MP suspects police link to car theft rings

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/165269
Segambut DAP MP Lim Lip Eng alleged that several police personnel are in cahoots with stolen car syndicates nationwide and he urged Bukit Aman to probe the matter. Lim, who lodged a report at the Jinjang police station today, claimed that cars reported stolen by the owners were later found by the cops, but reconditioned and given to syndicates to be resold to second-hand car dealers or private owners.
"I've received over 15 complaints since December last year from second-hand car dealers that have yet to be solved, as out of the 60 cars confiscated from them - which were believed to be stolen goods - only fewer than 20 have been returned," he said. Lim said he only lodged a report on the matter today as he had recently obtained evidence indicating there has been foul play. He referred to a police report where a victim had alleged his Mercedes C200 Compressor had been stolen on March 13, 2009 and had made an insurance claim.
In an undated letter from the Criminal Investigation Department of Ampang Jaya district police headquarters and signed by inspector Saiful Irwan Abdul Hamid, it was stated the car was found and returned to its owner, but according to Lim, the owner never collected the car. Instead the same car, with a different registration number, was then allegedly bought by a second-hand car dealer, Pang Koo Tak, from Setiawan, Perak.
Missing car later confiscated by police
To Pang's surprise, said Lim, the car was confiscated on Jan 19 by a police officer named Razlam Ab Hamid of Bukit Aman's disciplinary department for further investigations as the chassis number was the same as that of the stolen vehicle.
Lim said Pang had approached him for help to get back the car, as he was still servicing the hire-and-purchase loan. "My question is, shouldn't the car be blacklisted? The owner bought the car after he checked its registration with the Road Transport Department (RTD) and the car was inspected by Puspakom Sdn Bhd. "My suspicions are that the car was found by the police and later cleared thoroughly by the RTD and Puspakom, and then given to syndicates to channel it to buyers," alleged Lim. "The office from Bukit Aman's disciplinary department is investigating their own department, so there must be suspicion of some sort against the police officers involved," he alleged. Lim added that those who bought the reconditioned cars that are now confiscated are being victimised as they are still servicing their loans. "This includes the insurance companies which had paid off customers who had lodged reports claiming that their cars were stolen," he said.
Lim urged Bukit Aman to probe the police officers allegedly involved in selling stolen cars to third parties without the knowledge of the insurance companies.
Related news: Claims of cops in car theft ring http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation

‘Missing’ lots in TTDI to be restored

Lim Lip Eng (second from right) with some TTDI residents who were issued summonses for parking at bays that were illegally converted to a no-parking zone. — Picture by Yong Chee Choong
Source: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/2011052702270320110527022703/Article (By Noel Achariam, 27/5/2011)
Residents and visitors who were issued summonses for parking along Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 4 in Taman Tun Dr Ismail from last month to early this month can write in to City Hall’s legal department to ask for their summonses to be cancelled. Motorists who have been parking since April along this road were issued summonses for parking at a no-parking zone. However, they were unaware that the 50 parking bays there had been changed into a no-parking zone in April. They also did not notice that the parking bays had been tarred over and a yellow line, stretching the length of the road, had been painted on to indicate the no-parking area.
After protest from residents early this month, City Hall’s investigation found that the conversion was done illegally. City Hall has since instructed the responsible party to convert the no parking zone back into parking bays.
Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said he queried City Hall over the conversion of the parking bays. “I was informed on Wednesday by City Hall’s Road Transport Department director Dr Leong Siew Mun that the conversion of the parking bays to no-parking was done without the council’s consent. “The contractor of Sinaran TTDI condominium in Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 4 had illegally changed the status of the road to a no-parking zone. “We would like to know what action will be taken against the contractor for converting the road to a no-parking area,” he said. Lim also said that City Hall shouldn’t burden those who were issued summonses to write in to City Hall’s legal department seeking to have their summonses cancelled. He said that the summonses should be cancelled automatically. “It is not the mistake of the residents and visitors who parked at Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 4, which always had many parking bays. “Why should they have to writein to City Hall when it is clearly not their f ault? “It is the duty of the council to ensure that such incidents do not happen,” he said.
TTDI resident Jim Sia, 50, who travels daily to the area to shop was shocked to find a summons on his vehicle last month. “We have been coming here for years and the parking bays have never been converted into a noparking zone. “It is not fair, therefore, to be issued with summonses. “We hope City Hall will cancel our summonses so that we’re not blacklisted by the authorities,” he said.
Another resident Ng Ah Hoi, 57, said that all roads and parking bays should be monitored by the council. “City Hall has admitted that this was the contractor’s doing and that it has rectified the issue. “We hope the council will be more diligent in carrying out their duties from on,” he said.

End of happy hours for two pubs in TTDI

Confiscated: DBKL personnel loading tables and chairs from 42East into a truck.

Forced entry: DBKL contractors opening the shutters of 42East in Jalan Rahim Kajai 14 while DBKL officers hold back owner Simpson (left, partially hidden).

Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro (By TAN KARR WEI, 16/5/2011)
Tempers flared when Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Customs officers raided two pubs in Jalan Rahim Kajai 14 in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Despite protests from 42East owner Trevor Neil Simpson, 44, the officers broke the lock and entered the premises and confiscated items like chairs, tables, sound systems, flat screen TVs and beer kegs. They did the same at another pub down the road. While a DBKL officer said that they had sent notices to the operators to close their business, Simpson insisted that he did not receive any. He then asked for a copy of the notice or any document from the officers but the officers said they did not have any with them. “They also said that I need an entertainment licence but we do not have any live bands or performances and only play piped-in music,” he said. A furious Simpson said he had applied for a temporary licence in November last year and had been renewing it every month. “We were told by DBKL that within a week, the planning department, health department, Fire and Rescue Department and Royal Malaysian Customs Department would visit our shop but only the planning department came and they gave us the approval,” he said, adding that they were waiting for their permit before they could apply for an alcohol licence. In January, they were told that their permit would not be approved and were told to appeal the decision. “We sent an appeal letter on Jan 26 but did not receive any reply from the DBKL,” he said. Meanwhile, Simpson said their temporary licence was renewed every month but the DBKL came out with a new ruling on Jan 29 that no pubs were allowed in Jalan Rahim Kajai 14. His wife Angela Thexeira said they had used their life savings to open the restaurant and the ruling was made after they had started their business. “We spent RM200,000 on renovations. If they had told us from the start that we would not be able to operate the business, we would not have wasted our money,” she said.
A Customs Department officer present during the raid said the outlet did not have a liquor licence while a DBKL officer said there have been complaints from residents across the street about noise from the pubs. According to a statement issued by the DBKL corporate communications unit, the two bars were raided in accordance with the Entertainment Act 1993 (Section 4) because they did not have a valid business licence. The same outlet was also raided in January this year but the owners had continued to operate their business.
When contacted, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said he was puzzled over DBKL’s actions. “A year ago, there were complaints from a few residents living across the street but DBKL had replied to me that the complaints were without basis because only cafe and restaurant licences were approved along Jalan Rahim Kajai 14. No pub licences were given out. “DBKL had also said that upon investigation, patrons there were found to be orderly and that only slow music was being played,” he said. He said he did not understand why DBKL had enforced the ruling to disallow pubs from operating in the area.

DAP wants Utusan probed for sedition, criminal defamation

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dap-wants-utusan-probed-for-sedition-criminal-defamation/ (By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, 8/5/2011)

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — The DAP wants the police to investigate Utusan Malaysia over its report of a Christian plot to usurp Islam’s position, which the party has labelled as “seditious” and “defamatory.”

DAP MP Lim Lip Eng said the “defamatory lies” created by Utusan in claiming the party was conspiring with Christian leaders to take over Putrajya and abolish Islam as the country’s official religion prompted him to lodge a police report today. “Either the DAP and Christian leaders are trying to create a Malaysian Christian state, or Utusan editors and bloggers are lying, the Attorney-General has to decide,” he told The Malaysian Insider, reading out the contents of the police report lodged at the Sentul police station this morning. “I want the matter investigated under the Sedition Act, Penal Code, and Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA).

“The DAP has denied the allegations. They are lies,” the Segambut MP added. When asked whether the DAP would take legal action against the Umno-owned daily or the bloggers, Lim said he would leave the matter for the party to decide.

Utusan carried a front-page article yesterday titled “Malaysia, a Christian country?” (Malaysia, negara Kristian?) based entirely on blog postings by several pro-Umno bloggers. The bloggers had charged the DAP with sedition for allegedly trying to change the country’s laws to allow a Christian prime minister, pointing to a grainy photograph showing what they described as a secret pact between the opposition party and pastors at a hotel in Penang on Wednesday. In a posting headlined “Agong under threat? DAP wants to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia?” blogger Marahku (marahku.blogspot.com) accused the DAP of trying to amend the Federal Constitution so that a Christian could assume the post of prime minister. “The whole point of changing the official religion is to allow a Christian to become prime minister of this country,” the blogger said. On bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com, another blogger claimed to have received a message that DAP’s Jeff Ooi had organised a dinner for pastors from both Sarawak and abroad at Red Rock Hotel on Jalan Macalister, Penang. “Among the activities that night included the 35 pastors taking a group oath. They formed a circle and touched each other’s shoulders and vowed in English to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia and put a Christian prime minister in office,” the anonymous writer said in his blog under the headline “Making Christianity the official religion?” He also pointed to the same grainy picture he posted at the top of his blog page, which he had captioned “Partying pastors or pastors doing the party do and vowing to have a Christian as Malaysian prime minister”. The blogger further alleged that the DAP had labelled the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition as an “anti-Christ agent” in the run-up to polls in Sarawak, showing the opposition party was “openly against BN on religious grounds and they are now making it their clarion call, their rabble rousing horn”. He said it was a seditious and religiously divisive statement that was never investigated by the police “or at least they did not tell us about any investigations into the matter”. The blogger called on the authorities to investigate the allegations of sedition, warning that if the authorities failed in their duty the country may be “shattered again”.

The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF), together with partners Global Day of Prayer, Marketplace Penang and Penang Pastors Fellowship, said the claims against their community were lies, and refuted the bloggers’ allegations last night.

Similarly, Ooi said the dinner had been organised by the Christian pastors in recognition of the DAP team who had visited them while in Sarawak for the state election and that the prayer sessions — one before dinner and one at the end — were a usual part of their worship, and not a pledge as alleged.

50 parking lots in TTDI vanish overnight

TTDI residents and visitors want City Hall to explain why 50 public parking lots in Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 4 have been converted into a no-parking zone. — Picture by Hasriyasyah Sabudin
Source: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/gottdiv3/Article (Veena Babulal, 1/5/2011)
Residents of and visitors to Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) are puzzled by the disappearance of 50 public parking bays in Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 4. They say the bays on the road opposite the high-rise Sinaran TTDI condominium vanished last week.
To solve the mystery of the missing bays, Streets went on a check last Friday. It was revealed that the lines marking the individual bays had been tarred over and a yellow line, stretching the length of the road, had been painted on to indicate no-parking. However, a City Hall parking ticket dispenser was still standing, as was the signboard indicating the site as public parking space. The change was apparently unknown to some drivers, including foreigners, who parked there and even dutifully placed parking coupons on their dashboards.
C.Y. Sia, is among those unaware of the change. During a visit to TTDI last week, he parked there, thinking it was a legal parking spot -- and was issued with a summons. Sia, a retiree who lives inBandar Utama, said: "There are limited parking bays in the area. Private parking lots here are expensive, costing RM2 an hour, while City Hall lot rates are only 50 sen an hour."
TTDI resident Ng Ah Hooi wants to know how the parking bays were removed without the residents' knowledge. "Neither the residents nor the public were informed, it is as though it happened overnight," he said. The businessman in his 50s lives in Jalan Rahim Kajai and drives to Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 4 daily to run errands. He said the parking bays were needed in the traffic-congested area. "If legal parking space is not available, motorists will have no choice but to park their vehicles indiscriminately or illegally, which will worsen the congestion here. "This area is high-density, with many high-rise condominiums, offices and a market. "People will start parking on double lines and dividers, and we could end up like our 'neighbours' in Uptown, Damansara Utama, who are facing serious parking problems," he said.
Another TTDI resident J.K.T. Hin, 64, said City Hall should focus instead on Jalan Aminuddin Baki, which is plagued by indiscriminate parking. "Why hasn't City Hall done anything about the haphazard parking problem in Jalan Aminuddin Baki and Lorong Rahim Kajai 14? "It should consider putting up no-parking and towing-zone signboards, especially inJalan Aminuddin Baki, which is a double-parking hot spot," said the retiree.
Meanwhile, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng has called for an explanation from City Hall. He said he had sent an official letter to KL Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Fuad Ismail on April 27. His service centre has been flooded by complaints on the matter in the the past week. He said he received an average of 20 complaints daily from visitors to the commercial district who had been issued with summonses for parking in Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 4. "It is possible that the developer of Sinaran TTDI could have removed the bays without City Hall's consent," Lim said. "If it has received City Hall's consent, however, the road, which is a public road, has to be re-gazetted. "The re-gazettement process takes a minimum of six months. The authorities would have to table the proposal in Parliament, get feedback from the public, go back to Parliament to get a vote, and get the King's consent. After all that is done, they would have to officially inform the public of the change in the newpapers," he said.
UDA Holdings Bhd, the developer of Sinaran TTDI, was unavailable for comment at press time.
Related news: Case of missing parking bays http://thestar.com.my/metro

FLYOVER POSER

The flyover has shifted by 0.5m to the left and has a 0.5m dip as well. — Picture by Hazreen Mohamad

Source: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/2nnzz/Article (By Noel Achariam, 2/5/2011)
Questions have been raised over the project that connects the new palace to Jalan Duta followong claims that it is misaligned. Questions have been raised over an uncompleted flyover connecting the new palace to Jalan Duta.
Motorists who have been plying the Jalan Duta highway have expressed concern over the safety of the flyover. They are also worried as a section of the flyover looks misaligned. The issue has also been highlighted on blogs and Facebook.
A check by Streets recently showed that there is a dip of 0.5m and the flyover, which is located next to the Indian High Commission, has shifted 0.5m to the left. Motorists are also questioning the delay on the completion of the flyover which should have been ready in March. However, a notice board at the site indicated that the flyover project would be completed on May 11 this year.
It was reported that the Works Ministry had in August last year awarded the flyover project, which was estimated to cost more than RM100 million, to Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd. Both the Works Ministry and Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd were unreachable for comment.
Segambut member of parliament Lim Lip Eng also questioned the delay in the project. He claimed that the project was scheduled to be completed in March. "The project due date (March) was posted on the notice board and now they have extended the project to May. "The delay would have incurred additional expenditure and the Works Ministry has to answer for it. The Works Ministry just can't keep digging into the taxpayers' pockets," he said. Lim also said he had received many phone calls about the uncompleted flyover. "The flyover looks misaligned and motorists are wondering if the structure is safe. When I contacted the Works Ministry to enquire about the project, they said the flyover was not under their jurisdiction and asked us to contact Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd. "The Federal Government awarded this project to the developer, so shouldn't the Works Ministry be aware of what is going on? We hope that the Works Ministry can give us an explanation about what's going on."
Lim also questioned the cost of the flyover which he claimed had escalated beyond the stipulated budget. "We had questioned the Works Ministry last year in Parliament over the cost of the project and they said that they are unable to reveal the cost until the project is completed." Lim said he will be raising this issue again at the next Parlimentary session in June. "I will ask the ministry to give us its assurance that the flyover is safe and reveal the cost of the project."