For my son, when he grows up, this site will be my legacy for him. The decisions his mother and I made for him, to understand them, to learn from them and to lead a life without prejudice and to succeed in it on his own merit.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Keepers of secrets

Bukit Antarabangsa, Official secret Act and our Maharajah
by drrafick

1. At about 500pm, I receive a flash on my Blackberry that it was reported in The Malay Mail today, that the Selangor State Government has in its possession, the reports that contain studies on the cause of the Dec 6, 2008 landslide, the risk assessment report of the area as well as a report that contains detailed mapping of high risk landslide spots. Apparently State Legal Advisor (SLA) is now evaluating whether the MB has the power to declassify under Section 2C of the Official Secret Act 1972 (revised 1996) (ACT88).

2. As a resident of BA who has been fighting to get a copy of this report since Dec 2008, I don’t mind waiting for a few more days for the SLA to give his opinion. My own personal assessment after reading Section 2C of the ACT 88 and its related Schedule under Section 2A, it is quite clear that the MB has the rights. In fact it is quite clearly spelled that the JKR Minister has the right to declassify it as well. The way I see, they just don’t have the balls to do it

3. It was really disheartening to note that the State Executives was not aware that it has a copy of the said report in its possession since Sept 09. Dato Shaziman Abu Mansor only mentioned it in the Parliament after being asked about it and he said the ministry has given MPAJ a copy. MPAJ officers were unsure what to do with it and chose to keep it quiet. It did not inform the Public that it has a copy. Neither did it inform the State Government.

4. I am very disappointed the way things are managed between the Federal and the State Government. In these instances, the Federal officers due to their ignorant and blind loyalty to the BN MP and Minister did not want to release the document to the State. The unhealthy and immature politics by the BN Minister really sickens me.

5. Federal officers must understand their role and responsibilities which is guided by the General Orders. They must know that the Minister is not the Maharajah of the Ministry. The KSU and the DG has wide and deep powers. They should have exercised their powers without fear of the Minister. There is a clear separation of powers between the Minister and the KSU/DG. The way I see it, they are not able to use their powers because of their ignorance and lack of spine in doing the right thing. Based on my observation, these government servants are more concern of their own “rice bowl”.

6. Whatever the case maybe, if the State Government released the report in the coming days, they will appear to be the hero of the people in Bukit Antarabangsa. The report serves two purposes. The first it will provide the directly affected residents of the landslide a closure in the sense that they will know triggers the slide that led to their lost of properties and family members. They may want to use it for legal suits against the necessary culprits. Certainly MPAJ is immune from prosecution but the state must look at whether there has been failure on the part of any of the office bearers in MPAJ which contribute to the landslide. Those who had failed need to be dealt with accordingly.

7. The second and most important use of the report is for the residents to evaluate the safety of their surrounding environment. This is important for people like me where we can take the necessary measures to improve the safety around our areas. Unfortunately, politicians do not see it the way, we the residents do. The worst part even their supporters who lived in Bukit Antarabangsa in clear and present danger also cannot do the right thing. They continue to support their man despite not providing the assurances that their children and home is safe from any landslide. I do not understand this blind loyalty.

Latest Update:
The Selangor State government has agreed to declasify theBA landslide tragedy report using Section 2C of the ACT88. I have just received a copy of the summary report. Download here.

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