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Selangor sacks
or transfers
20 bad officers
by Terence Fernandez
and Llew-Ann Phang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SHAH ALAM: The Selangor
government has in the past year
sacked or transferred about 20
state-appointed government
officers who committed offences
ranging from dereliction of duty
to corruption.
Executive councillor for
local government, research and
development Ronnie Liu said
the officers were from various
departments and agencies,
including local councils.
He declined to name or give
the exact number against whom
action was taken, reasoning
that it was in line with the state
government’s bigger agenda of
weeding out the corrupt and
incompetent.
“This is just the tip of the ice-
berg. Some of them have utterly
under-performed or have been
involved in corruption. Those
transferred were because their
offences were not major,” Liu
told theSun.
He said those suspected of
being corrupt had been referred
to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission.
“We are dead serious against
misconduct and there are on-go-
ing investigations into numerous
complaints against officers,” he
said. For this to happen, hard
evidence is needed, he said.
“The challenge is to find
complainants who are willing to
give testimony on wrong-doings.
Many are worried that it may
jeopardise their jobs or they think
the current government will not
stay for more than one term.
“We have promised confiden-
Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations (Malaysia)
» Probe into N. Korean bank accounts pg2
tiality, yet not many are willing
to give hard evidence. We will
not take action based on hear-
say, as we don’t want to make
mistakes,” Liu said.
He said these efforts are part
of the state administration’s
objective to reform the system
of governance to ensure there
are no avenues for lax service,
corruption or other forms of
misconduct.
He said the present crop of
local councillors is capable of
playing a watchdog role.
“In fact, in the past year, we’ve
seen a marked improvement in
the running of local authorities.
Some have slashed their deficits,
some have seen a surplus and
four were awarded four stars by
the Ministry of Housing and Local
Government,” he said.
On another matter, Liu said
councillors for the 2009-2010
term will be sworn-in today. He
also said since their 2008-2009
term expired on June 30, they
were not allowed to make any
decisions.
He acknowledged criticisms
that the councillors should have
received their appointment
letters earlier to avoid any
uncertainty but reasoned that
this was to ensure that only the
best are chosen.
He also clarified that the
two former councillors who
were bankrupt while serving
had in fact not been declared as
such when they accepted their
appointment. “They are faced
with legal issues and have
started repaying their debts, but
we decided that they should not
be re-appointed,” Liu said, adding
that 80% of the 288 councillors
were retained.
TELLING IT AS IT IS
Prince seeks
wife’s return
KELANTAN ROYALTY ALSO WANTS RM972,750 DEBT REPAID
OTA BARU: Kelantan
K
prince Tengku Muham-
mad Fakhry Sultan
Ismail Petra has filed
summonses in the syariah
court seeking the return of his
estranged Indonesian teenage
wife and RM972,750 in debt.
The Tengku Temenggong
filed the summonses in the
Syariah Court yesterday,
seeking Manohara Odelia
Pinot, 17, who fled to Indo-
nesia in May, to be loyal to
him as well as to return the
money. The prince’s lawyers,
Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar and
Abdul Halim Bahari, filed the
summonses at 11.50am at the
Balai Islam.
The summons for Mano-
hara to be loyal was filed
at the Syariah Lower Court
under Section 8 (a) of the
Syariah Court Civil Procedure
(State of Kelantan) Enactment
2002 and the summons to claim the
debt was filed at the Syariah High Court
under the same enactment and section.
Zainul Rijal told reporters the
Syariah judge had set Aug 2 for mention
of both summonses.
He also said a notice was also filed
for an interlocutory application seek-
ing approval for the prince’s lawyers to
deliver the summonses and statements
of claim outside the jurisdiction of the
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Award winning newspaper
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investigative reporting
No. 4795 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)
Monday
July 6, 2009
www.sun2surf.com
» Streisand’s Answer of love pg17
Kelantan Syariah Court as Manohara
is in Indonesia.
Manohara, a former model who
carries the title Cik Puan Temenggong,
returned to Indonesia on May 31 from
Singapore while accompanying her
husband to visit the Sultan of Kelantan,
who is receiving treatment for a heart
ailment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital.
The summons for Manohara to be
loyal stated that she had ignored the
order to be loyal and return to their
Entertainment
home at the Istana Mahkota
in Kubang Kerian as well
as discharge her duties as a
wife as required by Islamic
law.
The summons also stated
that Manohara would be
declared as having defied
her husband if she did not
comply with the order to
return to him by July 2.
In the summons for
return of the debt, the prince
claimed that Manohara,
before their marriage, had
borrowed RM338,500 for
herself and her mother.
He also claimed that
after their marriage she
had continued to borrow
money, up to RM634,250,
for herself and her mother.
Manohara’s mother,
Daisy Fajarina, has
alleged that her daughter
was physically and sexually
abused when she was in Malaysia after
her marriage to Tengku Muhammad
Fakhry, 31.
The prince lodged a police report
on June 11 claiming slander and in a
media statement on June 26 ordered
Manohara to return to him by July 2.
Zainul Rijal said he hoped
Manohara would be able to attend court
on Aug 2 when the two cases come up for
mention. – Bernama