Wednesday, December 24, 2008

从法律角度剖析宪法赋予霹雳州政府发放永久地契的合法性

LEGAL OPINION ON THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE PERAK STATE GOVERNMENT TO PERMIT THE CONVERSION OF LEASEHOLD TITLES INTO FREEHOLD TITLES


1. It is reported in the media on 24-12-2008 that the DPM Datok Seri Najib Bin Tun Razak said that State Governments cannot make decision on land ownership without referring to the National Land Council. According to the press the DPM was commenting on the Perak Government’s proposal to issue title in perpetuity to the New Villages and Kampung Tersusun land.

2. To examine the legal validity of DPM’s comments it would be necessary to refer to the relevant constitutional provisions that govern the relations between the Federation and the States as encapsulated in Part VI of the Federal Constitution. In this connection Article 74 (1) and (2) of the Federal Constitution read as follows:

74(1) Without prejudice to any power to make laws conferred on it by any other Article, Parliament may make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the Federal List or the Concurrent List (that is to say, the First or Third List set out in the Ninth Schedule).

(2) Without prejudice to any power to make laws conferred on it by any other Articles, the Legislature of a State may make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the State List (that is to say, the Second List set out in the Nineth Schedule) or the Concurrent List.

3. It is pertinent to note that “land” falls under the Second List of the 9th Schedule to the Federal Constitution. Consequently the jurisdiction over land belongs to the State Government.

4. As for the National Land Council its establishment is provided under Article 91 of the Federal Constitution. The composition of the NLC is as follows: a minister as chairman; one representative from each of the States and a maximum of 10 representatives of the Federal Government.

5. The National Land Council appears to have no legislative powers. According to Article 91(5) of the Federal Constitution it shall be the duty of the National Land Council to formulate from time to time in consultation with the Federal Government, the State Governments and the National Finance Council a national policy for the promotion and control of the utilization of land throughout the Federation for mining, agriculture, forestry or any other purpose, and for the administration of any laws relating thereto; and the Federal and State Governments shall follow the policy so formulated.

6. To amend and consolidate the laws relating to inter alia land and land tenure Parliament has enacted the National Land Code (Act 56 of 1965) in pursuance of Article 76(4) of the Federal Constitution (hereinafter called “the NLC”). By virtue of LN 474/1965 the National Land Code came into force in each state on 1-1-1966.

7. On reading Section 76 of the National Land Code and the definition of “alienate” in Section 5 of the NLC (which means “to dispose of State land in perpetuity or for a term of years in consideration of rent and otherwise in accordance with the provisions of Section 76), it is clear that the State Government is empowered under Section 76(aa)(iii) of the NLC and at liberty to implement the aforesaid proposed conversion without the necessity of having to wait for any decision of the National Land Council on the matter as stated by the DPM. The action of the Perak State Government does not contravene any statutory provision. In this connection Section 76(aa) (iii) of the NLC expressly stipulates as follows:

76 “The alienation of State land under this Act shall consist of its disposal by the State Authority:-

(a) for a term not exceeding ninety-nine years;

(aa) in perpetuity –

(iii) where the State Authority is satisfied that there are special circumstances which render it appropriate it to do so

8. The NLC contains no definition whatsoever on the meaning of “special circumstances” . It would appear from a plain reading of Section 76 (aa)(iii) that Parliament has left to it to the wisdom and discretion of the State Authority to determine the contents of “special circumstances”. It is the satisfaction of the State Authority rather than the National Land Council that is of paramount importance; it is for the State Authority to decide whether the alienation of the State land should in a given situation be in perpetuity or a leasehold. In other words the body that is duly vested with powers to decide whether a leasehold or freehold title should be issued is a State Authority and not the National Land Council.

9. There is no statutory provision in the Federal Constitution or the NLC which prohibits the above conversion exercise by the Perak State Government. There is no need for the Perak State Government to wait for any decision by the National Land Council on the matter.

10. In the absence of any legal impediment the Perak State Government can lawfully proceed to implement the proposed conversion of leasehold title into title inperpetuity and ignore the opinion of the DPM which is devoid of any statutory support. The opinion of the DPM that “Perak cannot implement this until decision is made by the Council is at best misconceived; in the words of Shakespeare it is “Much Ado AboutNothing”. It is a pity that the BN Government is still obstructive rather than supportive of the said visionary exercise by the Pakatan Rakyat which the BN Government failed to do anything despite 51 years of rule.

Dated this 24th December, 2008

Dato’ Ngeh Koo Ham

霹雳州政府发放抚恤金 倪可汉: 关怀每个州子民福利

倪可汉(右)移交州政府的抚恤金予长巴意外死者家属,左起玛莉沙、刘梅桂、陈家先、卢宝金、林征财、陈清莲和杨祖强。


(实兆远23日讯) 霹雳州政府发放各1500令吉的抚恤金予曼绒县6名,乘坐往新加坡长途巴士意外翻覆死亡的家属,州高级行政议员拿督倪可汉联同曼绒市议员杨祖强、林征财、陈家先、黄渼沄及州福利局官员玛莉沙,在实兆远区州议员服务中心移交抚恤金予班台曾嘉仪、黄亚华和黄秀雯的关属陈清莲,邦咯岛何莉莉的家属卢宝金与实兆远傅炳结的妻子刘梅桂说,民联政府关怀每个州子民的福利。

他说,该交通意外的1018伤者都会获得州政府的援助,除给予每名死者家属各1500令吉外,重伤者将获1000令吉,而轻伤者则发给500令吉,州政府将在警方、医院及伤者提呈资料核查后发出援助金。

Friday, December 19, 2008

倪可汉慰问APL手套厂员工 劳工局将与管理层会面讨论员工合理赔偿

爱大华_19-12-2008

拿督倪可汉今日凌晨4时刚从北京招商返回吉隆坡,于上午7时接获爱大华APL手套厂的员工电话后,在上午11时30分抵达该手套厂会见他们。

他向现场的员工们致意,并欣慰他们已经在星期三(17日)获得工厂缴付薪金,他感谢西华尼申行政议员及劳工局在这方面所提供的协助。

他进一步解释,在他们面对工厂停工没有付给工友薪水时他已指示管理人力资源部门的西华尼申行政议员进行处理,因为这牵涉人力资源的雇佣劳资问题。

基于有关工厂管理层即将关闭工厂,州政府及劳工局已指示该厂管理层于今日下午前往劳工局汇报,并且根据劳工法令,给予员工合理赔偿等,包括本地工人及外劳,以保障员工们的利益。

此外,对于工厂已积欠2个月水电费,水费甚至高达15万令吉,倪可汉也指示水务局及电讯局暂时勿断水断电,等待事情获得圆满解决,再做进一步的行动。

他希望该厂员工们能够耐心等待事情获得最圆满的解决,州政府将会给予他们协助。

Monday, December 15, 2008

倪可汉前往北京招商 投资额达2亿令吉

霹雳州高级行政议员拿督倪可汉经已抵达北京,进行为期3天的访问(15-18/12/2008),为霹雳州招徕外资,此次招商投资数额达2亿令吉。

SPEECH BY SDR NGEH KOO HAM, DAP PERAK CHAIRMAN AT THE DAP PERAK 14TH ORDINARY CONVENTION AT HERITAGE HOTEL, IPOH ON 14-12-2008

Introduction

In 1998, when I assumed the Chairmanship of DAP Perak, DAP Perak was at its ebb low with only 1 assemblyman for the Sitiawan Constituency and not a single member of parliament for the whole State of Perak. Sense of despair was every where and at the national level they were even voices suggesting disbanding the DAP. The frustration was that despite our sacrifices the people have rejected us. However, we must admit that at the Perak State level our poor electrol performance in 1995 was also contributed by the factional problems in DAP Perak.

The last 13 years since 1995 General Election have not been an easy one but we persevered because we believe the DAP social democratic principles and the values that DAP members held on to are more noble than the racial politics practised by BN.

Our perseverance paid off on the 8 March 2008 General Election which saw DAP becoming part of the ruling Governments of the States of Penang, Perak and Selangor. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties won 5 States namely, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan. PR can be said to have worn 6 States because out of 11 parliamentary seats in Federal Teritories PR won 10 seats.

The need to have a new mind set

Having given us the mandate, the people have high expectation of us to deliver and perform better than BN. We must not disappointed them. If we are proven to be worthy, the next General Election will see the Federal Government falling into the hands of the PR. The village committees, the local governments and the State Government under PR must perform. Party members must now have a new mind set. While in the past we want to be an effective opposition which we must continue to do at the Federal level, we must now be clear of our objectives as part of the ruling coalition in the state governments.

As a Government, we must see to it that the basic needs of the people i.e food, clothings, lodging and transportation are met. People wants to see that health care and education are accessible to all. Although health care and education are under the BN Federal Government’s jurisdiction, with the increase number of PR MPs to 83, we must ensure that the Federal Government does not privatize these two areas of service and leaving the responsibility of these 2 services to the private sector.

In all other aspects equal opportunity shall be our guiding principle. In this regard, the poor, the disabled, the single mothers, orphans, the natives and other less fortunate groups will be helped to ensure that they will be able to compete with others thereby giving them equal opportunity in our society.

Cooperation with other PR parties in Perak


I must say that the DAP Perak’s relationship with other PR parties namely PKR and PAS in Perak is excellent. If in the past we have doubts and fear about PAS, the Menteri Besar of Perak who is from PAS has proven to be an excellent leader in holding the view that the different races in the state can be united and come together if we subscribe to the universal values that we as a human race subscribe to.

Therefore, the DAP Perak fully supports the Perak State Government’s 5 principles of governance irrespective of race, religion or political affiliation. The 5 principles are justice (keadilan), effectiveness (kewibawaan), transparency (ketulusan), trustworthiness (amanah) and welfare (kebajikan).

The Way forward

DAP Perak must move forward and the new DAP Perak committee must look into the following aspects to strengthen the party.

(i) Self sustaining

We must generate income to sustain our political work. Members are encouraged to be involved in economic activities like setting up DAPUR (DAP shops), raising funds to purchase commercial building or such other economic activities to generate income.

(ii) Expand our influence

We would like to see that in each of the 59 state constituencies in the state, there will be a presence of DAP. Though we may not be contesting many of the seats, we will be an influence to help other PR parties to win in electrol elections. Through these branches we can also help to serve the people. We hope to increase our present 56 branches to 150 branches by 2010. This will surpass the highest number of branches in DAP Perak’s history.

(iii) Web TV


Due to the limited space and sometimes biased reporting by the main stream media, we would like to see a DAP web TV established by DAP or by DAP Perak in the near future.

(iv) Increasing human capital

Many have shown a keen interest in DAP after the 8 Mac 2008 general as they see hope in DAP. We hope more people will be willing to invest their time, energy and expertise in DAP so that DAP can serve the public more effectively. We welcome all who are willing to sacrifice and serve.

(v) Attracting more Malays and Natives to join the DAP


Due to the propaganda in the past by UMNO, many Malays have shied away from the DAP. After the formation of Barisan Alternatif in 1999 General Election and Pakatan Rakyat in 2004 General Election, more Malays have now come to accept the DAP. A few branches with members mainly from the Malay community will be formed soon. We hope to see more Malays joining the party to truly reflect the multi-racial nature of our party. We hope also to see more Orang Aslis join our party so that we may be able to extend our service to them and more effectively represent this community.

(vi) Sunshine projects

Our Sunshine projects have received praise from the public. Our social works in helping the less fortunate was one of the ways that have endeared us to the public. We must continue this good work.

Election of DAP Perak State Committee

It is my hope that the delegates today will vote in a committee based on the merits of each candidate. The delegates must never allow factional voting based on envy, jealousy or hatred but to vote in people who are willing to sacrifice to serve the party and the people. The ghost of factionalism that exists prior to the 1995 General Election which saw us almost wiped out must never be allowed to return.

SDR NGEH KOO HAM

倪可汉与州务大臣慰问长巴意外死者家属

倪可汉(左)和尼查(右)慰问周士雄的家属,左2起母亲陈亚珠、周思媛,周仁凯、陈振发。


(曼绒9日讯) 霹雳州务大臣拿督斯里尼查和高级行政议员拿督倪可汉到实兆远甘榜司南马长途巴士意外死者的治丧处慰问,他们希望交通部,警方或医院方面能调查,麻坡东甲长途巴士交通意外死伤者的钱包、手表及贵重物不见了的问题。

大臣针对傅炳结的妻子刘梅桂投诉,丈夫钱包内现款遭人取走,以及邦咯岛何莉莉家属指死者的手表不见了事说,意外的发生导致涉及者死伤已令到家属们悲痛伤心,负责拯救工作的执法单位、拯救官居员及公众人士应将死伤者的钱包和贵重物品保管好,然后原封交还予主人的家属。

随同大臣和行政议员尚有曼绒市议会主席占比曼、市议员杨祖强、林正财、章秉春等,他们在慰问丧府时宣布,霹雳州政府将给予该交通意外死者各1500令吉和伤者1000令吉的抚恤金。

霹雳州高级行政议员拿督倪可汉说,州公共交通局极关注道路安全,且不时改善交通意外高风险区的道路系统设备,设法减少交通意外事件的发生。

也是州公共安全理事会成员的倪可汉认为,我国每年死于交通意外的人数皆名列世界各界的前数名,所以涉及公共交通服务的部门都应设法,合作使国内交通意外率降低下来。 他说,交通意外的发生涉及交通工具的安全措施、司机的驾驶枝术和态度等问题,希望驾驶长巴或公共交通工具的司机都能保持最佳的状态,莫因不够休息、服毒品等驾驶。

“为确保交通使用者的安全,州公共工程局除定期检验各道路系统的结构和安全外,也会改善交通意外高风险区的道路设备。”