Top priority is given in tackling the right of ownership on Native Customary Rights (NCR)

State’s customary land right: Sabah state government’s priority *new!

Posted on October 22, 2012, Monday

KOTA KINABALU: Top priority is given in tackling the right of ownership on Native Customary Rights (NCR) land and to find the best solutions to problems to protect the interest of the natives.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said every NCR claim received by the government would be studied as deeply as possible to confirm its legitimacy.

“I will ensure priority will be given to looking after, preserving and protecting the interest of the natives,” he told Datuk Nilwan Kabang (Umno-Kunak) at the State Assembly, today.

Musa, who is also the State Finance Minister, said 890,626.47 hectares or 45 per cent of the total government land had been given ownership in Sabah through five methods, including Native Title (NT), equity and gazetting.

In this regard, he said, 17,501 applications for land were processed last year and 6,872 were backed for approval through a meeting of the District Land Utilisation Committee (LUC), with 6,218 applications under Native Title.

As of August 2012, 35,350 applications for land were processed, and 10,540 including 9,922 under NT were supported for approval via a meeting of LUC.

He said, NCR claims could still be forwarded under Section 14 to the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue (PPHT) although the Sabah Land Ordinance had been legislated on Dec 13, 1930. At the same time, the state government would continue to strive to increase land ownership by Sabah-born through other simpler and effective means.

He said, until December 2011, the state government through the Land and Survey Department had registered 348,652 land ownerships. Of the total, 190,452 were NT and given to applicants through the land application approval process.

“This is 55 per cent of the overall number of land ownerships registered in Sabah. A total of 1,970,961 hectares had been given ownerships, and, of the total, 487,680 hectares were under NT which is 24.7 per cent of the land ownerships registered in Sabah,” he said.

In rejecting accusations saying the state government sidelined claims for NCR and discriminated against giving land rights to Sabah-born, he said the government was always open to criticisms, views and constructive suggestions to boost the delivery system from time to time.

He said the Forestry Department had also been ordered to cease the new delineation process of the forest reserves in several areas resided and worked by residents to allow investigations to be carried out on their status.

He said the state government was also planning to issue communal grants in Kota Marudu (17,000 acres), Pintas (10,000 acres), Tongod (15,000 acres) and Semporna (5,117.12 acres).

He said, the state government, in the State Assembly sitting in April 2010, had dissolved 24,563 hectares from the Sook Plain forest reserve and Mandalom through a land swap with government land to enable communal grants to be issued.

“Until December 2011, 36,486.43 hectares had been and are being developed with agricultural plantation in a smart partnership between government agencies and in-situ Sabahans,” he said.

He said since 2000 until today, there were 41 cases involving 1,243 claims by Sabahans filed in court which involved NCR claim issues, of which 10 claims were rejected involving 1,021 claimants while only four claims were allowed by the court involving 17 claimants, and five cases involving 17 claimants opted for consent judgements.

He said, four cases involving five claimants were withdrawn and the remaining 18 cases, involving 183 claimants, had not been decided by the court.

In the meantime, he said 615 customary land demand cases had been registered whereby 207 were recognised, 70 rejected and 338 still being investigated.

In this regard, he said the state government pledged to speed up the investigating process of cases which were still being investigated by using the Native Customary Rights Fast Unit (PANTAS) especially in the rural areas under the Sabah Land Ordinance.

He also reminded that NCR issues should not be manipulated because it touched on the interest on the natives who should be supported by all parties to ensure such issues could be tackled and properly solved. – Bernama

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/10/22/states-customary-land-right-sabah-state-governments-priority-new/#ixzz2AlzCZvwL

Construction worker from Kedah wins RM20mil Toto jackpot

PETALING JAYA: A construction worker from Kedah has hit the jackpot of his life RM20.78mil.

The winning has prompted the man, who is in his 30s, to start looking for a girlfriend and to settle down.

The man struck the Toto 4D Jackpot 1 on Saturday with his winning numbers of 8132 and 3017, which was the combination of his car registration number and birth certificate number.

“He has been buying the numbers for over two months,” Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd said in a statement yesterday.

The man almost missed out on his win as he had accidentally left the winning ticket with his regular Toto customer sales assistant when he left the counter in a hurry.

According to the statement, the man found out the results from the Sports Toto website but endured a sleepless night as he did not have his ticket with him.

However, all ended well when the assistant called the next morning to inform him that he had won.

The winner said he would use his winnings to invest in property, travel and to start a construction-related business.

“He also said he would start looking for a girlfriend,” the statement said.

His mother, who was with him at the Sports Toto head office, said her son was filial and hard-working but had delayed his plans to settle down as he felt he was not ready, especially financially.

Sports Toto also announced that an engineering consultant from Selangor won its Mega Toto 6/52 Jackpot 1 totalling RM3.9mil.

The man, who is in his 50s, got his winning numbers of 18, 21, 29, 31, 33 and 39 via Sports Toto's computerised random numbers selection system, Lucky Pick.

He and his wife recounted how they checked and double-checked their numbers both on the website and in a newspaper after discovering that they had won.

The Toto player of over 20 years described his jackpot win as a “boost” to his life.

hogged the media limelight for posting erotic videos and photographs

Sex blogger was a fan of Soi Lek

Leven Woon

 | October 22, 2012

A university undergraduate who shot to fame for posting his lovemaking video on the Internet says he used to admire the MCA president.

PETALING JAYA: A 24-year-old law student Alvin Tan, who hogged the media limelight for posting erotic videos and photographs of him and his girlfriend on a blog, said he was a fan of MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek.

The undergraduate with the National University Singapore said this yesterday in a posting on his Facebook account.

“I used to look up to Dr Chua Soi Lek, sexually. Funny how things turned out,” he said.

The posting has received 389 “likes” and 70 “shares” so far.

Chua was involved in a sex scandal in 2008 when a sensational DVD depicting him having sex with a young woman was widely circulated.

He subsequently relinquished his post as a Cabinet minister, MCA vice-president and Labis MP.

Chua, however, made a comeback and was elected as MCA president in 2011.

While Tan did not explain why he dragged Chua into his sex furore, it appeared to be tit-for-tat as several MCA leaders have lashed out at Tan.

MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong told The Star that the blog was a “rude shock” and he found it hard to accept such a culture.

“We are not that advanced or daring. We have to consider the consequences of such actions, especially if students can be exposed to it,” Wee was quoted as saying.

MCA Wanita Kangar division representative, Oh Ho Kiew, said the blog had attracted a lot of public attention and criticism.

“There are young people who are not bothered to take our culture and moral values as part of their life,” she said at the MCA Wanita annual general assembly meeting on Saturday.

why cronies have their loans written off

DAP wants the government to explain three issues, which include directly negotiated government contracts, writting off government and IWK licences.

GEORGE TOWN: DAP has demanded the federal government to address and explain three major issues highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report 2011 to ensure the public is not shortchanged.

Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng noted that one was on several directly negotiated massive government contracts and projects that had affected public trust

Another major issue was the massive write-off of government loans to Perwaja Terengganu Sdn Bhd, amounting to a whopping RM1.626 billion.

The third, he said, involved the exemption of licence fees for Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK) amounting to RM1,371 million.

“Barisan Nasional has to be changed if it continues to dismiss the AG Report by refusing to explain the mismanagement, waste and abuses costing tens of billions of ringgit,” said Lim.

The Penang chief minister cited the directly-negotiated RM12.49 billion Ipoh-Padang Besar double-tracking project, which was delayed twice and had incurred RM3.6 billion extra cost, as a glaring example.

He pointed out that majority of military quarters built by the Defence Ministry were awarded by direct negotiation and its cost nearly doubled to RM3.2 billion with visible defects of collapsed ceilings and leaking sewer pipes.

He urged Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to explain why he waited until the AG Report had exposed the shoddy and defective work to lodge a complaint with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

Moreover, he argued that the Defence Ministry should have acted to punish the contractor instead of passing the buck to CIDB, which had lesser powers.

He demanded Zahid to list down his ministry’s steps to detect such abuses, rectify defects and punish contractors and officials responsible.

He demanded a ministerial explanation on why the federal government waived penalties worth RM87.12 million despite poor and defective performance that flouted contractual obligations.

“Clearly, the entire internal control mechansim within the ministry comprising the monitoring, analysing and auditing of projects has failed.

“Military personnel have been shortchanged in another crony project of BN benefiting contractors at public expense,” he added.

Failure to recover loan arrears

Lim also chided the 1,000 brochure racks worth RM1.95 million for Visit Malaysia Year 2007 bought through direct negotiation by the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board without the Finance Ministry’s approval and the five billboards worth RM3.64 million put up in Indonesia via direct negotiation, a case currently investigated by MACC.

The AG Report also mentioned state-owned company Sarawak Coal Resources Sdn Bhd’s contracts for extraction and transportation of coal ore in Mukah for RM923.03 million that was awarded to four firms through direct negotiations.

“No wonder Sarawak Coal Resources Sdn Bhd is recording losses,” jibed Lim.

The AG Report had highlighted 42 loans given out by the federal government to companies having arrears for a period between one and 17 years, amounting to RM 3,328 million, which was an 18.7% increase from RM2,805 million in 2010.

Lim chided the federal government for failing to take any action to recover the loan arrears and for writing off Perwaja’s RM 1,626 million loans for a period of 16 years between 2011 and 2027.

He questioned the rationale behind the huge write-off when public-listed Perwaja was making profits, arguing that it gave the impression of cronies getting special treatment at the expense of 28 million Malaysians.

“Again why cronies have their loans written off but not ordinary Malaysians who have to pay the last cent or else be sued by banks?” he asked.

On the third issue, he noted that IWK had applied to the environment department (DOE) for 3,290 licenses between 2008 and 2011 to violate environmental standards in disposal of toxic wastes.

Upon approval, IWK was required to pay RM1,554 million for license fees as at end of 2011

But due to the Cabinet’s exemption of RM 1,371 millon on May 21, 2010, IWK now needed only to pay RM183 million.

“Why did Cabinet give IWK this huge exemption at the expense of the environment and without any benefit to Malaysians?” asked Lim.

Also read:

Audit Report 2011: Nothing has changed

Told her friends the size of your you-know-what

FEATURE

Think she’s never lied? You’d be wrong. Although your girlfriend looks angelic and swears she’s never fibbed, the facts are everyone lies; even Scouts and Girl Guides. It may be that your girl tweaks the cost of a dress or denies the fact that she’s ever faked it in bed; either way a lie is a lie and she’s been holding back the truth from you for a long time.

Here are five things your girlfriend has definitely done but won’t ever tell you.

Told her friends the size of your you-know-what
Even though she’d be horrified to hear that you told your guy friends that she has odd shaped boobs or a spotty butt, it turns out that girls abide to a different set of laws and rules. Basically, although you’re not going to be happy about hearing this, your girlfriend will have definitely told all her girl friends the size of your penis and, as if they haven’t caused you enough humiliation, they will probably have also swapped stories about your moves, your stamina and even your deepest, darkest fantasies. If you’re reading this in a red-faced, clammy panic, take a deep breath, remain calm and try to accept that this is just girls’ ways.

Spent a fortune on a dress she wears once
Before you started dating women, you knew that they liked to shop. Yet what you hadn’t been prepared for was the amount she’d spend on items and how often she would go shopping. Research has found that in a lifetime the average woman buys 3,109 items, including: 271 pairs of shoes, 185 dresses and 145 bags. The longer you spend with your girl, the more items she’ll end up buying and the more annoyed you’ll get when she brings home yet another shopping bag. Your girl knows you find her shopping habits exasperating and so at some point she will definitely lie to you about the cost of one of her latest splurges.

Faked it
Do you often refer to yourself as the Love Machine or as Mr. Casanova? Don’t worry, your secret is safe with us and you’re not alone. Most men think they’re excellent under the covers because they always make their girlfriends come, no matter what. Although your girl may be so satisfied because you are dynamo, it might also have something to do with the fact that she’s a faker. According to studies around 48 per cent of women have faked an orgasm at one time or another. So, we’re afraid to tell you that you’re probably not quite the stud you thought you were and your girl does not visit Orgasm Land every single time you have sex.

Returned a gift
You scoured the shops for days, trying to pick out the right shade of jumper or the right scent of perfume. On the morning of her birthday you proudly present the well-wrapped (the lady in the store gift-wrapped it for you) present you picked and watch her reaction carefully. Success! She loves it and is ecstatic. What you don’t know is that every woman is an incredible actress. It’s as if to become a fully-fledged woman they have to graduate from some kind of fantastic drama school where they can demonstrate their skills in faking joy at an unwanted gift. How do we know this? Well, when did you last see your last present being used? If your girl says she lost it or it broke, you can guarantee that she returned your gift the next day.

Told you she’s fine
If you’ve been dating for longer than two weeks then at some point your girl would have told you ‘she’s fine’. Whatever you do don’t believe her. In a study commissioned by 20th Century Fox, researchers found that telling their partner’s that they were fine, even though they were anything but, was the most common lie women told men. If your girlfriend tells you that nothing is wrong even though she’s still pouting and won’t let you touch her, then take it from us: it’s a lie. We’re not sure why women do this. It may be that she is too humiliated to tell you why she is upset or it may be that she wants you to be a mind reader and instantly know why she’s unhappy that you’re going to go on an all boys holiday rather than stay at home to go to her mum’s wedding.

inflation rate in Sabah higher than the national

Kuala Lumpur: The inflation rate in Sabah between January and August this year was 2.0 per cent, slightly higher than the national average of 1.8 per cent, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk S. K. Devamany.

He said throughout last year the State's inflation rate was lower, at 2.9 per cent compared to the national rate of 3.2 per cent.

"Goods and services which recorded a rise compared to the national average for food and non-alcoholic drinks, recreation, culture, hotel, restaurant, decorations, household maintenance and hardware.

"Other food items such as meat, milk, eggs, sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and sweetmeats as well as other manufactured foods recorded a rate increase compared to the national average," he said, replying to Datuk Chua Soon Bui (Independent-Tawau) at the Dewan Rakyat, here, Tuesday.

Chua had asked on the steps taken by the ministry and relevant authorities to resolve inflation woes faced by the people in Sabah.

Devamany said enforcement and price monitoring on essential items such as wheat, sugar, cooking oil, bread, chicken, petrol, diesel and cooking gas were constantly enhanced to ensure that prices remained stable and reasonable.

"The Government will continue to focus on lowering and controlling the inflation rate nationwide.

"To lower the price of essential goods in Sabah and Sarawak, the Government has implemented the price standardisation programme, transport subsidy as well as the 1Malaysia people's shop (KR1M)," he said.

He said under the 2013 Budget, the Government allocated RM386 million to ensure that essential goods in Sabah and Sarawak as well as Labuan were sold at the same price as in the peninsula.

"This included opening 57 KR1M and bearing the transportation cost from the peninsula to Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan including the interior areas.

To a supplementary question by Chua, he denied claims that only one KR1M was opened in each parliamentary area, thus preventing the people living in the rural areas to benefit from it.

"The KR1M was opened and located according to needs and not based on parliamentary areas," he said.-Bernama

Sabah is lacking in development and its infrastructure are poor

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno deputy chief Datuk Salleh Said Keruak has refuted the interpretation of the survey findings by the Merdeka Centre that Sabah is lacking in development and its infrastructure are poor.

Salleh said that on the contrary there is never ending development commitment carried out in the state, with infrastructure, especially water and electricity, being implemented at a most rapid pace.

At the same time, both development and infrastructure are localised, and are not often highlighted in the media, he said.

“Hence to state that there is a lack of development and poor infrastructure is not accurate, not when all sorts of development are taking place throughout the state all the time, such as the Kota Kinabalu International Airport extension works, the ammonia and urea plant, power producing stations, roads, and industrial parks, to mention some,” he said.

Salleh said: “Rural water and electrification programmes have picked up in pace over the last few years and it is only the exceptionally remote areas with small communities that are still without piped water and electricity.

“Even then, the Government is doing its best to provide water tanks and gravity water as well as generator-powered electricity to the remote villages in the interim.”

“People often complain about a lack of development or poor infrastructure as these are common issues, but those who have got both are appreciative of what the Government is doing or has done.”

Salleh, who is also State Assembly Speaker, said some problems cannot be solved overnight; it is deep-rooted and when steps are taken to clear the matter, some people would be happy but there would also be others who would object.

The survey, jointly funded by the Merdeka Centre and a regional consultancy firm, was carried out from Sept 6 to 17 to gauge perceptions of current development in Sabah.

The report report stated that a total of 829 registered voters throughout the state were interviewed, and there were those who felt the state was headed in the right direction and expressed continued satisfaction at the pace of economic development and the continuing peaceful conditions in the state.

Salleh, who did not dismiss the report outright, said that looking at it objectively, it gave the Sabah Barisan Nasional the opportunity to know what was on the minds of the people and to take proactive action to address outstanding issues.

“If what has been reported is correct, then the Sabah BN must take stock of the situation and take steps to correct the misconception that the state is lagging in development.

“Our elected representatives should point out the inaccuracies to the people, and should highlight various development and infrastructure projects, in the local media or using their own efforts, such as a community newsletter, Facebook or their own blogs.

“It would not be fair to say that there has been a lack of development when a huge chunk of the state budget, supplemented by federal funding, goes into all sorts of development,” he said.

As for the illegal immigrants, Salleh said that now that the Royal Commission of Inquiry has started its mission, it should be left to the wisdom of its members to carry out their task, and those with grouses, can go up and meet them.

“But let us allow them to carry out their job in the meantime and see what their recommendations are at the end of the day.

“The Government is indeed serious about tackling the illegal immigrants issue and all concerned should lend their support,” he said.

It has been reported that the RCI would also investigate whether immigrants in Sabah, who possessed blue identity card, temporary identification receipt (blue) or citizenship in an illegal manner, had been registered in the electoral roll.

It has been given six months from Sept 21 to complete the investigation,, and their report must be submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/10/04/findings-on-sabah-devt-flawed-salleh/#ixzz28OZdxXcN

Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon

KOTA KINABALU: The upcoming 26th Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon – The Adventure Series at the Kinabalu Park, Kundasang – will comprise many firsts.

From a two-day event to a single day race on Oct 14, the new changes are aimed at promoting the surrounding areas of Mount Kinabalu.

One of the most important changes was doing away with the summit section thus creating a new race course covering 23km, which is 2km longer than the traditional route of running up and down the mountain.

“The race will start at Kinabalu Park entrance and go through the forest trails to Layang-Layang Hut (at 2703.3m) and down to Masilau Nature Resort.

“The participants will run for another 10km on tarmac road going through several villages before the end point at Kundasang Town

“The change of race course is aimed to promote the surrounding areas of Mt Kinabalu. Therefore this course is called The Adventure Series,” said Sabah Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Ellron Angin.

“The race is not as easy as it looks…it will be a very challenging route,” Ellron told The Borneo Post here on Tuesday.

In line with the fresh changes, a new category for Women’s Veteran will be contested along with the Men’s Open, Women’s Open and Men’s Veteran.

And for the first time ever, all four categories will be flagged off on the same morning at a new start and finish points at the Kinabalu Park entrance and in Kundasang Town respectively.

Apart from that, the Climbathon, already the deciding race for the Skyrunning World Series, will also be the final leg of the Asian Mountain Race Circuit.

Despite all the changes, especially the omission of the summit section which received mixed reactions from locals and international runners, it did little to dampen the reputation of the Climbathon as the World Toughest Mountain Race.

Instead, there is an increase in the number of runners this  year where it has attracted a record 658 entries from 28 countries, with Sabah athletes leading the list with 264, international runners (193), West Malaysia (191), Sarawak (10) and Labuan (three).

“Great Britain has the most entry among foreign countries with 32 athletes and we received increased entries from France, Indonesia and USA,” said Ellron, adding they would limit participation once it has reached 700 entries.

Returning top international runners include Spain’s men’s open title holder Killian Jornet, Marco de Gasperi of Italy, Tom Owens of Great Britain, Amelia Forsberg of Sweden and Silvia Serafini of Italy.

Locals such as Women’s Open and Men’s Veteran reigning champions Danny Kuilin and Yusof Sumbad respectively and Sabah top men runner Safrey Sumping and Guianus Salagan are also expected in the race.

Prize money totalling RM105,000, another first in the Climbathon history, will be up for grabs.

Sponsors for the event included Celcom, New Balance, Sutera Sanctuary Lodges, Spritzer, Exotic Adventure, Malaysia Airlines and Ministry of Tourism Malaysia.

In conjunction with the Climbathon, there will also be a special musical event entitled Rhythm of Kinabalu at the Kundasang Township featuring local artistes.

Sabah Tourism Board and its wholly owned subsidiary company Sri Pelancongan Sabah is organiser the Climbathon.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/10/04/mount-kinabalu-climbathon-is-back/#ixzz28IoCGNfM