6 theSun | THURSDAY JULY 16 2009

news without borders

M’sia supports call

for deadline to end
Mideast conflict
SHARM EL-SHEIKH (Egypt):
Malaysia supports the proposal
by European Union’s foreign
policy chief Javier Solana for
the UN Security Council to set a
deadline in resolving the ques-
tion of Palestine and eventually
recognise the creation of a Pal-
estinian state.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Abdul Razak said it
was Malaysia’s hope that the
proposal would be seriously
considered and implemented
by the Security Council.
“Malaysia continues to sup-
port the right of the Palestin-
ian people to an independent
homeland with East Jerusalem
as its capital,” Najib said yester-
day in his address at the 15th
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
Summit in this Egyptian Red Sea
resort.
The summit was officially
opened by Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak who took over
from Cuban President Raul
Castro as chairman of the 118-
member grouping for the next
three years.
Najib said the continued
brutal conflict in the region
needed a permanent and com-
prehensive solution, adding that
the Palestinians had the right to
peace and a homeland of their
own.
However, Najib said, Malay-
sia was encouraged that the
new US administration under
President Barack Obama had
reaffirmed the two-state solu-
tion to the Middle East peace
process.
Najib said there was already
a dramatic change in the tone
and tenor of engagement by the
US with the rest of the world,
a transformation that had not
been witnessed at least since
the end of the Cold War.
“We now have a United
States administration that
appears to be willing to listen
and to take a pragmatic rather
than an ideological approach to
international relations, includ-
ing on bedrock issues of NAM,
such as nuclear disarmament
and non-proliferation, and the
Middle East.”
On the global economic
crisis, the prime minister said
there was great potential for
NAM member countries to trade
and invest among themselves.
“While the markets in the
developed world are shrinking,
as their consumers keep their
wallets and purses shut, we
can explore ways and means
to further increase and deepen
economic cooperation among
ourselves.
“There are major economies
within our NAM family. We are
home to rich resources and
expertise that we can marshal
for the common good of our
populations.”
He said Malaysia’s trade with
NAM countries totalled US$125
billion last year or 35.3% of its
total trade, compared to trade
with the US, its major trading
partner, totalling US$41.8 billion
or 11.8%.
With the Doha Development
Round of world trade talks
having stalled, NAM countries
should seek ways to boost trade
among themselves and boost
their economies, he added.
Najib also proposed the
application of Islamic finance
principles to help ease the cur-
rent crisis and prevent it from
recurring.
As the principal proponent of
Islamic banking, the prime min-
ister said Malaysia called upon
the global financial community
to seriously consider adopting
the system with appropriate
adjustments.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines
of the summit, Najib held
bilateral meetings with Presi-
dent Mahmoud Abbas of the
National Palestine Authority
and President Gloria Macapa-
gal Arroyo of the Phillippines.
– Bernama

Ferry terminal berth closed due to crack

GEORGE TOWN: A 30cm crack detected on a
ramp at the Raja Uda Ferry Terminal on Tuesday
night forced the closure of one of the berths till
Saturday for repairs.
The crack was discovered at about 7.20pm
by a ferry officer during routine inspection. The
berth was immediately closed with no untoward
incidents reported.
A similar crack was discovered on the same
ramp on June 3. It was repaired at a cost of about
RM10,000.
Penang Port Sdn Bhd’s (PPSB) head of
ferry operations Kamarudin Ismail said the recent
crack is believed to have been caused by metal
fatigue.
“We’re getting our engineers to assess the
situation,” he said, adding that repair works
would take about three days.

Blame game over

Kampung Buah Pala
by Opalyn Mok and Himanshu Bhatt
GEORGE TOWN: Even as the clock ticks for
Kampung Buah Pala residents to vacate their
land by Aug 2, former Barisan Nasional (BN)
state executive councillor Datuk Dr Teng Hock
Nan questioned the current Pakatan Rakyat (PR)
administration’s sincerity as the land’s title was
issued under its watch.
This prompted Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng
to shoot back that Teng was “twisting and turn-
ing” the facts to hide from his own mistakes in
being party to a government that had approved
the transaction.
Teng told a press conference at the Gerakan
office here yesterday that the PR government
had taken part in completing whatever that
was approved by the previous government by
signing the land title agreement on March 26
last year.
He said the previous state government
may have approved the sale of the land but no
agreements were signed yet.
“The current state government could have
stopped the land sale from going through by not
accepting the final instalment of the premium
and completing the paperwork,” he said, adding
that the state could have also decided to veto
the land sale.
Teng also said the land deal had been in dis-
cussion between 2001 and 2008 but the issue of
relocating the residents was not resolved.
“However, the previous administration did
impose a condition that the cooperative (new
landowner Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Pulau
Pinang Bhd) must resettle the residents to give
them a better standard of living before they
could develop the land,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lim clarified that the final
instalment of the premium was made after
March 8, and the land transaction was done
automatically as an administrative procedure
by the land office.
“How can we cancel the agreement just like
that if payment had been made and approval
was already given?” he asked.
Lim pointed out that the sale of the land was
approved twice by the former state executive
council of which Teng was a party.
He labelled Dr Teng as one of the ‘‘land rob-
bers’’ who was trying to shift the blame to the
current administration.