Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has given the nod for agreements on tolled roads between the concessionaires and the Government to be made public. The prime minister must be congratulated for listening to the wishes of the people. These agreements are signed during the Mahathir's administration. The ex-premier had acknowledged that the agreements are lopsided.
Works Minister S. Samy Vellu said he had consulted the Attorney-General on the matter and was “now writing to the highway concessionaires,” to comply with a clause that their consent is required before publicising the documents. Earlier, he had asked the AG office to prosecute the four opposition politicians under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for disclosing the Litrak agreement.
The four opposition officials being investigated under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) over the disclosure of a toll concession agreement were questioned for three hours at Bukit Aman on 7th February. The four are PAS treasurer Dr Hatta Ramli, Parti Keadilan Rakyat treasurer Khalid Ibrahim and information chief Tian Chua, and the DAP’s Ronnie Liu, who heads the party’s bureau on non-governmental organisations.
Since, the agreements will soon be declassified as public documents, the government should advice the AG office to drop all charges against the four politicians.
We hope that the other promises will be fulfilled too: to reveal the methodology used to calculate the basis of bumiputera equity ownership, to establish an IPCMC, to combat corruption and to cultivate a first world mentality.
Meanwhile, the people must be congratulated for making their wishes heard and responded to positively by the government.
2 comments:
i wouldn't be so fast to thank the govt.
i think it was the embarasment that RAM and other investment houses already had privy over these documents that made them realise that if the 4 were to be prosecuted, along with them would be the litrak folks and the fund managers.
http://www.dapmalaysia.org/english/
to quote uncle kit,
Does Malaysia then has one law on OSA allowing concession companies to disclose official secrets in the concession contracts in the public domain, although of an exclusive and nature, for the purposes of boosting their loans and stocks while another law to prevent disclosure of similar information to protect the interests of the 26 million Malaysians from being exploited and fleeced through unfair toll hikes as a result of lopsided concession agreements?
2007/feb07/lks/lks4185.htm
We have to persevere. Politics and change is a long drawn battle, I was told.
We should celebrate little gains and work for more.
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