Sweteener, money and materials will start to be distributed all over Kuala Terengganu for this coming by election. All Kuala Terengganu folks, good luck, and don't forget to make a wise choice.... The first sweetener...., oil royalty returns.....
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/13/nation/2801662&sec=nation
Saturday December 13, 2008 - The Star
RM400mil boost for Terengganu sovereign wealth fund
KUALA TERENGGANU: Terengganu’s sovereign wealth fund will be given a boost when Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak hands over RM400mil in oil royalties to the state government.
The money is the first part of the RM3bil oil royalties promised by the Federal Government to the state government.
Much of the royalties will be banked into the proposed Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which will be launched by the middle of next year.
State Commerce, Industries and Environment committee chairman Toh Chin Yaw said the TIA would manage prudently the oil royalties for the benefit of the state and the people.
“We have to look into the finer details before setting up the TIA. We have to check the legal aspects and also agree on how to manage the fund successfully on a long-term basis,” he said yesterday.
Toh said the state government would study which areas the RM10bil TIA fund should be invested in so that it could benefit the state.
This, he noted, is for the future when Terengganu’s oil runs out. He said the establishment of TIA was discussed for some time after the Federal Government agreed to hand over the management of the oil royalties to the state government in May.
Toh was commenting on a report in a news portal that the state government would set up the TIA which would be run solely by professionals.
The report said the proposal for a sovereign wealth fund was put forward by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.
Under the TIA, the Sultan of Terengganu will be the chairman of the Board of Advisers. The Mentri Besar will also be represented on the board.
BN says, PPP can pull out from BN because the government will not entertain PPP for ISA review. What Kayveas will do next? Is he brave enough to fulfill his promise?...Looks like "sandiwara" isn't it?....
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/12/nation/2786371&sec=nation
Friday December 12, 2008 - The Star
PPP backs Kayveas on ISA
KUALA LUMPUR: The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is standing solidly behind its president Datuk M. Kayveas in asking the Government to amend the Internal Security Act (ISA) before the next general election or it would have “no reason to remain” in Barisan Nasional.
The PPP supreme council, which held an emergency meeting yesterday, voiced its full support for Kayveas, who was not present as he was overseas.
PPP also announced that it had sacked former president S.I. Rajah from the party for meeting the Prime Minister and informing him that PPP would not leave Barisan and calling on Kayveas to step down as president.
Its deputy president Datuk Lee Heng, who chaired the meeting, said Kayveas had urged the Government to amend the ISA following calls from the party’s Wanita and Youth wings recently to abolish the Act altogether.
“The president’s response to that is to meet halfway, that is to ask for an amendment. If there is not even an amendment, then PPP would have no reason to remain in Barisan,” he said at a press conference.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had no plans to amend the ISA and PPP was free to leave Barisan if it wanted to.
Lee Heng said PPP’s stance was clear that the Government should amend the ISA to prevent it from being used against civilians who posed no security threat.
He said there was still a lot of time before the next general election and the PPP would only cross the bridge when it comes to it.
“We will not give up. We have already seen some changes (in the Government),” he said, citing the upcoming Barisan Nasional convention in February and the Anti-Corruption Commission Bill and the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill that were tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
Lee Heng said Abdullah never asked PPP to leave Barisan, adding that the Prime Minister’s comment that PPP was free to leave the coalition was merely in response to questions from the media.
Meanwhile, the disciplinary board chairman Datuk Maglin D’ Cruz said Rajah could not appeal against the decision.
He said he had initially thought that Rajah was no longer a PPP member but upon checking found that the former president had rejoined the party in March 2007.
“For him to approach the Prime Minister and say that PPP is not leaving Barisan and for him to ask the party president to step down is a serious matter,” he added.
On Wednesday, Rajah claiming to be an adviser to the party, said he had met the Barisan chairman and secretary-general at Parliament House and gave them the assurance that PPP would not pull out of the coalition.
He called on Kayveas to step down instead.
KUALA LUMPUR: Three potential investors are expected to come on board the Kertih Plastics Park (KPP) next year.
The investors comprised both local and foregin companies, including one from Australia, said East Coast Economic Region (ECER) development council chief executive officer Datuk Jebasingam Issace John.
“The companies are from the various polymer sectors,” he told StarBiz yesterday.
KPP has already attracted three investors: Hi Essence Cable Sdn Bhd, a manufacturer of cables and wires with a proposed investment of RM85mil; pipe maker Latenfield Pipe Industries Sdn Bhd (RM40mil); and FMD Polypipes Industry Sdn Bhd, a producer of heavy duty bags and pipes (RM20mil).
Datuk Jebasingam Issace John They would be having joint ventures with foreign companies and were expected to ink some deals today, he said.
“It is still early days yet for KPP,” he said, adding that interest was gaining traction.
Its proximity to the Kertih Integrated Petrochemical Complex (KIPC) and the new Petronas Polymer Technology Centre offered multiple advantages, he said.
The KPP is set to become the country’s first fully integrated plastics hub and the third in the Asian region.
It will be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today.
KPP would be an economic cluster supporting the plastics and plastics-related manufacturing activities and offer the opportunity for small and medium enterprises to locate their manufacturing facilities where they would have access to a wide range of plastic resins for raw materials.
“Because KPP is close to the main source of polymer resins, it will provide plastics companies access to reliable and just-in-time feedstock supply, which translates into savings, logistics and warehousing costs,” he said.
A project under the ECER developement master plan, KPP is anticipated to draw investments of some RM2bil and generate jobs for 7,000 people and to have a multiplier effect on employment.
“For every direct job, there is a potential requirement for 2.5 indirect jobs in the form of support and ancillary services,” John said.
The 140ha KPP site is next to the existing KIPC within the Petronas Petroleum Industry Complex. It is also close to the facilities in the Kertih-Chukai-Gebeng petrochemical hub.
“Feedstock can also be sourced from the Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex or imported through Kuantan Port,” he said.
He added that there were well-established supply chain services such as warehousing and logistics services for other imported raw materials and finished products for other markets.
“KPP is adjacent to Kertih Port (for liquid cargoes) and Kertih Terminal (for dry and bulk cargoes) for centralised tankage, and connected to the Kuantan Port via the Kertih-Kuantan railway system,” John said.
KPP is also centrally located between Europe and Asia, making it an ideal plastics hub. The other two regional plastics parks are in India and Abu Dhabi.
“In challenging economic times, many international companies will seek out a lower cost base or attractive incentives. KPP meets these requirements,” John said.
On Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) commitment to KPP, he said Petronas had laid the neccesary foundation and invested RM70bil to build the oil, gas and petrochemical-related facilities.
“It has taken Petronas 35 years to develop Kertih,” he said, adding that KPP was expected to be fully operational by 2015.
KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has shut down indefinitely several petrochemical plants in Kertih, Terengganu and Gebeng, Pahang as demand for polymers fell sharply due to a slump in overseas factory orders.
Chairman and chief executive officer Tan Sri Hassan Merican said the materials were used to produce consumer goods and hence would be the first to get hit in a global slump.
“Resins are stocking up at Kertih due to lack of demand. When there’s no market for polymers or resins, there is no point producing,” he said. He did not give a timeframe when production would resume.
He said amongst plants whose production had been halted were those processing polyethylene, which is used in manufacturing plastic packaging, automobile parts and food wrappings.
Asked to comment on reports that Iran had signed gas deals worth US$14bil with Malaysia, Hassan said Petronas was not involved in any gas deal with Iran.
“I’m not aware of it,” he told reporters after the launch of the third International Petroleum Technology Conference yesterday.
Kertih and Gebeng are the sites of integrated petrochemical complexes which Petronas constructed to process various petrochemicals ranging from polyethylene to polypropylene.
Other petrochemicals processed at the two complexes include polyvinyl chloride, aromatics, olefins, ethylene derivatives and ethylene.
According to its website, Petronas has joint ventures with BP Chemicals in a polyethylene plant in Kertih while BASF AG and Petronas are partners in several BPC plants in Gebeng.
BASF, a German chemical company, had shut down 80 plants worldwide following low demand for its products. The company, which operates 12 plants locally under a joint venture with Petronas, has brought forward the scheduled maintenance of six of these plants.
BASF said the scheduled maintenance was being brought forward because of weak demand. “We’re constantly monitoring market conditions and customers’ demands, so it is still too early to provide an accurate timing of the maintenance schedule of all the plants,” it said.
An industry observer said orders had been declining in recent months following the US financial crisis and the credit crunch.
The slump in global demand was also reflected by the sharp decline of the Baltic Dry Index, which is a measure of dry bulk traffic, from a high of 11,689 points on June 5 to 684 points yesterday as factories cut production.
The credit crisis, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and collapse of over 20 banks in the US had affected US importers who were unable to obtain letters of credit.
This in turn caused a spiral effect whereby factories could not receive payments and were forced to shut down, he said.
“Several of these importers more than likely got their letters of credit from banks that went bust and so will not be able to honour their orders now,” he told StarBiz.
These factories, faced with rising inventory due to a slump in orders, would also not restock the polymers and resins needed for a whole range of products, hence the need to shut down or bring down production at these plants.
“The next few years will be quite bleak. I’ve been in the business since 1972 and never have I heard of plants shutting down indefinitely; there are shutdowns but they are usually temporary,” he said.
However, he added that oil refining at the complexes was not affected by the shutdown despite oil prices having fallen from a high of US$147 in July to US$47 per barrel yesterday.
What another sad day for Malaysian, when the world crude oil price was sky rocketing, the government said that they cannot sustain the Malaysian petrol price with respect to the world price, but now, when the world price is now starts to became lower, they change their promise and start to introduce the floor price but not the ceiling price. What do you think? Is this protecting the people or protecting their cronies? You tell me......
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/3/nation/2707085&sec=nation
Wednesday December 3, 2008 - The Star
Fifth price cut at the pumps this year
PETALING JAYA: Petrol and diesel prices at the pump are down 10 sen today, with RON97 petrol at RM1.90 a litre and RON92 petrol and diesel at RM1.80.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced this through a press statement released at about 5pm yesterday.
“As the world fuel price has had a sharp decrease lately, the Govern-ment has decided to once again reduce the retail price for the public’s benefit,” he said.
This is the fifth time petrol and diesel prices have been cut since retail prices hit a high of RM2.70 a litre in June.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/3/nation/20081203192812&sec=nation
Published: Wednesday December 3, 2008 MYT 7:29:00 PM - The Star
Fuel price ‘floor or float’ decision next Wednesday
By V.P. SUJATA
PETALING JAYA: Consumers will know next week if the Government will implement a floor price mechanism for petrol and diesel.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said the meeting of the executive council members of the Economic Council, comprising Cabinet Ministers and government officers, would be next Wednesday (Dec 10).
He said consumers should also brace for a decision to have a managed flotation mechanism for oil price based on market rates.
Currently the price of petrol and diesel is not subsidised and not set based on market rates, he added.
Shahrir said many aspects had to be looked into before finalising the issue including generating revenue for the government and providing higher purchasing power for the consumer.
If the consumers want the government to have a free float mechanism, he said they might want it now as prices were down but would not be happy when the price is up.
“Wait for the meeting, I will present my ideas to the exco.
The issue is really between the commercial price (of oil) and how much must go to the consumer and to the government coffer,” he told reporters Wednesday after opening Giant’s 109th branch in Kota Damansara here and launching its book of discount coupons called RM2009 Savings Guide. He said pump prices for petrol and diesel were subsidised in August and September following which commercial prices dropped.
He added that the average crude oil price dropped to below US$57.39 (RM210) per barrel in November and that it would see the same price this month.
Shahrir also said there was no plans to reduce the price of cooking oil.
“I have to follow what the Youth and Wanita divisions have proposed to the party and they want the ISA abolished.
“As a responsible party I told them let’s go halfway and ask for amendments to the Act so that it is not a draconian law imposed on innocent citizens,” he said when opening the Youth and Wanita meeting and elections yesterday.
“The Barisan has to make changes before the next general election. It would be suicidal if we do not.
“The problem with the Barisan is its success the past 50 years. Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.
“The March election has shown what the voters are looking for: good governance and multi-racialism.
“The solution has always been multi-racialism but to date the Barisan is still caught in its own political racial configuration and so what is said is not implemented fast enough.”
Wanita leader C. Josephine Anne said the Barisan had to act now to “fast-track development programmes for all races, show our sincerity and start by uniting the Barisan parties.”
“The Barisan must work towards a common society to regain the confidence of the rakyat, and not just offer lip service and continue to use the race card.
“In this day and age, we cannot continue to pit one race against the other and talk about unity.”
PPP Youth chief T. Murugiah said they did not support the use of the ISA against ordinary citizens.
“The ISA was designed to handle a terrorist threat and should be used only for the purpose.”
On Murugiah’s position in PPP, Kayveas said that he would appoint him to the supreme council and get the council’s approval to appoint him as vice-president.
R. Ellan Govan, who was deputy Youth chief, beat two others to become Youth chief while incumbent Wanita chief Josephine won uncontested.
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