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EU, <b>Sabah</b> launch RM16 mln forest management – BorneoPost <b>...</b> Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

EU, <b>Sabah</b> launch RM16 mln forest management – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 04 Dec 2013 05:37 PM PST

by Jenne Lajiun. Posted on December 5, 2013, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: The European Union (EU) and Sabah Forestry Department yesterday launched a RM16 million programme to work together on tackling climate change through sustainable forest management and community development.

The contract was signed by EU which was represented by EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation, His Excellency Luc Vandebon and with Sabah Forestry Department director, Datuk Sam Mannan.

The four-year programme is aimed at contributing to the sustainable and low carbon development of the state.

Both parties will also cooperate on the REDD+ strategy to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, promote the sustainable management of forests, as well as the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

According to Mannan, the programme had been designed to meet the needs of Sabah, in particular to support Sabah's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from forest degradation and deforestation.

"It will also help us to effectively engage local communities in forest management and rehabilitation both on government and community lands. I believe that this will generate valuable experiences and enhance our capacity to further develop and implement the planned Sabah REDD+ strategy," he said.

Mannan further added that the programme would benefit the poorest people in Sabah – those who are dependent on the forest for their livelihood.

"Through this programme, they will appreciate the environment better, not that they don't already, but we want to prove that by conserving the forest and by sustainable management on the ground, this would also improve their livelihood. There is no point having conservation and what not at the expense of the people's livelihood and people's standard of living. This must be addressed. This is part of the objectives and goals."

He said the importance of the project was not what was achieved but that it could lead to and to expand to other areas in need of a similar boost.

"Hopefully by that time we have acquired the practical skills and human relations skills that can be quite difficult," he said.

He also disclosed the areas that would be involved in the programme. They are Batu Putih at Kinabatangan, Kampung Gana and Kinabalu.

On the REDD+, Mannan said they were not just addressing at local levels but stressed that the activities involved would benefit the whole world.

Meanwhile, Vandebon highlighted the EU's active engagement with Sabah through various cooperation projects.

"This is the first EU project in Sabah of such a scale. It addresses pertinent issues for Malaysia, such as climate change, sustainable forest management and community development. The European Union is in the lead of the global climate change negotiations and strongly supports actions aiming to curb emissions from deforestation. REDD+ is a relatively new concept and we need to demonstrate that it can bring concrete benefits, in particular, for forest dependent communities," he said.

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<b>Sabah</b> people deserve better protection – Lajim – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 16 Nov 2013 09:11 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU:  When it comes to security, nothing should be treated as an "isolated case".

Such a mindset among the Federal leaders should stop, stressed Sabah Parti Keadilan Rakyat chief Datuk Seri Panglima Lajim Ukin, adding that the people of Sabah deserve better protection and security.

"We support the setting up of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), and in fact, it should have been done long time ago, but we question where they were when all this was happening? Our waters were once again penetrated, and this time, a foreign tourist was shot to death and his wife kidnapped. We fear that if this continues, foreign visitors will lose interest to spend their holidays here out of fear for their lives," said the Klias Assemblyman.

He said that the recent murder-and-kidnap incident was not supposed to be categorised as an isolated case as it involved tourists from Taiwan.

"The government must step up their security forces and strength to ensure that the borders are secured. We must not allow a repeat of such incidences as we need to protect the tourism sector in Sabah … for now, our security is weak. The recent case is proof of that and a wake up call that we must do something fast," he said.

He also described Malaysia as a 'unique' nation, adding, "Malaysia is a country that will wait for something to happen before reacting. Take the Lahad Datu intrusion for example, the top leadership had been notified but they failed to react quickly because they thought it was nothing. It was only after the intruders showed that they meant what they said, that the federal government started to jump.

"We should not wait for an accident to happen and then build overhead bridges … so the same goes with hot spots in Sabah such as Lahad Datu and Semporna. We already had kidnapping cases in the islands before, and that should be a lesson to the government. It is a signal that we need to tackle this issue fast before it gets worse."

The issue of security on the east coast resurfaced when 57-year-old Taiwanese tourist, Lim Min Hsu, was found lifeless along a corridor at a resort in Pom-Pom Island with gunshot wounds to his chest and ribs, while his wife, An Wei Chang, 58, was abducted by gunmen on Friday.

Police are working around the clock to track down the woman and her kidnappers.

The couple, who were among 54 guests at the resort, had been in the state for vacation since November 12 and were scheduled to return home next Wednesday (November 20).

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DAP launches Sabah Dream - The Borneo Post Online <b>Berita Sabah</b>

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 07:24 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP yesterday launched the "Impian Sabah" (The Sabah Dream) movement to penetrate rural communities in the state after its failture to capture more seats in Sabah in the 13th General Election.

The first project under the movement will target a village under the Kota Marudu seat, which was previously won by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili with just a 842-vote majority.

"We were able to 'destroy' the 'fixed deposit' moniker for Johor and Sarawak, by increasing our votes received significantly … However, for Sabah, we were only able to increase our votes by 3.4 per cent to 35.9 per cent," DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang told reporters at the launching here.

"Hence, it is undeniable that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) must pull out all the stops to increase our electoral support in the state with 26 parliamentary seats, including Labuan."

"Impian Sabah" is the second project under the larger "Impian Malaysia" project and after "Impian Sarawak", which was launched in September aimed at capturing rural Sarawak.

Despite targeting 33 parliamentary seats from the Johor, Sarawak and Sabah — the three states that helped keep a weakened ruling coalition in power in the last polls — PR only managed to secure 14 seats.

Of the three states, PR won only three parliamentary seats in Sabah — Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, and Penampang — with the first two won by DAP.

The first outreach project in Sabah will be a RM25,000 gravity-feed water system at Kampung Samparita Laut in Kota Marudu, where over 200 of its Dusun villagers have no access to piped water and currently depend on the murky river nearby.

The village falls under Kota Marudu, won by Ongkili in the May polls after a four-cornered fight involving DAP, Sarawak-based State Reform Party (STAR), and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

"If not for the splitting of votes with STAR, PR would have own the seat. Hence, every effort must be made in these marginal seats so as to ensure that PR will win these seats in the next general election," Lim added.

However, DAP denied yesterday that it will only be carrying out projects in areas where BN won with minor majorities in the May polls, stressing that its main agenda is to deliver their promises to the rural areas.

"I think votes are secondary …We do make full use of our efforts to assist the people of Sabah. We believe votes will come if you do well. We're less concerned about votes today, more concerned about actually delivering what we promised," said Tony Pua, the DAP national publicity chief.

According to Pua, the second project will be done in Tenom, the parliamentary seat won by Umno's Datuk Raime Unggi by a 3,886-vote majority in the 13th General Election. PR's representative was PKR's Masdin Tumas, who won 5,885 votes.

Sabah DAP chairman and Kota Kinabalu MP Jimmy Wong, Sabah DAP secretary and Kapayan assemblyman Dr Edwin Bosi, Sabah DAP assistant secretary and Likas assemblyman Junz Wong, Sandakan MP Stephen Wong and Sri Tanjong assemblyman Chan Foong Hin, Sibu MP Oscar Ling Chai Wai and Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming were present at the launching.

Wong said DAP would explore, study and identify critical programmes and projects that need to be carried out in Sabah to uplift the well-being of the rural and poor villagers.

"We will organise teams of members and volunteers to penetrate these remote villages to undertake projects such as micro-hydro electric dams to provide electricity, gravity feed water systems, repair works on basic infrastructure such as roads and bridges as well as economic upliftment programmes via sustainable sources of income," he said after the launching of the program.

He said Impian Malaysia agents are required to take part as volunteers in these programmes to bring significant changes to the livelihood of these villagers.

The participation of Impian Malaysia agents in the campaign will make an immense difference to these people, the Kota Kinabalu member of parliament said.

"We will be kicking off the first Impian Sabah project this weekend to build a gravity-feed water system at Kampung Samparita Laut, Kota Marudu, a village that is about a three-hour drive from Kota Kinabalu, including an hour of off-road driving," he said.

According to Wong, Kampung Samparita has a population of more than 200 people who have no access to piped water. These villagers rely on the main river source for drinking, washing, and cleaning.

"In fact, they don't even have toilets because the villagers said there isn't any point in having toilets if there isn't any water. The average drinking water colour looks like Nescafe susu and during rainy days, when the colour turns to 'Nescafe kurang susu', they will collect the rainwater for drinking. With this project, we hope to be able to provide running water to the whole village," he said.

Wong said the project would involve two batches of volunteers from November 30 to December 8 and December 12 to December 21. The volunteers will be staying with the villagers, assisting to connect pipes, burying pipes, cement work, and all work related to building a gravity water feed system.

'Impian Malaysia' or the Malaysian Dream is a movement started by Kit Siang in May after the 13th General Election that envisions a plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic differences as the common grounds binding them as one citizenship exceed the differences that divide them because of their ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural divisions.

The movement hopes to gather more Malaysian volunteers (including non-party members) to be 'Impian Malaysia' agents for its activities and programs to promote Malaysian identity and consciousness particularly among the young generation of Malaysians.

In September 2013, DAP had successfully launched the first pillar of the movement – 'Impian Sarawak' – and has completed several projects, involving nearly 40 'Impian Malaysia agents'.

Impian Malaysia agents who cannot take part directly can certainly take part in this thrust by attending fund-raising dinners or donating online via https://dapmalaysia.org/donate. They may even run their own fund-raising activities.

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120 Indians in <b>Sabah</b> still waiting for PR - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 03 Nov 2013 02:58 PM PST

by Mariah Doksil. Posted on November 4, 2013, Monday

KOTA KINABALU: Another 120 Indians who have lived in Sabah since 1968 are waiting for the state government to approve their Permanent Residence (PR) status, said Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) Sabah chairman Datuk V Jothi.

"I am thankful for the approval of 82 out of 202 Indians who have applied for PR status last year. The state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has been helping the Indian community in Sabah although we are the minority in this part of the country.

"I am hoping the Chief Minister will help us to speed up the approval of the other 120 applicants, as they have been in Sabah for so long under the request of the government to develop this state," he said at the state-level Deepavali Open House at Dewan Maksak in Likas yesterday.

Jothi added that the Indian community have been living in harmony in Sabah and have contributed to the state development without bringing social ills, hence he hoped their applications would be approved soon.

Thousands of visitors, including guests of honour Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and wife Toh Puan Norlidah RM Jasni, attended the event yesterday which started at 10am until 2pm.

Visitors were served Indian cuisine such as lamb curry, cabbage curry, briyani and capati. They were also entertained by singing and dancing performances from the Indian community and various dance groups.

Jothi said the presence of people from different races and religious backgrounds at the open house lived up to the spirit of 1Malaysia. He hoped that the open house tradition would be continued by the younger generation in MIC to ensure unity among Indians and the other races in Sabah.

Also present yesterday were Deputy Chief Ministers Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Datuk Raymond Tan; Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun; Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Hj Noor; Sabah State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Salleh Said; Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai; Sabah Gerakan chief Datuk Gordon Leong and Luyang assemblyman Hiew King Cheu.

Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang, who is also president of Liberal Democratic Party, and party members arrived at noon after former president Datuk VK Liew left the event.

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Prevention of Crime Act to be extended to Sarawak, <b>Sabah</b> if amended

Posted: 26 Sep 2013 12:34 PM PDT

by Lian Cheng & Peter Sibon reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on September 27, 2013, Friday

KUCHING: The Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (PCA) (Amendment and Extension) Bill if passed in the current parliamentary sitting, will be applicable to Sarawak and Sabah.

PCA was not applicable in Sarawak and Sabah as the law was passed in 1959 before the formation of Malaysia.

However if Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamid's effort to amend it was successful the act would be extended to East Malaysia.

The bill is expected to be passed without difficulties as only a simple majority is needed and the ruling coalition presently holds 133 seats out of 222 total parliamentary seats.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar when contacted clarified that the amendment of PCA was not an indirect way to reintroduce Internal Security Act (ISA) which was abolished in 2011.

"The new proposed amendment to the PCA will not make it a new ISA.  It is a law with many safeguard mechanism.

"The police and minister have no final say. The courts will be the final arbiter of law when a person is aggrieved by its enforcement," said Wan Junaidi to The Borneo Post here yesterday.

The Santubong MP pointed out that the Prevention of Crime Board which would be formed following the amendment of the PCA would be made up by those who are fit to be high court judges and they would not be from Home Ministry or the police.

Meanwhile, despite the multiple reiterations that PCA amendment was not a reintroduction of ISA, state PKR secretary See Chee How still believed that the amendment would bring back the essence of ISA which was initially enacted to fight communism.

"A new law should be introduced especially just to tackle serious and organised crime, then no one would object to it. We all want a proper law to tackle organised crimes like 20 over other countries in the world.

"Yet, our government is only coming up with the amendment of an old Act which has no specific reference to serious organised crimes but very general," said See.

The Batu Lintang assemblyman stressed that the amendment of PCA if passed would back prevention detention, arbitrary arrests and evasion of judiciary scrutiny.

He further pointed out that since the amendments involved Sarawak and Sabah, there should be consultative effort with local legal experts or bodies such as Bar Council or Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) before tabling the bill but it was somehow conveniently overlooked by those proposing the amendments.

AAS chairman Azmi Mohd Hasbie when contacted said he had not been sent a copy of the draft of the proposed amendments nor was he consulted in any way with regards to extending PCA to Sarawak.

"Without reading through the proposed amendments, I can't really comment on it," said Azmi.

On the related matter of amendments of Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2012 (Amendment) Act 2013 and Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2013 which was tabled by Minister in Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri, the Batang Sadong MP clarified that as the Legal Profession Act was only applicable in the Peninsula and whatever amendments made would not affect both Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah.

The amendments of Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2012 (Amendment) Act 2013 and Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2013 will allow foreign lawyers to practise in Peninsular Malaysia, provided that their entry does not exceed 60 days.

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