That’s why Yang Di-Kasehi Taib never allocate big budget for Masing land development ministry….
Yang Di-Kasehi Taib simply do not trust Masing lah…puppet senior minister with zero budget ministry…that itself tells you a lot huh!
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‘Budgetless’ Masing defends his ministry
by Joseph Tawie, FMT, November 23, 2011
James Masing claims that there were indirect funds available through various agencies.
KUCHING: State Land Development Minister James Masing took pains to defend his office which the opposition said should be abolished because it has no funds.
Accusing the opposition of not knowing the workings of the government, Masing said that its “misleading statements” made it look like a “complete nincompoop”.
Masing was taking on Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen in his winding-up debate on his (Masing) ministry.
Chong had said that since the Land Development Ministry was not given any allocation in the state 2012 budget, it should be abolished and that Masing should retire.
Hitting back at Chong, Masing said: “Let me tell him how the government works before he makes further misleading statements and thereby making himself look like a complete nincompoop.
“It is common knowledge that development programmes or projects can be financed through one or a combination of the following sources: soft loans and grants from the state government, soft loans and grants from the federal government, internally generated revenues, and commercial loans.
“The use of funds other than the state allocations for development means reducing the financial burden on the state government.
“Thus, although the state budget has not provided estimates for development fund for the Land Development Ministry, it does not necessarily mean that it has no projects or is idle as the Kota Sentosa assemblyman seemed to imply,” Masing said.
Agencies get funding
The allocation of development funds need not appear in the budget estimates for a ministry as most of these would appear directly in the budget estimates of the agencies under the control of relevant ministries, Masing said.
“Furthermore, some ministries do not implement development projects directly but do so through their agencies or government-linked companies (GLC) under their control.
“In the case of the Land Development Ministry, the two agencies directly under its responsibility or control are Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB) and Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (SALCRA).
“In addition, there are federal land development agencies under the watching brief of my ministry.
“All these agencies have been and will continue to be active implementers of development projects which benefit, in particular, the rural folk.
“Thus, for 2012 the ministry and its two agencies have been approved with a total budget of RM469.2 million.
“This amount is made up of soft loans and grants from the state, soft loans and grants from the federal government, and internal funds of the agencies as well as funds obtained from the government transformation programme (GTP), national key economic areas (NKEA) for development and capital expenditure and operating expenses.
“Therefore, the statements made by the Kota Sentosa member on Nov 16 in this House and reported in the printed media were based on a very superficial analysis and clearly shows his (Chong’s) lack of in-depth knowledge of government machinery and its operations,” Masing said.
Oil palm development
He said the opposition may also want to note that his ministry has been entrusted with the task of monitoring the development of oil palm in the state and native customary rights (NCR) land.
“To-date there are now 313 oil palm estates, 53 palm oil mills, four palm kernel crushers, and five refineries located in different parts of Sarawak.
“With these establishments under the supervision of the Land Development Ministry, it is difficult to imagine how the Kota Sentosa assemblyman can conclude that the ministry is doing nothing,” he said.
Masing added that from 2008 to 2011, the agencies under the purview and watching brief of his ministry had been allocated development funds totalling RM376.09 million.
“With these funds, the agencies had successfully developed 101,366ha of land into oil palm estates benefiting 25,708 participants.
“I hope with these explanations, the Kota Sentosa assemblyman and his colleagues will understand better on the operation of government machineries.
“I also hope that they will be enriched with this knowledge and become better lawmakers, for the sake of those who voted them into this house,” he said.
Be logical, YB
Masing said that he was bemused with Chong’s argument that since his ministry has no development expenditure, it has nothing to do and should be abolished.
“If we extend the logic of this argument further, we might ask: how much development budget does the Kota Sentosa assemblyman have?
“If he does not have any development budget, what is he doing in this House? And what should we do with his position?
“According to the logic of his reasoning, the Kota Sentosa member and his opposition colleagues are redundant, and, therefore, are irrelevant. Their position should be abolished. Their presence is a waste of public fund.
“But did BN demand that their (positions) be abolished? No. Why? Because we understand the function of the opposition in the overall workings of parliamentary democracy and we uphold the constitution which allows for the presence of diverging views,” Masing added.
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Land Development Ministry redundant — Rep
Borneo Post, November 16, 2011, Wednesday
THE Land Development Ministry, which is helmed by Tan Sri Dr James Masing, should be dissolved as it had no development estimates in the budget for five consecutive years.
Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen, who spoke to reporters at the august House yesterday, pointed out that the most important things for a ministry were budget allocations and development funds.
“Without funds nothing can be done and there will be no projects.”
Chong, who is also state DAP secretary, noted that all other ministries were given development funds.
“I thought that with the Land Development Minister being promoted to senior minister recently, the ministry would get some funding but there are no development estimates at all in the budget.
“That means the ministry is redundant and should be dissolved.”
Chong also questioned the RM1.7 billion in the budget which is meant for “government contribution to approved agencies trust fund”.
“There are some ‘black holes’ in the budget, including this item. For many years, I have raised the question on what are these agencies or trust fund but there has been no answer.”
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Masing raps those saying his ministry has no funds for development expenditure
Borneo Post, November 23, 2011, Wednesday
LAND Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing yesterday rapped Chong Chieng Jen (DAP-Kota Sentosa) and the rest of the opposition members for claiming no funds were allocated for the development expenditure of his ministry.
“The allocation of development funds need not appear in the budget estimates for a ministry as most of these would appear directly in the budget estimates of the agencies under the control of relevant ministries,” Masing said in his winding-up speech yesterday.
He said some ministries did not implement development projects directly, but did so through agencies or government linked companies (GLC) under their control.
“Not all development programmes or projects are government-funded. The state government has long encouraged the private sector to lead investments in all sectors of the economy.”
Masing said this could be seen in the development of oil palm plantations on state land or NCR land.
The Land Development Ministry had been entrusted with the task of monitoring the development of the oil palm industry in the state.
“There are about 313 oil palm estates, 53 palm oil mills, four palm kernel crushers and five refineries located throughout Sarawak.”
“So it is unfair for the Kota Sentosa assemblyman to say my ministry is doing nothing.”
Masing added that for 2012, the ministry and its two agencies had approved a total budget of RM469.2 million.
This amount was made up of soft loans and grants for the state, soft loans and grants from federal government, and internal funds obtained from Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) for development and capital expenditure and operating expenses.
He informed the august house that the breakdown of dividends for Krian folks had been finalised and audited.
“The account of Salcra oli palm estates are kept on an estate-to-estate basis up to the phase level comprising five to 10 blocks each. The detailed profits and loss accounts for the estates will be distributed once the 2011 accounts have been finalised and audited.”
He said the state government had launched ‘Skim Tanam Baru Sawit Pekebun Kecil’ (TBSPK) to expand the hectarage of land cultivated with oil palms in Sarawak.
“The objective is to attain an income above the poverty line index of RM850 per month per family. Within the first seven months, a total of 2,021 hectares involving 1,075 landowners have been implemented on the ground.”
The programme received overwhelming response from landowners throughout the state, he added.
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Accept reality, group tells CM
Sarawak Tribune, 12 March 1987
KUALA LUMPUR – The group of 28 elected representatives of Bersatu yesterday welcomed Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir’s advice to the Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, that the present crisis be handled within the bounds of the State constitution.
Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir was reported as having told the Chief Minister this on Tuesday when he met a delegation of Barisan Nasional leaders from the state at Seri Perdana.
The group also described as “unwise” the calling of a snap state election to solve the crisis.
A spokeman for the group, Dr James Masing of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), said that “in the period of political turmoil, uncertainty and the emergence of polarisation in the state, there is no guarantee that issues detrimental to racial harmony and stability will not be brought forth during an election campaign”
Dr Masing said this in a statement issued at a hotel here which is the group’s temporary base in the city.
The statement was issued after one of its delegations met Umno Youth head Anwar Ibrahim.
Dr Masing said the group wanted to “get down to the business of the government without delay, for any further delay is bound to afffect the welfare of the people.”
He said that since 28 of the 48 state assemblymen had expressed their loss of confidence in Datuk Patinggi Taib, the Chief Minister was constitutionally bound to tender his resignation and allow the group to form a new government.
He reminded the Chief Minister of the meaning of Article 7-1 of the State constitution which states: If the Chief Minister ceases to command the confidence of a majority of the members of Dewan Undangan Negeri, then unless at his request the Yang di-Pertua Negeri dissolves the Dewan Undangan Negeri, the Chief Minister shall tender the resignation of the members of Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri.”
Datuk Taib and company must accept this because this is what the State constitution provides. The Chief Minister should not cling to power when he knows for certain that he has ceased to command the majority support in Council Negeri. If Datuk Taib truly cares for the people of Sarawak, then he must resign forthwith,” he said.
“Bersatu does not wish to wash dirty linen in public nor involve in mud-slinging because this will only bring about bitter recriminations and will not help to solve the problem. We want to get down to the business of government without delay for any further is bound to affect the welfare of the people.” he added.
He said Tun Rahman has denied an allegation that Tengku Razaleigh and himself are the prime movers in the move by Bersatu. “This allegation is part of Datuk Taib’s effort to pit Bersatu against the Prime Minister,” he added.
The Bersatu group and Tun Rahman fully support the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, he said.