4 theSun | FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21 2008

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‘Thank you, Mr Speaker, for letting me ask the first question’

OVERWHELMED at being given the
opportunity to ask the first question
of the day, Datuk Tajuddin Abdul
Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak) got carried
away and held the House for close
to 12 minutes with his first and sup-
plementary questions.
His original question was on the
Economic Council, its functions and
members but before Deputy Minister
in the Prime Minister’s Department
Datuk K. Devamany began his reply,
he made a short appreciation note.
“I’d like to express a million thanks
to the Speaker and the secretary for
their generosity in placing my question
as the first for the day. This is like win-
ning a lottery for me,” he said.
After Devamany gave a brief six-
sentence reply, Tajuddin posed the
supplementary question, asking for
the names of the representatives of
private sector and suggesting for Tun
Dr Mahathir Mohamad to chair the
council.
Although only two points were
raised, he repeated his questions
and made a long-winded speech-like
statement, prompting Deputy Speaker
Datuk Ronald Kiandee to remind him
to keep it short.
Even after Ronald reminded him
to shorten his question, he continued,
saying: “We do not want corporate
figures like Putrajaya (MP Datuk
Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor)
because he is a big taukeh, he won’t
understand problems of the poor.
“And, the Opposition like Segambut
(MP Lim Lip Eng) and Pokok Sena (MP
Mahfuz Omar), although they made
a lot of noise, they are not qualified,
so we are not going to recommend
them.”
When he suggested Mahathir’s
name, some MPs asked what is wrong
with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdul-
lah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak
heading the council.
He said Mahathir has been proven
not only to be a good politician and
prime minister but also knowledge-
able in economics.
“Najib is the future PM, he needs
to be given advice. What’s wrong with
Mahathir advising him?” he asked.
When Ronald said he was taking
too long with his questions, Tajuddin
said he would have finished if the
other MPs did not disturb him, adding:
“It (the chance to speak) only comes
once in a while. And some said, the
captain would only come at 11.15am,
so I extended it a bit.”

Shahrir: Fuel prices Shahrir chats

with Member
of Parliament

involve other costs too

THE government does not only
consider the crude oil price
but also other costs, such as for
refinery and the processing, to
determine the pump prices of
fuel.
“It also has to calculate
the margin for the industry of
19.54 sen per litre for petrol
companies and 12.19 sen
per litre for petrol stations,
Domestic Trade and Consumer
Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir
Abdul Samad said.
“So, for August, September
and October, it was true that
the pump price was lower than
the commercial price because
of the elements of subsidy for
petrol and diesel promised
by the government under the
restructuring scheme.
“But, in October, the price of
crude oil dropped drastically.
In fact, the government subsidy
for petrol dropped from RM334
million in September to RM15
million in October. But, we still
have to manage it through a
proper system,” he said.
He was responding to Dr
Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS-
Kuala Selangor) who said
at the crude oil price of US$60
(RM216) or US$70 (RM252) per
barrel, the government was no
longer subsidising the petrol
price at the pump.
Shahrir admitted what
Dzulkelfy said was true, saying
the government had never
hidden this fact and he himself
had announced that when
the pump price was fixed at
RM2 per litre on Nov 17, the
government would not be
paying subsidies.
Winding-up debates on
Budget 2009 for his ministry at
the committee stage, Shahrir
said the government had yet to
decide on the kind of action to
be taken if the crude oil price
continues to decline in future.
Previously, he has said the
Economic Council will meet on
Dec 1 to discuss the situation
on whether there should be a
floor price for petrol and diesel
or the government should go
with the managed float system.
Earlier, he explained that
according to the existing
automatic price mechanism,
the pump price is decided
based on the average price of
petrol in the past two weeks or
the Mean of Platts Singapore
(MOPS), which is the measure
of crude oil pricing in
Singapore.
He said the price of crude
oil had dropped drastically
from an average US$113
(RM407) per barrel at the
end of September, to US$85
(RM306) middle of October,
US$76 (RM274) end of October
At the Dewan Rakyat
by Husna Yusop and Tim Leonard
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
and US$63 (RM227) middle of
November.
Shahrir also said the
previous reductions in oil
price made every two weeks
did not burden the industry
as they only lost three sen per
litre each time the price was
lowered by 15 sen.
On the price of goods which
many claimed has not come
down despite the lower price
of oil, he said the government
could only control certain
items whose licences are
issued by the ministry.
As for the other goods,
especially cooked food,
he suggested for the local
authorities which issue
licences to traders to impose
certain regulations to ensure
they comply with the realities
of the current situation.
“We are not a communist
government where we fix the
price for everything. We prefer
an open, competitive and
controlled market. We cannot
rely solely on law enforcement
exercise as it is restricted
towards certain controlled
items only,” he said.
45 convicts pardoned since 2000
FORTY-FIVE convicts, including three for-
eigners were pardoned by the State Pardons
Board since 2000, said Deputy Home Minister
Datuk Chor Chee Heung.
He said 14 convicts had their sentences
reduced and 31 others were released.
“None of the convicts pardoned returned
to a life of crime. This clean record is because
those pardoned were picked based on their
discipline, repentance and rehabilitation
‘No need for professional local councillors’
THE Housing and Local Government Ministry
has no plans to make a ruling that only profes-
sionals can be appointed as local authority
councillors.
The ministry also would not stop state
governments from appointing only profes-
sionals to sit in local authority councils, Deputy
Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin said.
for Seputeh
Teresa Kok
during the
break at
the Dewan
Rakyat
sitting
yesterday.
progress,” he said. To a supplementary ques-
tion by Nasharudin Mat Isa (PAS-Bachok)
who wanted to know the number of convicts
released on parole, Chor said 118 convicts
were released on parole from July to Sep-
tember.
“The parole system is not like pardon as
the convict still has to undergo the sentence
outside prison and is only applicable to cer-
tain offences,” he said. – Bernama
“The appointment of local authority coun-
cillors is under the purview of state govern-
ments as provided for by Section 10 of the
Local Government Act 1976.”
He was replying to Datuk Halimah Mohd
Sadique (BN-Tenggara) who wanted to know
whether the government plans to set criteria
in the appointment of local councillors.