he say.

"I think the policeman should be patrolling the station instead."