Syabas says can’t pay creditors or replace pipes, despite big bonus RM33.4 million for boss

The Court of Appeal judgement on Tony Pua's appeal against Syabas' defamation suit revealed that Syabas has no funds to replace pipes, or pay its suppliers.

Selangor water supplier Syabas cannot pay its water suppliers and has no funds to replace pipes, its CEO admitted in court documents released today, just after it was revealed last month that its executive chairman Tan Sri Rozali Ismail was paid RM33.4 million in remuneration last year.

The Court of Appeal judgment on Tony Pua's appeal against the High Court ruling on Syabas' defamation suit against the DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP, which was released today, also showed Syabas CEO Datuk Ruslan Hassan as conceding that Putrajaya had never supported the tariff hike proposed by the water concessionaire.

“Syabas is currently facing suits by its water suppliers for non-payment of invoices,” the judgment read.

“Syabas has obtained a loan from the federal government to pay the water treatment operators because Syabas are in financial difficulties...the federal government has never agreed with the tariff increase proposed by Syabas,” it added.

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Pua jumps into Jonker Walk issue, saying there’s a cover-up

Tony Pua has accused Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz of "covering up" the Malacca state government's closure of Jonker Street.

The PJ Utara MP said that while Nazri had seemingly "appealed" to Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Idris Haron not to close down the popular tourist spot, he had also reached a "compromise' with Idris.

"Nazri claimed that the CM had ordered Jonker Street to be closed for four weeks to study the traffic flow.

"This is a compromise and it is unacceptable," Pua said.

He said that this was because idris himself had admitted the move was an act of retaliation against the non-Malay community in Malacca.

"I have with me a copy of the memo issued by the mayor of Malacca city council which instructed the full closure of the market, wih no mention of the so-called traffic study."

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Pua says would laud Putrajaya for action on errant cops

DAP’s Tony Pua said today that he would be “the first to praise the government” if police officers found guilty of misconduct were punished.

The DAP publicity chief was responding to Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) chair Datuk Heliliah Mohd Yusof, who questioned yesterday if federal opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would “praise any government body despite it being set up with heartfelt sincerity”.

“Let me declare upfront that I will be the first to praise the government if the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is set up and brings to book all who are guilty of misconduct,” said Pua in a statement today.

“However, I’d like to ask the chairperson of EAIC if she actually thinks that the commission has delivered anywhere remotely close to what was promised?” added the Petaling Jaya Utara MP.

Pua pointed out that the EAIC ― which investigates complaints of abuse of power in the police force and 18 other enforcement agencies ― has only recommended one disciplinary action and two warnings to civil servants since its inception in 2011.

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GE13 Pictures Gallery

PR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim delivering his Labour Day’s address in Putrajaya May 1, 2013.



Pakatan supporters cheer at Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Labour Day event in Putrajaya May 1, 2013.


The crowd outside listening to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s speech during his Labour Day’s address in Putrajaya May 1, 2013


Tony Pua, the DAP candidate for Petaling Jaya Utara parliament seat, addresses the crowd at the DAP ceramah held at the MBPJ hockey stadium, April 30, 2013.

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GE13: The Star refutes Tony Pua's allegation over DAP ad

The Star has run DAP advertisements on its radio stations 988 and Red FM but only a print advertisement for the newspaper was rejected because the party refused to put its logo on it.

According to a spokesman, a statement made by its DAP publicity chief Tony Pua had conveniently left out that the radio advertisements were accepted and aired.

He said the rejected print advertisement was not attributed to any individual or party or group.

The spokesman said Wednesday that the company was uneasy with the design of the print advertisement as it clearly violated the Malaysian Code of Advertising and Home Ministry guidelines.

The advertisement showed independent candidate Datuk Ibrahim Ali holding a keris with the words "a vote for MCA is a vote for Umno and Perkasa."

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Tony Pua gets overwhelming public support against Syabas

The “RM1 for Water Rights: 100,000 Malaysians Support Tony Pua vs Syabas” online campaign in support of DAP federal lawmaker Tony Pua has announced that they have managed to collect more than RM150,000 from their online campaign.

“By the end of the online campaign, we have managed to collect RM150,939,” said the campaign’s organiser, Yeo Bee Yin tonight.

When he took to the stage, Pua stated the overall total collected by the campaign, inclusive of the dinner and the rounds done by DAP volunteers with donation boxes.

“And so, I would like to announce the total amounts of the campaign. As announced earlier by Bee Yin, we managed to collect RM151,000. The dinner has managed to collect RM173,000. And the donation has managed to collect RM22,400. This is an overall total of RM310,000,” he announced.

The amount collected is RM110,000 more than the sum Pua has been ordered to pay in damages to Syabas.

Pua alleges MAHB withheld crucial information on new KLIA2 site

Action must be taken against those who withheld crucial information from relevant ministry officials over the site where KLIA2 is currently being constructed at a substantially higher cost, said DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua.

He alleged that Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB) had intentionally chosen not to disclose the information to the officials, despite knowing full well that KLIA West was unsuitable for airport construction and would incur a substantially higher cost, from the originally estimated RM1.7bil in 2007 to RM3.9bil last year.

"The 1992 Master Plan had clearly stated that 'the western part of the site mainly comprises saturated marine clays with an overlay of peat material'.

Sue me, Pua tells KR1M boss

Tony Pua says Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin can sue if he is unhappy over remarks by the DAP publicity chief concerning allegedly substandard Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia goods, The Malay Mail reported today.

“Sue me if you are not happy with my statements or claims. Take me to court if you have to,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP told the daily.

Kedai Rakyat is a chain of government-backed thrift shops run by local hypermarket operator Mydin Mohamad Holdings Bhd, which is headed by Ameer.

Promise no surface land grabbed for MRT, Pua tells MRT Co

DAP MP Tony Pua today demanded that MRT Co issue a blanket decision for all land acquisition matters involving the Klang Valley MRT project, apart from its pledge to leave Jalan Sultan properties untouched.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said no surface land should be grabbed to make way for tunnelling work for the multibillion ringgit rail project while underground land should only be acquired strictly to construct MRT stations or its ancillary facilities like air vents and access points.

“No parcel of land should be compulsorily acquired for the purposes of profit generation by the government,” Pua (picture) said in a statement here.

MRT line changed to save ex-minister’s house, claim Pakatan MPs

While Jalan Sultan and Jalan Bukit Bintang traders are facing possible eviction to make way for the MRT, project regulators have allegedly agreed to reroute the underground line to save the bungalow of a prominent former minister, opposition lawmakers claimed today.

The lawmakers told a press conference in Parliament today that according to the original MRT plan, its tunnel was to pass beneath the bungalow on Jalan Damansara, off Jalan Duta.

But, they said, work on the original site has now been stopped, the tunnel portal relocated and a variation order has been issued to the contractor, ensuring that the line no longer passes beneath the house.

Pakatan dares BN to end race formula

Pua was responding to a statement by Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, carried by The Malaysian Insider yesterday, in which the latter said it would be unfair to “punish” the Chinese if they chose not to vote for BN Chinese-centric parties.


Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have challenged Datuk Seri Najib Razak to abolish Barisan Nasional’s (BN) race-based formula by turning the coalition into a multiracial party, saying this would resolve the quandary over maintaining Chinese representation in government.

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua pointed out to The Malaysian Insider that it was BN’s race-based system that is now causing it to gripe over MCA’s decision to reject Cabinet posts if it were to fare worse in future general elections than it did in Election 2008

GST only removes tax burden on ‘wealthier’ minority, says Pua

Implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) while reducing the existing income tax will only benefit the “wealthier” minority, says Tony Pua.

The DAP national publicity secretary said that currently only 15 per cent of the working population earned enough to qualify to pay taxes, which meant 85 per cent of the country’s workforce earned less than RM3,000 a month.

DAP backs PM’s new scholarship system

DAP lauded Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement today to limit federal scholarships to university entrants instead of SPM top-scorers but urged the administration to lay out details of its plan immediately to avoid any misunderstanding.

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua (picture) told a press conference in Parliament today that the government should not dither on the matter and move quickly so that potential scholarship recipients would not be confused and would know “what is in store for them”.

“We support Najib’s announcement today but we hope that the PSD will carry out his directive as soon as possible,” he said.

DAP claims Sabah, Sarawak biggest losers under Budget 2011

The DAP claimed today that Sabah and Sarawak remained “marginalised” under Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Budget 2011 despite the slew of mega projects promised by the government.

Tony Pua, the DAP’s National Publicity Secretary said that the two East Malaysian states would stand to be the biggest losers, as the majority of the projects were allocated to Peninsular Malaysia.

“The value of all the projects cited which are specifically located in West Malaysia amounted to a massive RM109.74 billion and this will include some of the headline projects such as the RM40 billion MRT system for the Klang Valley, the RM26 billion KL International Financial District (KLIFD), an estimated RM10 billion worth of new highways, a RM10 billion mixed property development in Sungai Buloh by EPF as well as the RM5 billion controversial 100-storey Warisan Merdeka,” Pua told reporters today.

Pua: It is hence completely not surprising that the people of Sabah and Sarawak believe that they have been royally screwed and we have a Commonwealth Games gold medalist who chose to don Sabah colours and not that of Malaysia

Confusion over no-toll-hike announcement

Government leaders appeared to give conflicting responses today to the prime minister’s no-toll-hike announcement as questions arose over whether Putrajaya would honour its concession contract with PLUS Expressways Bhd and compensate the operator.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim told reporters in Parliament this evening that this was not necessary as PLUS, which operates the lucrative North-South Expressway, “has enough profits”.

Pua previously highlighted that PLUS’s concession allowed it to be compensated in lieu to toll rate hikes.

EPF’s proposed Plus takeover will still burden citizen because of unfair concenssion deal.

DAP MP Tony Pua has silenced calls for celebration over the Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) possible acquisition of Plus Expressways Bhd, claiming it would be akin to “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP told a press conference in Parliament that in the first place, the terms of the toll concession itself was unfair and should be reviewed, before any sale was made.

“Everybody is supporting EPF because EPF pays returns to workers. I’m of the view that this will be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

EPF buy off won't solve Plus highway toll burden to citizen

“You are sucking from the people with an unfair toll concession contract, to pay workers. It will be EPF using an unfair contract to pay the people. This is not the way for EPF to generate returns for the people,” he said.

He explained that the toll-road concession contract was unfair for it stipulates that every three years, Plus was allowed to increase its toll rates by 10 per cent.