Massive loss of Chinese seats complicates CM’s desire for balanced cabinet

KUCHING: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said he needs more time to think before reshuffling the present state cabinet.
He said it was not about ‘inspiration’ but rather more so about the ‘timing’ of when it would be carried out.
“Honestly it’s not about inspiration of when I will reshuffle the state cabinet but more so about the timing,” Taib told the media after his winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly Sitting here yesterday.
Last week, he had told the media that the new state cabinet line-up would be a very complex matter following the massive loss of SUPP in the last state election where they lost 13 out of the 15 Chinese majority seats.
Out of the 13 seats, the DAP had won 12 seats and PKR one. The only two winners from the Chinese community are SUPP deputy secretary general Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh who had won his Bawang Assan seat and SUPP CWC member Datuk Lee Kim Shin in Senadin.
Notable loss to the party are its president and deputy chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan in Piasau, treasurer-general Datuk David Teng (Repok), information chief Datuk Alfred Yap (Kota Sentosa), Youth chief Sih Hua Tong (Batu Lintang) and budding politician and former head of SGH Heart Centre Prof Dr Sim Kui Hian (Pending).
Also last week he was quoted as saying: “In a way yes, But in another way, it is the ups and downs of politics.
And I want to see whether there are ways of encouraging better Chinese participation in the government.
“And that is very important because basically what I want for Sarawak is that it should always be a multi-racial state.
“I think we can say that we are very determined to do so for the simple reason that in Sarawak, we have no race that has the simple majority,” Taib was quoted after attending the opening of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) by Head of State Tun Datuk Patinggi Abang Muhammad Salahuddin at DUN complex here last week.
As such, Taib said he would take some time to study the current political situation before reshuffling the present cabinet.
“Let me think about it properly. I have got to study it (the current political situation) it very well. It’s quite a complex situation here.
“You see the main thing is, I am a bit worried how I can get the Chinese representation to express themselves on a more natural way,” he explained.
Taib who is also the Minister of Planning and Resource Management added that he still believed that most Chinese in Sarawak were quite moderate and decent people.
“But during election, they got excited, they followed the trend. It is okay. We accepted that and I don’t want to comment on that,” he said.
However, Taib was optimistic that SUPP’s recent failure was not going to be a permanent feature in the local politics.
When asked whether Wong would be elevated as deputy chief minister to replace Dr Chan, Taib quipped: “Let’s see what happened. I have got to consult my colleagues in a lot of ways.”
He also refused to speculate on the current sitting arrangement of PRS president Tan Sri Dr James Masing who had been seated on Dr Chan’s former chair in the DUN arrangement.
“I have not thought about all these things yet. Are we going to have one DCM or three or four, I don’t know yet.
“Let us see the structure of the cabinet,” he said.
Currently, the state cabinet has 10 full ministers and 12 assistant ministers after the recent elevation of Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem as the Minister with Special Functions in the Chief Minister’s office.
The last major state cabinet reshuffle was done at the end of 2009 and minor one in early 2010.

Display of invalid halal signs on the rise — Daud

KUCHING: Displaying photocopied halal certificates at food outlets and using halal signs not issued by Jabatan Agama Islam Sarawak (Jais) is against the law, said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman.

He was responding to a question raised by Asajaya assemblyman Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah on the usage of photocopied halal certificates by food outlets in Sarawak.

He added displaying photocopied halal certificates was very common in the state and his ministry had taken action against food outlets caught doing it.

“Sometimes using the photocopied certificates were displayed because the premises actually served meat bought from halal slaughter houses but the certificates were not valid as they were not issued by the proper authorities,” Daud explained during the State Legaslative Assembly (DUN) sitting yesterday.

He said, the proprietors would photocopy the halal certificates of the halal slaughterhouse and put it up at their premises.

“Doing so is against the law, and the Sarawak Department of Islamic Affairs (JAIS) has ordered them to take the signs down,” he added.

Daud also said that the number of business outlets putting up halal signs which were not certified by JAIS was increasing in the state.

“It is impossible to take action against those who use the halal sign if what they sell were in accordance with the halal standards as there are no special halal acts to regulate this matter,” he said.

He added that shops selling non-halal food despite putting up the halal signs would be charged under the Trade Descriptions Act 1972.

Earlier Daud disclosed that eight business premises in the state had been charged for selling non halal food despite having been issued the halal certificate by Jai in answer to Abdul Karim’s question on the breach of halal conditions by halal certified poultry slaughterhouses, hotels and food outlets in Sarawak.

Asked why the cases were not brought to court, Daud explained that JAIS could only suspend Halal certificates or give warnings to the premises as there was no legislations to charge them.

“At present we can only use the Trade Description Act 1972 to charge those who misuses halal certificates. A special Halal Act is currently under consideration by the federal government and will be discussed in the Parliament soon,” he added.

Earlier, Daud revealed that a total of 103 inspections were carried last year on business premises issued with halal certificates by JAIS.

Out of these 22 had been found to have committed minor offences like poor hygiene in their shops while 48 were found to have change the ingredients of their food without informing Jais as the new ingredients were obtained from sources not certified halal by the relevant authorities.

On the question of the new Muslim cemetery site for Maludam and its surrounding area Daud said that Jais and Land and Survey Department would be meeting with representatives from the village before Ramadan on this matter.

- end.KUCHING: Displaying photocopied halal certificates at food outlets and using halal signs not issued by Jabatan Agama Islam Sarawak (Jais) is against the law, said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman.

He was responding to a question raised by Asajaya assemblyman Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah on the use of photocopied halal certificates by food outlets in Sarawak.

He added that displaying photocopied halal certificates was very common in the state and his ministry had taken action against food outlets caught doing it.

“Sometimes photocopied certificates were displayed because the premises actually served meat bought from halal slaughter houses but the certificates were not valid as they were not issued by the proper authorities,” Daud explained during the State Legaslative Assembly (DUN) sitting yesterday.

He said, the proprietors would photocopy the halal certificates of the halal slaughterhouse and put it up at their premises.

“Doing so is against the law, and the Sarawak Department of Islamic Affairs (JAIS) has ordered them to take the signs down,” he added.

Daud also said that the number of business outlets putting up halal signs which were not certified by JAIS was increasing in the state.

“It is impossible to take action against those who use the halal sign if what they sell are in accordance with the halal standards as there are no special halal acts to regulate this matter,” he said.

He added that shops selling non-halal food despite putting up the halal signs would be charged under the Trade Descriptions Act 1972.

Earlier Daud disclosed that eight business premises in the state had been charged with selling non halal food despite having been issued the halal certificate by JAIS in answer to Abdul Karim’s question on the breach of halal conditions by halal certified poultry slaughterhouses, hotels and food outlets in Sarawak.

Asked why the cases were not brought to court, Daud explained that JAIS could only suspend Halal certificates or give warnings to the premises as there was no legislations to charge them.

“At present we can only use the Trade Description Act 1972 to charge those who misuse halal certificates. A special Halal Act is currently under consideration by the federal government and will be discussed in the Parliament soon,” he added.

Earlier, Daud revealed that a total of 103 inspections were carried last year on business premises issued with halal certificates by JAIS.

Out of these 22 had been found to have committed minor offences like poor hygiene in their shops while 48 were found to have changed the ingredients of their food without informing JAIS as the new ingredients were obtained from sources not certified halal by the relevant authorities.

On the question of the new Muslim cemetery site for Maludam and its surrounding area Daud said that JAIS and Land and Survey Department would be meeting with representatives from the village before Ramadan on this matter.

Tiada akaun di Bank Swiss

KUCHING: Ketua Menteri Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud sedia memberi kerjasama penuh kepada Persekutuan Switzerland, jika dikehendaki berbuat demikian, berhubung dakwaan Tabung Bruno Manser (BMF) yang mengatakan beliau memiliki akaun bank di Switzerland.
Sambil menafikan sekeras-kerasnya beliau memiliki akaun sulit di Bank Swiss Taib ber-kata, kesediaan itu adalah untuk membersihkan namanya dan Kerajaan Negeri daripada isu rasuah serta salah guna kuasa.
“Saya tidak memiliki akaun sulit di Bank Swiss juga harta atau apa jua bentuk pelaburan. Tidak ada sama sekali,” katanya dalam pengumuman khas selepas sesi soal-jawab dalam persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN), semalam.
Menurutnya, beliau telah menulis surat kepada Presiden Switzerland, Micheline Calmy-Ray pada bulan lepas bagi mengesahkan sama ada mengarahkan siasatan Lembaga Penyelia Pasaran Kewangan Switzerland seperti didakwa BMF atau memberi salinan tuduhan untuk mendapatkan nasihat guaman.
Beliau yang menegaskan BMF mempunyai agenda politik menerusi dakwaan tersebut berkata, badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) tersebut memiliki rekod lampau dalam menuduh Kerajaan Negeri sejak beberapa tahun lepas.
Katanya antara lain, BMF menuduh Kerajaan Negeri telah menebang 90 peratus hutan di Sarawak meskipun pakar perhutanan tempatan dan antarabangsa mengesahkan 70 peratus hutan diuruskan dengan baik.
“Tuduhan BMF adalah salah dan tuduhan mengatakan saya memiliki harta di Switzerland merupakan kesinambungan usaha untuk mencemarkan imej Kerajaan Negeri, negeri dan para pemimpinnya,” ujarnya.
Taib berkata, dakwaan BMF juga digunakan oleh ahli politik tempatan untuk meraih sokongan orang ramai dalam usaha menentang beliau dan kerajaan negeri yang dipimpinnya.
“Sebagai ketua kerajaan negeri dan ahli badan perundangan, dalam mengekalkan amalan dan tradisi berparlimen, saya bertanggungjawab terhadap Dewan yang mulia ini.
“Justeru, adalah cara terbaik dan hak bagi saya untuk membuat kenyataan peribadi di Dewan yang mulia ini sejajar dengan Perintah Tetap 22 berhubung dakwaan BMF, sebuah NGO asing yang tidak bertanggungjawab terhadap rakyat Sarawak,” katanya.
Kelmarin, Taib yang juga Menteri Perancangan dan Pengurusan Sumber berkata, beliau akan menjawab persoalan berhubung dakwaan rasuah hasil balak terhadapnya semalam.
Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) pada 6 Jun mengesahkan pihaknya sedang melakukan siasatan berhubung dakwaan rasuah Ketua Menteri.
Pesuruhjaya Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed berkata SPRM dalam proses mengumpul maklumat berikutan keputusan Agensi Antirasuah Switzerland untuk membekukan harta Taib baru-baru ini.

Tangani provokasi dengan bijak

KUCHING 19 Jun - Setiap Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Barisan Nasional (BN) telah diberi taklimat dan pendedahan sewajarnya untuk berhadapan dengan provokasi dan menangani kerenah pembangkang sebaik sahaja Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) bersidang kelak.
Ketua Menteri, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud  berkata, pendedahan sebegitu perlu diberikan kepada setiap wakil rakyat, terutamanya muka baru memandangkan pembangkang lebih berminat untuk berpolitik berbanding membincangkan hal ehwal kepentingan negeri.
"Kita telah adakan seminar baru-baru ini dan setiap ADUN telah diberi penerangan mengenai dasar-dasar kerajaan serta situasi semasa politik di negeri ini
"Penumpuan diberikan kepada ADUN baru supaya tahu prosedur-prosedur (persidangan) serta mengenali sikap sebenar pembangkang dan apa jua isu yang ditimbulkan mereka," katanya kepada pemberita selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat BN negeri di sini, hari ini.
Semua ADUN Sarawak dijadual mengangkat sumpah esok (20 Jun) sebelum Yang Dipertua Negeri, Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng menyempurnakan perasmian persidangan DUN 21 Jun ini.
Dalam pada itu, ADUN Saribas, Mohammad Razi Sitam berkata, seminar dan taklimat khas yang diadakan banyak membantu wakil rakyat yang baru sepertinya mempersiapkan diri menghadapi persidangan DUN.
"Mesyuarat yang berlangsung hari ini pula sebenarnya lebih kepada taklimat akhir pucuk pimpinan kepada semua wakil rakyat BN sebelum DUN