> An LCCT too many

Malaysia must be a poor rich country.

Only in Malaysia can two government-linked entities - Sime Darby Berhad and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad - propose to build low cost carrier terminals (LCCT) miles apart to tap the fast-growing budget airlines market.

Sime Darby's RM1.6 billion facility, diplomatically called a LCCT despite having its own runway and air traffic control tower, has already been approved and is slated to open in March 2011. Malaysia Airports yesterday said it has a similar plan and could open the first phase with better connectivity and inside the KLIA at the end of 2011, pending government approval.

What it actually means is a transport plan gone awry.

KLIA was meant to be a hub with state-of-the-art facilities way before budget carriers and Tony Fernandes became the byword in air travel that just needed low-cost operations. Hence the temporary LCCT that became too small for a fast expanding Air Asia and sister Air Asia X.

Can Air Asia and Air Asia X wait for Malaysia Airports instead of going to KLIA East@Labu? Apart from the time and space, it's a question of money for the budget carrier.

It can save costs with its own airport but Malaysian taxpayers will have to pick the tab for custom, immigration and quarantine facilities apart from air traffic control and security services there.

Add to that the headache of managing flights in two airports just miles of each other.

But Malaysia Airports and the government have not done any favours to make KLIA a hub or ensure only one airport operator in the country.

The Senai International Airport was sold off in 2003 while Firefly is operating out of Subang Airport which only allows turbo-prop aircraft flights. All other carriers including Air Asia operate jet aircraft.

Coupled with only two European carriers operating out of KLIA, Air Asia has argued that KLIA is not a hub due to the lack of connectivity or airlines operating there apart from the fact its passengers fly point-to-point and don't need interlining facilities.

And if Malaysia Airports is right, Air Asia has quietly used government incentives to grow quickly and now feels it can fly alone without assistance or return the favour to turn KLIA into a major regional hub catering to all kinds of air travel.

With all these recent developments, the KLIA hub plan is only fit for the rubbish bin. The only way for the government to make sense of it or consumers to benefit is to allow more budget carriers to use the proposed permanent LCCT in KLIA Sepang or use turbo-prop aircraft out of Subang.

Only then, everyone can fly - The Malaysian Insider.

> Wan Farid is bad choice, says Dr. Mahathir

Dr. Mahathir may have jeopardised Barisan Nasional's (BN) chances in the crucial Kuala Terengganu by-election when he said that the ruling coalition's candidate, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, is a bad choice and merely a proxy.

“The choice of the candidate is really very bad because people see him as a proxy to be used if Najib becomes prime minister,” the former prime minister said.

This condemnation of the BN candidate is seen as another swipe at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“The candidate was the prime minister's choice because he was working with the prime minister,” he added.

Wan Ahmad, the former deputy home minister and member of the senate, who resigned both posts last Friday, will contest against Wakaf Mempelam state assemblyman Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut of PAS.

Even without Dr Mahathir's remarks, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was expected to use his close links with Abdullah to attack him in the campaign.

This latest bombshell by Dr Mahathir could lead to a repeat of the March 8 general elections where his attacks on the government and calls for a stronger opposition were credited with helping the opposition to their biggest electoral gains ever.

Dr Mahathir's attacks were widely perceived to be personal in nature, and a calculated strategy to force his successor from power.

The prime minister became a focus of Dr Mahathir's attacks when he was blamed for the reversal of several of Dr Mahathir's pet projects including the crooked bridge to Singapore and the decision by Proton to offload Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta for one euro.

Dr Mahathir, who is Proton's advisor, had supported Proton's  purchase of MV Agusta and was bitterly opposed to its sale.

In the Permatang Pauh by-election last August, Dr Mahathir had predicted that the BN candidate Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah would lose but with a reduced margin - The Malaysian Insider.

> Brown to create 100,000 jobs

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday unveiled ambitious plans for a 1930s American-style programme of public works to ease the pain of recession by creating up to 100,000 jobs.

School repairs, new rail links, hospital projects and plans to usher in a new digital age by investing in superfast broadband will be used to keep unemployment down. The plans will also be used to tackle climate change, by means of investments in eco-friendly projects such as electric cars and wind and wave power that would also create jobs.

Speaking exclusively to the Observer , the prime minister also pledged action within weeks to kickstart bank lending in an attempt to save existing jobs.

Brown is studying a scheme pioneered by Nissan to avoid redundancies in manufacturing, which would see ailing firms given government funding to move staff on to part-time working and use the remaining time for training.

His promise to use public money not only to create short-term jobs, but also to build a low-carbon economy for the future, will be seen as a modern reworking of Roosevelt’s New Deal - a massive programme of public works, such as dams and roads, to help America recover from the Great Depression.

Brown even claimed his green plans would be bigger than Barack Obama’s planned multi-billion-dollar “Green New Deal”, relative to the size of Britain’s economy.

In a wide-ranging new year interview at his family home in Scotland, the prime minister also:

•  ruled out an early second recapitalisation of the banks;

•  signalled opposition to deploying more British troops in Afghanistan;

•  proclaimed a “historic opportunity” for an international deal on climate change.

He also revealed his own new year’s resolution – to take up running.

However, his biggest priority will be to create and save jobs, amid predictions that by 2010 one in 10 Britons will be unemployed. Retailers are expected to respond to a disappointing December by shedding staff this year.

“I want to show how we will be able, through public investments and public works, to create probably 100,000 additional jobs over the next period of time in our capital investment programme - schools, hospitals, environmental work and infrastructure, transport,” Brown said. “We are not going to stand by and allow nothing to be done when people are facing difficulties.” The programme will be funded by new money drawn partly from reserves.

One priority will be jobs in digital industries, while 30,000 jobs will be in school repairs in an effort to help private construction firms ravaged by the downturn.

Brown suggested infrastructure such as high-speed broadband could be the modern equivalent of FDR’s programme: “When we talk about the roads and the bridges and the railways that were built in previous times – and those were anti-recession measures taken to help people through difficult times – you could [by comparison] talk about the digital infrastructure and that form of communications revolution at a period when we want to stimulate the economy. It’s a very important thing.”

He is also studying 10 specific projects on alternative energy sources. He denied that the recession would see green issues shelved, adding: “Rather than pushing the environment into a lower order of priority, the environment is part of the solution.”

Brown, who will hold a jobs summit next Monday, promised new measures to help firms with good long-term prospects to obtain credit: “Clearly we have banks that were willing to take large numbers of risks a year or two ago and people are now averse to risk, so we have got to create the conditions in which it’s possible for banks to resume lending.”

Asked if that could involve more recapitalisation with public money, he said: “That is not the first thing on any agenda. The more important thing is getting the resumption of lending by other means.” The government will also shortly unveil a payment holiday scheme for people struggling with their mortgages after redundancy. Brown insisted that they wanted to help “everybody who is genuinely trying to pay their mortgage back”, but admitted that lenders would ultimately decide eligibility.

Other key priorities for 2009 include an international agreement to reduce carbon emissions. Brown said Obama’s election would help, but that getting India and China on board was critical.

However, if Obama asks for more British troops for a surge in Afghanistan he may be disappointed, with the prime minister insisting that the priorities were to strengthen Afghan governance and involve Pakistan in fighting terrorism.

“The first question everybody starts by is saying ‘What about the numbers?’, but actually the first question is purpose and objectives and how we can achieve them,” he said. “We have increased our numbers in the past few weeks; we are the second-largest force in Afghanistan; we are making a very big contribution.”

Brown also dismissed Tory warnings of growing resentment of public sector workers’ gold-plated pensions, insisting there had been “significant savings”. – The Observer

> Schoolbus operators defy CVLB, imposes 30% surcharge

Federation of Malaysian Schoolbus Operators Association chairman Chee Ah Tey says some 8,000 operators nationwide will collect a 30% surcharge when school begins tomorrow, in defiance of an order by the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB).

“We will definitely collect the 30% surcharge, and are psychologically prepared to be hauled up (by the authorities),” Chee was quoted as saying by China Press today.

He told the daily he is just carrying out what has been decided by the federation (to go ahead with the collection of surcharge), and has no power to change the federation’s resolution on the matter.

“If we (schoolbus operators) are hauled up, and our livelihood is affected, we will hold an emergency meeting. Now, we have to follow the federation’s resolution – to impose the surcharge.”

CVLB director-general Datuk Markiman Kobiran warned lately that the board will not bow to “threats” and would take stern action against schoolbus operators who impose the surcharge unilaterally.

He said enforcement officers would swing into action when school reopens to haul up operators who are stubborn enough to go ahead to collect a surcharge.

To this, Chee said the operators are “not threatening” the government. He said it was CVLB which had deemed the federation’s request a threat.

He said the operators had approached the board for a fare increase early last year and the latter had agreed to give a reply by last September.

“We waited from September to October ... and from October to November. Although there is no guarantee that the government would agree to our request, the least they (CVLB) can do is to give us a reply.

“The operators have expressed their wishes, but the CVLB didn’t even bother to reply. The operators have run out of patience.”

He said since the government had turned down the federation’s earlier request to lower the price of subsidised diesel for schoolbus operators from RM1.43 a litre to RM1, there should be an alternative solution to the request.

Markiman told the daily that the board will not compromise its stand and will haul up all those who impose the surcharge.

He also said if the federation remains stubborn, the board will not entertain any of its requests in the future.

CVLB will join hands with the Road Transport Department to crack down on errant schoolbus operators in the peninsula beginning tomorrow.

“During the operation, schoolbus drivers must produce their monthly fee card to prove that they have not collected the surcharge,” said Markiman.

“Those who are not able to produce the card are deemed as having gone against the rules and legal action can be taken against them.”

He said if they remain stubborn, they can forget about making any more request in the future, such as applying for permit to ferry holiday-makers during school holidays. “We will not entertain them,” he added - theSun.

> Well done Minister !

Public response for the restructuring of the television channels over Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) on Thursday has been positive so far, said Deputy Information Minister Datuk Tan Lian Hoe.

She said she was very happy at the good response, and thanked the people for their trust and hoped that both TV channels would continue to give more information including from abroad.

"So far, we have not received any negative comment (on the restructuring), so we hope TV1 and TV2 will continue to be the people's choice," he said at a public function organised by the Gerakan, here Saturday.

Following the restructuring, the RTM1 channel is now known as TV1 and becomes the news and information channel while RTM2 is now known as TV2 with the theme "Dunia Ria" which airs various programmes including entertainment, movies, and dramas for all strata of society - Bernama.

A good job done by the minister in restructuring the TV1 and TV2 channels to the present format. Let's only hope that he increases the airtime for Tamil and Chinese segments in line with Malaysia's multi-racial image - My Journal.