Some 3,000 residents of Kampung Baru Bukit Koman in Raub, Pahang, are questioning a state agency’s decision to allow the use of cyanide in a gold-mining operation in Bukit Koman.
A statement released yesterday by the residents’ committee pointed out that serious health and environmental hazards are associated with the use of cyanide.
They claimed that the Pahang Mineral and Geoscience Department had issued a letter of authority to the developer, Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd dated Aug 21, 2006 permitting cyanide use to mine gold.
Geez. So greedy for gold that you’d poison the rakyat? :(
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The Police Watch and Human Rights Committee (Police Watch) said it would boycott all current and future inquest proceedings as it has lost confidence in the Attorney-General’s (AG’s) Chambers.
Legal advisor P Uthayakumar said the AG’s Chambers have not been serious about initiating and attending such proceedings.
He said families whose members had been shot dead been police or who had died while in custody would also withdraw from on-going proceedings.
The decision comes on the heels of a walkout staged today by the relatives of V Vikines during an inquest in Seremban.
Backing the decision, Uthayakumar claimed that the AG’s chambers often delays inquests, on some occasions for up to six years; that the sequence of events is not followed when calling witnesses; and that different standards are applied in prosecuting police personnel.
There is so much cynicism, skepticism that stems from despair already as it is :( I don’t really blame these guys for losing faith.
People are being tortured and killed by agents of the government (read the rest of the article), and none of the authorities seem to take it seriously >:( This, by the way, is the same AG’s Chambers that has swallowed the IPCMC – making it an abettor in the crime of blocking something the rakyat needs to protect ourselves from wanton assault and abuse.
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Bernama and Malaysiakini:
Abdullah … also said he will continue to run the country.
Responding to a question, he replied: “Well I think so (laughing), I think so. There is a lot of work to be done.”
Abdullah was asked whether he has the appetite for the job and would like to run again in the next election.
Err….. ha.. ha?
Clear sign of insecurity. Who the hell assumed that he *wouldn’t* continue to run the country? :| Which of the PM’s own internal fears/insecurities was her referring to with such a weird statement?
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A Bernama article highlighting the PM jumping on the Phantom Menace bandwagon also had this blurb which I couldn’t help but notice:
The Prime Minister also witnessed the presentation of a 50,000-pound sterling (RM350,000) donation to the nearby London School of Economics (LSE) from four Malaysian ex-students of the prestigious university.
The four donors are Malaysia Airlines chairman Datuk Dr Munir Majid, AirAsia chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes, businessman Datuk Azman Yahya and Carmen Chuah who gave 10,000 pounds sterling (RM70,000) each and the other 10,000 pounds sterling from the LSE Alumni Society of Malaysia.
The donation will be used to set up a teaching room named Malaysia Room at the university.
Malaysia Room? What about Malaysia floods? :(
Are we so desperate for an international profile that RM 350k is better spent to have some room named after our country in London than on flood victims who have no rooms or roofs in/under which to live? :(
I’m a big believer in letting people spend their money in whatever way they see fit the vast majority of the time, but I thought this might have been in poor taste, given the circumstances :(
Gold is Thicker than Blood &
Water taste better with Cynide!
Malaysia gone MAD!