'Poorly designed abattoirs without proper waste disposal and treatment plants pose a serious environmental and public health threat.'

On Abattoir tiff: Father and son take a stroll

S Param: I refer to the recent threat by the Kedah DAP state assembly person to pull out from Pakatan over the issue of the demolishing of the polluting pig abattoir.

I am not a member of any political party so it does not matter to me if this Kedah DAP assemblyperson quits his party or the Pakatan coalition.

This DAP rep is just trying to exploit the abattoir issue and turn it into a racial one for his political agenda.

I support the Kedah local council’s action to demolish the pig abattoir which was situated in the midst of a residential area. I have nothing against pigs and, in fact, I enjoy a ‘bah kut teh’ dish very much.

But it is all about public health and environmental pollution. Poorly designed abattoirs without proper waste disposal and treatment plants pose a serious environmental and public health threat.

Untreated discharge from abattoirs can contaminate the immediate environment and the waterways. Those who are dependent on the waterways (rivers and streams) for their agricultural and other daily activities are at risk.

Ideally, abattoirs of this nature should be located far away from the public and should be designed such that all waste generated is treated or incinerated before discharge into the environment.

The Kedah local council has made the right decision to direct the abattoir to be relocated. The public, especially the Chinese community, should view this positively.

If the DAP continues with this political strategy to stir up the Chinese community with its hidden political agenda it is only going create unnecessary racial tension in the country.

DAP should realise that when it comes to public health and safety there can be no compromises. The abattoir will have to be relocated and I believe the Chinese community in Kedah understands the rationale for the local council's action.

Grow up DAP!

On PKR tells CM: Go talk to the villagers

CH Siew:

Personally, I agree with PKR state chief Zahrain Hashim that CM Lim Guan Eng should visit the village. The situation at Kg Buah Pala is in a critical state as people are losing their home land.

It is very unjustifiable to say that the state government is out of options and will wash their hands then and there. After all, without these villagers, Pakatan Rakyat wouldn’t have existed.

On Hindraf vs Lim: War of words continue

Maniam Sankar: The villagers of Kg Buah Pala are certainly not the only ones wronged by our courts or the BN government in our long history of a land-grabbing administrations.

To, therefore, expect the PKR government to right the wrong of the previous government and its courts by blatantly disregarding a court order, flawed as it may be, is only to expect to go further down the slope of anarchy.

The best the villagers can do is get a good compensation and go. And for this, they certainly can use the good offices of the CM and even the developer who stands to gain so much.

The villagers have not improved the village to any discernible extent; they are no exemplary villages there deserving of heritage status and their claim that their land was usurped was not upheld in law.

To Hindraf and the villagers I say, go get the best compensation.

And work to improve the government machinery to ensure there are no repeats of these land grabs but not by disobeying court decisions. You deserve sympathy but not as anarchists.

Lim BC: Hindraf thinks that Lim Guan Eng is the CM of Kg Buah Pala? Hindraf only knows how to blame everybody and demand unreasonably.

Hindraf thinks that Pakatan owes them for helping put them where they are today. What will happen if Hindraf leaders become our leaders?

‘With a stroke of pen’ my land and your land will be turned into ‘hereditary cultural homes’. They want to preserve this village as a ‘hereditary cultural home’.

But I believe in another five years, these same leaders will accuse the state government of neglecting the villagers and not upgrading their houses.

Pakatan does not owe Hindraf anything. Hindraf had no other choice but to support Pakatan to ensure a brighter future for the Indians.

The Hindraf mentality is that if you do not appoint their leaders to certain positions but appoint another Indian from outside Hindraf, they will say that you are giving the Indians a chance - even though an Indian was appointed.

Kg Buah Pala has to go for the simple reason the land is not theirs anymore. We voted Pakatan in because we want to see good governance and stop Umno’s bullying tactics for a better future.

On Foreign investment in free fall

HJ Angus: The Malaysian government must take serious measures to arrest the decline in investments the above report is quite disturbing.

Given the global economic crisis and even if we can assume that the rate of investment is uniform, we cannot expect 2009 to receive more than RM8.4 billion in foreign investments.

It really casts serious doubts on whether Malaysia can even achieve a 3% growth for 2009 and 2010 and our overall chances of ever achieving a developed nation status by 2020.

Taxpayers now demand more transparency in how policies are implemented and investors are definitely moving to other nations where laws and policies are not subject to Malaysia's major flip-flops.

The latest measures announced by the PM appear to be merely cosmetic changes and more ‘form over substance’ as the ‘crutch policy’ is still in place after 40 years.

To illustrate how Malaysia's growth has been stifled by the government's ‘crutch policies’, here are some details published by the UN in March 2009. According to the UN Population Database:

Asia's GDP per capita (US$):

Singapore: 1997 - US$25,890, 2007 - US$36,370 - an increase of 40%

Malaysia: 1997 - US$4,801, 2007 - US$7,027 - an increase of 46%

Singapore/Malaysia ratio: 1997 - 5.39, 2007 - 5.17

The ratio has been reduced a little but the GDP for Malaysia is still nowhere near that of a developed nation. No one denies that there has been economic growth but the costs are also significant with major resources especially oil and timber being depleted for economic growth.

I daresay that the economic scenario is made worse as not only are foreign investors heading elsewhere but locals are setting up foreign operations to evade the NEP problems.

As Malaysia is a nation with a young population, the next 10 years will be crucial if we are to avoid social unrest caused by lack of investments and jobs creation.

I believe that a more realistic target of developed nation is 2035 but only if the government makes major policy changes or Malaysians change their government in the next elections.