Morning with NParks volunteers at the Wallace Education Centre
from wild shores of singapore
Bagging Barbets: Coppersmith
from Life's Indulgences
Mangrove Pitta breeding: 1. Who’s who
from Bird Ecology Study Group
SiReNT, coastal erosion and mangroves
from wild shores of singapore
Earth Hour Singapore 27 Mar (Sat)
from wild shores of singapore
A new world?: Social media protest against Nestle may have longstanding ramifications from Mongabay.com news
Many water projects in PUB masterplan are set to be completed this year
Sumita Sreedharan Straits Times 21 Mar 10;
It looks like Singapore the Garden City is on target to become a City of Waterways too.
With World Water Day falling tomorrow, PUB, the national water agency, is confident that its masterplan targets will be met.
The banks of the country's 32 rivers and 7,000km of canals and drains are being transformed, as are its 15 reservoirs which will teem with water activities.
A key element of PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) programme is the people factor: projects will involve residents so that they have ownership too.
The masterplan identified more than 100 locations where projects will be implemented in phases till 2030.
The PUB first identifies a waterway or reservoir for transformation by looking at such factors as demographics, surrounding facilities and upcoming developments.
It then sees how the ABC Waters project can complement the surroundings and add value to the area.
Grassroots groups, schools and residents are involved: Feedback, ideas and views are gathered from them. After all, they will participate in and organise activities around the completed projects.
Mr Yew Kai Lih, 54, senior constituency manager in the Kolam Ayer constituency office, says: 'Our waterway is now our trademark.'
Residents along the Kallang River/Kolam Ayer area now enjoy landscaped river banks and a floating deck.
Upgrading work to the waterways of Kolam Ayer, MacRitchie and Bedok have so far cost $23 million.
Mr Yew believes that the property prices in his constituency have gone up as the waterway now provides waterfront living amenities.
He feels that there is now a sense of ownership of the waterway. The constituency club organises activities such as gardening and performances on the floating deck.
Among the projects that are expected to be completed this year are: Sungei Punggol, Lower Seletar Reservoir, Pandan Reservoir and Jurong Lake. So too will Sungei Whampoa (St George's Lane), Sungei Kallang/Whampoa RC31, Kranji Reservoir, Pang Sua Diversion Canal and Alexandra Canal.
Kallang River-Bishan Park and the Serangoon Reservoir - Lorong Halus waterway will be completed next year.
A problem that currently plagues canals here is pollution, but 'pollution of the waterways has decreased over the years', said Mr Tan Nguan Sen, director, Catchment and Waterways, PUB.
Last year, an average of 14 tonnes of flotsam was collected daily from the waterways. This is a reduction from the daily average of 15 tonnes collected in 2008, despite a steady increase in Singapore's population.
Mr Eugene Heng, 60, chairman of the Waterways Watch Society, sees these changes to the waterways as a positive thing.
The society is a volunteer group that monitors, restores and protects the aesthetics of the waterways.
Mr Heng feels that 'allowing more water activities in select areas is something that the society believes will help the public enjoy and, at the same time, appreciate, understand and value our waters'.
Nature lovers are treated to a beautiful sight as the pink mempat tree blooms
Huang Lijie, Straits Times 21 Mar 10;
Sakuras are blooming in Japan this month - and so is Singapore's version of the sakura tree, the pink mempat tree.
Indigenous to this region, the pink mempat tree bears flowers with small pink petals and a yellow centre that resemble the Japanese sakura, or cherry blossom, hence its nickname, 'Singapore sakura'.
Like the Japanese sakura, the branches are almost bare before the tree flowers, so the crown of pink buds bursting into bloom is especially eye-catching.
Already, flowering pink mempat trees along Alexandra Road, Choa Chu Kang Drive and Joo Chiat Road, have stopped pedestrians and motorists in their tracks.
Retired teacher Angie Ng, 68, said: 'I stopped my car to take a picture of these trees because they are so beautiful.'
The blooms are expected to last for between one and two weeks.
Indeed, the sight is so stunning that an upcoming City Developments condominium project in West Coast Drive, Hundred Trees, plans to plant some 100 pink mempat trees to line a boulevard near its entrance.
Plant lovers whom The Sunday Times interviewed suggest that parks here should have an area dedicated to the trees.
This will allow the public to admire the flowers the same way the Japanese take part in hanami, or cherry-blossom viewing.
In Japan, people throng the gardens from late March to early April every year to picnic under sakura trees and enjoy the profusion of colour.
Mr Tee Swee Ping, assistant director of streetscape of the National Parks Board, said however that there are no plans to dedicate a park to flowering trees 'in hope of having them flower' at the same time.
The local climate does not encourage intense mass flowering periods, he added.
He explained that mass flowering of trees in Singapore's tropical climate is usually triggered by a long dry spell, followed by sudden heavy rain.
'But most of the time, the local climate is uniformly wet without prolonged dry spells, so intense mass flowering periods are few and far between,' he said.
The recent change in weather, from hot and dry to cool and wet, however, acted as a stimulus, causing some trees to bloom.
He added that such changes in weather usually occur between February and April and between July and August.
The pink mempat tree is also planted in clusters along Mandai Road, Ayer Rajah Expressway, Tampines Expressway, and in parks such as West Coast Park and the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Besides the pink mempat tree, other flowering trees here include the trumpet tree, which bears white and pink trumpet-shaped flowers; and the yellow flame, with bunches of small, bright yellow flowers.
More companies are supporting Earth Hour this year by switching off lights and air-conditioners
Sandra Leong, Straits Times 21 Mar 10;
Some business owners might think an extended blackout would be bad for business. Not Willin Low, though.
This Saturday, the chef-owner of Mount Emily bar Wild Oats is turning off his lights from 8.30pm to closing time at 1am. That is three hours more than what he has committed to do on paper for Earth Hour, a global campaign led by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that urges people to conserve energy by switching off their lights for 60 minutes one day a year.
'Everybody loved it last year,' says Mr Low. 'You could see only the silhouettes of people but the mood was very festive and everyone was laughing excitedly.'
To date, more than 3,000 individuals and 300 organisations have signed up for Earth Hour in Singapore this year, says project manager and WWF Singapore's director of corporate responsibility Carine Seror. More are expected to pledge their support this week. Others will also choose to commemorate the event on their own without necessarily recording their commitment with the WWF.
As it stands, non-essential lights at major tourist icons such as the Merlion Park, Singapore River and the Pit Building will be switched off, says the Singapore Tourism Board. More than 10 shopping centres in Orchard Road have also committed to turning off their facade lights.
Official sponsor SingTel will also be sending out 1.3 million text messages to encourage its subscribers to take part in Earth Hour.
Earth Hour, which began in Sydney, is in its fourth year globally but second year locally. Inferring from statistics from The Nielsen Company and the Energy Market Authority, the WWF estimates that 1.6 million Singaporeans took part in the inaugural event last year.
Support for Earth Hour is coming much earlier than last year, says Ms Seror. And many like Mr Low are going the extra carbon- friendly mile to spread the message of environmental consciousness. Also going on an extended, 10-hour lights-out is property group CapitaLand, which will turn off the facade lights of more than 190 of its properties worldwide from 8.30pm to 6.30am the next morning. Its shopping centre Ion Orchard will be throwing an Earth Hour Lights-Out Party featuring local musicians.
Next door, Wisma Atria will be organising a stargazing event on its rooftop from 8 to 10pm.
Other companies are roping staff into the cause. Apart from going dark at 34 stores and 'blacking out' its website, The Body Shop has also organised a staff walk from its Killiney Road office to The Esplanade to attend the WWF Earth Hour concert on Saturday. Performers include Jack&Rai and illusionist JC Sum & Magic Babe 'Ning'.
Its directors have also pledged to take public transport to work the day before.
Hotels under the Hong Leong Group, such as the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel and M Hotel, are going one step further by getting guests to pledge to sleep without air-conditioning on Saturday night. Its tongue-in-cheek campaign is called 'Sleep Naked 2' ('Sleep Naked' was last year).
Says a spokesman: 'We are planning to have our hotel general managers swop their suits for pyjamas and bathrobes during Earth Hour to encourage guests to join in the No Air-Con movement.'
Though Earth Hour here is clearly gaining momentum, drumming up awareness is still a big challenge.
Says WWF's Ms Seror: 'Industrialisation and development made us live in cities where everything is so convenient, easy and hassle-free. Water comes down straight to our pipes, we push a button to have light, we open the chute and our garbage disappears, and we walk into a shop to get ready-made clothes.
'It is magic but it made us forget where all this is coming from, how precious our resources are and that they are not endless.'
But will one hour a year really make a difference? Professor Hooman Peimani, principal fellow at the Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore, says that though Earth Hour is a symbolic gesture and not a substitute for real change, it is still 'better than nothing'.
But Singapore, he points out, has some distance to go in terms of energy-saving. Public lighting is often switched on for unnecessarily long hours, people keep their appliances on stand-by power and recycling is not yet deep-rooted.
He says: 'Drops in the ocean may seem insignificant but all together, they create a huge reality.'
To this end, LifeStyle spends a day living without energy to find out what impact one person can make.
Sandra Leong Straits Times 21 Mar 10;
For the first time in a few hectic months, I'm sitting at my desk in the office, twiddling my thumbs in utter boredom. My laptop, my lifeline to the outside world, is clamped shut and lifeless. I feel it taunting me in that cold, cruel manner that inanimate objects are wont to do.
E-mail, Google, MSN, Facebook. That's work, information, friends, fun. All within sight but not within reach.
Worse still, I'm hungry (had a salad for lunch), tired (cycled and took the MRT instead of driving to work) and smell like unwashed socks (took a ridiculously short shower).
Welcome to the day I became an accidental environmentalist. The assignment: to reduce energy usage and minimise my carbon footprint as much as is humanly possible - all within 24 hours.
It sounds extreme but desperate times call for drastic measures. I've seen An Inconvenient Truth (2006), Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary about global warming. Even a late adopter like me knows that if most of us continue to be apathetic, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide may heat up the planet by 4 deg C by 2100.
Worst-case scenario is the Earth becomes one gigantic wave pool and my children's children end up living like Kevin Costner and his gang of dreadlocked men in that doomsday flop, Waterworld (1995). I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.
But first, how big a culprit am I in the impending destruction of Mother Earth? According to the Singapore Environment Council's Carbon Calculator (www.climatechange.sg), which tallies a household's carbon footprint based on its chosen modes of transport, usage of electrical appliances and recycling habits, I produce about 6,500kg of C02 a year.
In comparison, the carbon footprint of an average Singapore household is 9,200kg of C02 a year, with the global average being 1,300kg of CO2 a year. A fine, Earth-hugging lot we Singaporeans are.
The folks behind this year's Earth Hour are hammering home the point that going green should be a long-term commitment, rather than a symbolic lights-off once every 365 days. Everyday lifestyle changes must be made, they say.
So what can you change, how torturous will it be and will it really make a difference? I go cold turkey to find out.
Environmentalist Eugene Tay, editor of website Low Carbon SG, offers to help me along. Heeding his recommendations, I decide to say goodbye to all the major amenities in my urban existence - no car, no air-conditioning, no fan, no stove, no computer, no TV, no hot water and no washing machine.
Painfully, he also suggests I go vegetarian for the day. Meat consumption, and the production processes it involves, leaves a considerable carbon footprint, he explains.
To preserve my sanity, I make exceptions for work essentials such as my mobile and office phones (without them, this story would not have made the print deadline) and leave the refrigerator running so my food does not turn stale.
But 24 hours and a few sacrifices are nothing. New York writer Colin Beavan, his wife Michelle Conlin and their then two-year-old daughter Isabelle swore off all creature comforts for a year starting 2007. Called No Impact, the rules of his project included no automated transportation, no shopping, no paper and eating only local food.
Their experiences have now been documented in a blog (www.noimpactman. com), book and film.
Inspired, I roll out of bed an hour earlier to adapt to my new life of austerity. Any residual tiredness is shocked out of my system when I take my first cold - icy, rather - shower in years.
Thankfully, three minutes is all I'm allowed. I'm barely clean, but I need to ration water as energy is used to deliver it to our homes.
After using the toilet, I consider a suggestion I came across on the Internet: 'If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow.' I shudder, and choose the former.
I remember I have to wash some exercise gear for running practice the next day. The washing machine is out of the question. I end up hand-washing my clothes with a basin and soapy water. I have a strange image of myself running through padi fields while belting out a folk song. Too much TV, I think.
Not being able to cook, I pack a lunch of unappetising-looking greens. I end up cheating by boiling some eggs to go with my sad salad. Then, I turn off all the power switches I can see in my house, cast one last forlorn look at my car and bike to the train station, my wet hair streaming behind me.
Technology woes strike when I arrive at work. I become an unwilling Luddite. With my laptop banned, I try to be as productive as possible: conduct an interview by telephone and take notes in shorthand, read 50 Ways To Save Water & Energy by Sian Berry and walk around pestering my colleagues.
Lunch is a challenge. Says one unhelpful colleague: 'Don't you really want to eat foie gras, blue fin tuna and shark's fin?' I grudgingly finish my salad but am still famished.
Not knowing what else to do with my day, I nip into a bookstore in town to research my story the old-school way - by reading a book.
I have dinner - salad again - with friends who again think I've lost the plot. I beat a hasty retreat. Well, not so hasty. It's still a 40-minute train ride plus bike journey home.
I fall in bed, exhausted from a day of doing nothing. I'm about to switch on the TV when I see I had taped a big 'X' over it in the morning to remind myself that the Earth is more important than American Idol.
The windows are open, air-conditioner is off and there's a muggy stillness in the air. Sleep is fitful. I wake up drenched in perspiration and with three mosquito bites on my face.
In the morning, I'm eager to see how much energy I've saved. I'm pleasantly startled. If I were to repeat the last 24 hours over a year, I'll be looking at a carbon footprint of about 590kg of CO2 a year, a drastic reduction of about 10 times compared to the previous figure.
Yes, there are flaws in my little experiment. A complete abandonment of modernity is clearly impractical. And given that the calculations are based on every household, it means that theoretically speaking, I'll be expecting the rest of the family to make the same sacrifices to achieve such results.
But there is a point amid all the fantasy. If average Singaporeans like me took the time to better understand the nature of their own carbon footprints, they would perhaps realise that the difference they can make in proportionate figures is more than discernible.
Major energy-suckers such as my car (about 400kg of CO2 a year) and my air-conditioning (3,605kg of CO2 a year) can be done without if I put my mind to it. And surely, there is a case for gradual reductions of energy use, if drastic measures like mine seem highly unrealistic.
Still, I can identify with the inertia that people feel. It seems easy to be completely uncaring or at the other end of the spectrum, somebody like Beavan who has chosen to dedicate his whole life to the green message. But what about the rest of us in-betweeners who have to juggle real- life dependence on energy with environmental conscience? A housewife who wants to recycle but feels she shouldn't bother because she still needs a gas- guzzling MPV to ferry her kids to school?
I share my thoughts with Eugene, who confesses that at times, he too lapses into the 'old ways', like turning up his office air-conditioning on hot days and hailing a taxi when he is in a rush.
We're only human, we both concede. But that may be the very point. We're only human and we may not survive the onslaught of climate change. Maybe it's time for a salad.
Some savings according to the SEC Carbon Calculator
Before: 6,509kg CO2 a year
After: 590kg CO2 a year
Car: 400kg of CO2 a year
Bike/train: 22kg of CO2 a year
Air-conditioning: 3,605kg of CO2 a year
Fresh air: 0kg of CO2 a year
Hot shower: 110kg of CO2 a year
Cold shower: 0kg of CO2 a year (but some energy used to deliver water to the house)
Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 20 Mar 10;
SINGAPORE : Some 1,000 people participated in a run on Pulau Ubin on Saturday to raise environmental awareness.
It was flagged off by NTUC chief Lim Swee Say and NTUC's Assistant Secretary-General Josephine Teo.
Runners either took a five-kilometre or 10-kilometre route.
The event also raised funds for an environmental tree-planting programme.
Pulau Ubin is among a number of designated areas, including parks and nature reserves, where more trees will be planted.
Ms Teo said: "The key point that we want to communicate is that certainly, we do not have to wait for big, large-scale initiatives before we each do our part.
"So whilst it may seem very insignificant that each of us contributes to the planting of a tree, but the collective efforts of each one of us doing one small part can actually make a huge difference." - CNA/ms
New Straits Times 20 Mar 10;
PASIR PUTEH: An attempt by the crew of a deep sea trawler to save a whale shark found floating off the coast here proved futile after it died while being towed to a fish landing jetty in Tok Bali yesterday.
This whale shark proved to be a tough one to handle as fishermen tried hard to land it using a boat crane at Jetty 28, Tok Bali, Kelantan, yesterday. The two-tonne catch was found floating 21 nautical miles off Tok Bali but it could not be lifted out of the water as the crane was unable to bear its weight. — NST picture by Ramli Hussin
The whale shark, known by its scientific name Rhincodon typus, weighing about two tonnes and 10m long, was spotted by the crew about 38.9km off Tok Bali about 6am.
The fishermen, led by skipper Ek Suwan Chai Pong, 46, who is a Thai national, were sailing back to the jetty when they spotted the shark.
"We spotted the shark as it rose to the surface of the waters as if waving at us. We steered our vessel closer to the whale and some of our crewmen climbed overboard to check on it but the shark was already very weak."
He said the crew members decided to pull it back to the jetty with the trawler in the hope of saving it.
"But when we arrived at the jetty, the shark was already dead as we saw no movement at all. The four hours we took to reach the jetty must have tired it."
This whale shark proved to be a tough one to handle as fishermen tried hard to land it using a boat crane at Jetty 28, Tok Bali, Kelantan, yesterday. The two-tonne catch was found floating 21 nautical miles off Tok Bali but it could not be lifted out of the water as the crane was unable to bear its weight. — NST picture by Ramli Hussin
Meanwhile, state fisheries officer Mohd Azhar Jusoh said the department would take the shark onshore with a crane for investigation.
Rintos Mail, The Star 21 Mar 10;
KUCHING: The trade in wild game meat in the state is not rampant, Forest Director and Wildlife Controller Datuk Len Talif Salleh said.
He said the authorities realised there were still people, especially in the rural areas, who hunted and sold wild game meat to their fellow villagers and friends.
However, he said that was allowed as consumption of wild game meat was part and parcel of rural life but it was not widespread.
He pointed out that the authorities were more concerned about poaching and the commercial trade of such meat, especially of totally protected animals.
“Overall, commercial wild game meat trading in town centres is under control. Unlike before, you hardly see people selling wild animals or wild game meat in markets or restaurants these days,” he told The Star yesterday.
When told that there were people serving those meat in rural restaurants and food outlets, he warned that enforcement officers from the Forest Department and Sarawak Forestry Corporation were on the look out for them.
“Although it is not that rampant, our enforcement officers will continue to monitor and patrol the market areas and food outlets, including in the rural areas, to prevent the situation from getting worse.”
On the possibility that the wild game meat sold in rural restaurants and food outlets could have been smuggled from a neighbouring country, he said: “It has yet to be proven. We will monitor the activity and stern action will be taken against the culprits.”
Len said the situation in the towns had improved with more people now aware of the law to protect wildlife.
Apart from that, he said volunteers from the Kuching City South Council (MBKS), who had undergone courses with Sarawak Forestry, were also helping to monitor the situation in town markets.
Len hoped other local authorities would take the same initiative as MBKS by sending their volunteers for the courses.
In Sarawak, those who are found guilty of violating the Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1998, can be fined between RM10,000 and RM50,000, and sentenced to one to five years imprisonment.
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 30 Mar 10;
Research shows customary laws that were implemented by a number of local communities were far more effective than government policies to preserve forest in efforts to deal with climate change.
For local communities, obliging traditional laws means respecting their ancestors.
Preliminary research says communities of Baduy in Banten province, Kampung Kuta people in Ciamis, West Java province and Dayak people in Kalimantan are among local communities that issue unwritten laws to preserve environment and protect the forest.
“Though such agreement is not written, local communities comply more with traditional laws than governmental law,” Ali Akbar, University of Indonesia Faculty of Humanities researcher told a workshop on climate change Friday.
He said that communities implementing taboo regulations do not know about the government regulations about the forest.
“The government’s regulations are not efficiently implemented to preserve forests,” Ali added.
The philosophy of Baduy people among others are mountains and valleys cannot be destroyed; traditional law should not be broken and taboos must not change.
“Baduy’s sacred responsibility is to guard the environment and spiritual heritage of its ancestors from change. To maintain balance and harmony they must live a simple lifestyle, acting moderately,” he said.
There are currently about 8,000 Baduy living in two groups of which each village is led by a supreme leader locally known as Punn.
Ali said that the community in Kampung Kuta entering sacred forests was taboo.
“It is forbidden to take anything from the forest or even enter it, except on Monday and Friday,” he said.
Kampung Kuta won the Kalpataru trophy in 2002 for protecting the forest.
Donny Gahral Aldian, researcher from the philosophy department at the University of Indonesia,
said that Dayak culture was highly influenced by spiritual tradition called Kaharingan, a folk religion most Dayak people followed in Kalimantan.
Kaharingan sees humans and nature as an integrated spiritual whole.
“The followers believe that nature is an integral part of life and not just inorganic matter,” he told the workshop.
“The Dayak people’s culture is a good example on how risk prevention action is inspired by local wisdom and religion.”
The international conference discussed mitigation efforts needed to slow global warming, which caused climate change.
Experts said that protecting forest was crucial to tackle climate change since the sector contributed about 20 percent of global emissions.
In climate talks, customary community roles has been a crucial issue in protecting forests to prevent carbon leakage once deforestation and the forest degradation scheme to reduce emissions (REDD) takes place.
The Alliance of Archipelagic Indigenous People (AMAN) predicted indigenous people had traditionally occupied about 20 million hectares of land, of which most was natural forest.
Most indigenous people rely on the forest as a source of livelihood but conflict is on the rise as many forests became valued as business projects such as plantations and mine sites, it said.
To better protect the indigenous people’s rights to their customary land, AMAN has initiated a mapping project to determine boundaries of the organization’s members land.
Followers believe that nature is an integral part of life and not just inorganic matter.
Antara 21 Mar 10;
Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Oil palm planters in 20 Indonesian provinces are ready to boycott Nestle products if the foreign company really stops buying crude palm oil (CPO) from national producers, a spokesman said.
"About 10 million oil palm farmers spread in 20 Indonesian provinces have stated their readiness to boycott Nestle products. Apkasindo (Association of Indonesian Oil Palm Farmers) is now preparing to draw up a list of Nestle products in the market," Apkasindo Secretary General Asmar Arsjad said here Saturday.
He said Apkasindo had so far only obtained oral statements of readiness from its regional chapters in the country but the association`s central executive board would on Monday (March 22) officially send letters to them to ask for their support for and participation in the boycott of Nestle products.
The boycott was meant to respond to Nestle`s decision to terminate its CPO purchasing contract with PT Sinar Mas which would have a devastating impact on the livelihood of Indonesian oil palm farmers, he said.
Nestle had reportedly decided to stop buying CPO from Indonesian producers as oil palm cultivation in the country was considered to be harming the environment.
Meanwhile, Laksamana Adiyaksa, treasurer of the North Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Oil Palm Entrepreneurs Association (Gapki), said the oil palm planters` boycott threat "should be reacted to wisely by all stakeholders."
"It does not mean that we are afraid or very concerned about the threat but it should be discussed in a business-like way," he said.
The government should also be involved as a mediator in solving the problem caused by Nestle`s boycott of Indonesian CPO which had not happened for the first time, he said.
He said Indonesian CPO producers were increasingly paying attention to the environemntal aspects of their production processes under the Roundtable Sustainable on Palm Oil (RSPO) system."Nestle should not have acted unilaterally," he said.
Earlier, Irfan Mutyara, chairman of the North Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) had said Indonesia was one of the world`s major CPO producers and exporters and thus, if Nestle stopped buying Indonesian CPO, there would be other buyers.
"If a buyer boycotts a product, the producer can do likewise against the buyer`s product and ask domestic consumers to follow suit," he said. (*)
The Star 21 Mar 10;
KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas has discovered a huge tract of oil reserves that could significantly reduce oil prices, claimed former Petronas chairman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.
“I was told it is the biggest oil field this part of the world, and enough to depress oil prices,’’ he told a forum titled “Oil Royalty: A Constitutional Right?” yesterday.
The forum was organised by the Bar Council to discuss the constitutional aspects of the oil royalty payment.
Razaleigh said it was the prerogative of the Prime Minister to give Petronas the green light to start extracting oil from the newly-discovered field.
He hoped part of the earnings would be channelled to a national heritage trust fund for the future generation and that Petronas would manage the resources well.
“We hope there is no ‘leakage’, and the money goes back to the people,’’ he added.
Razaleigh also hoped misunderstandings over the law pertaining to oil royalty payment to Kelantan would be resolved soon, adding the Government should be advised properly.
Meanwhile, another panellist, Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi, said parts of the Petroleum Development Act were unconstitutional.
“For example, if oil is found inland, it is unconstitutional for the federal government to stake claim on it. But according to the Act, it gets 5%, which is unconstitutional,” he said.
Antara 21 Mar 10;
Mataram, (ANTARA News) - The "Land with One Million Cows Program" (BSS) in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) should have a tangible result at the end of this year, an official said.
"Such a program has been calculated in its funds and the number of cow population, and therefore it should have a tangible result at the end of this year," NTB provincial administration` public relations chief M Faozal said here on Saturday.
Seeing that the result of the program was still unclear, Governor Zainul Majdi had to suspend a working contract with around 45 Regional Forces Working Units (SKPD), including West Nusa Tenggara Animal Husbandry Service.
"The working contract with around 45 SKPD will be resumed until after all of them improve their performance at the end of this year on in December 1010," Governor Zainul Majdi said.
According to the governor, the BSS program was expected to be able to increase the population of cows in the province and income of cow breeders.
"The program was launched in December 2008 and ever since the cow population in the province increased significantly," the governor said.
Data from NTB Animal Husbandry Service indicated that the cow population in the province in 2008 increased by 546,114 and then rose to 683,347 in 2009, while in 2010 it is expected to rise by 780,772.
Therefore, the Land of One Million Cow program got a serious attention from the central government to be applied in the other provinces in Indonesia.
West Nusa Tenggara is known to have rice stock as well as livestock in abundance, and thus the province sends not less than 35,000 cows every year to Jakarta and West Java to meet the meat demand of the people.
In addition, the province also shipped at least 9,000 cows per year to Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, Papua, and Sumatra.(*)
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