Development EN – Page 62 – Consumers Association Penang

BP’s trail of destruction

admin April 14, 2011 0 Comments

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is yet another of a series of spills involving the giant oil company. By Ash Pemberton The ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the April 20 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig has exposed the obscene behaviour of the world’s fourth-largest corporation, British Petroleum (BP). Evidence has come from many sources revealing BP was aware of...

Hold professionals liable in building collapse

admin April 1, 2011 0 Comments

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) is appalled at the state of affairs concerning the safety of our buildings and the safety standards practiced by local and foreign contractors here. The country is still reeling from the tragedy of the Jaya Supermarket deaths and now we have another near miss in the form of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium roof collapse in Kuala Terengganu. It is...

Buyer’s right to build-then-sell system

admin March 31, 2011 0 Comments

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) refers to the article “Far from being rotten” ( NST – Property, June 23), by Datuk Eddy Chen, the immediate past president of REHDA, on why there is no need to change the present Sell-then -Build (STB) system. His argument is that abandoned projects form only a small portion of the millions of housing units successfully built, as such there is not...

Buyers of auctioned properties cry foul

admin March 30, 2011 0 Comments

Greater transparency at auctions is needed to protect buyers of properties where no titles have been issued. This is because the auctioning of properties without titles (for example flats and apartments) is not regulated by any statutory provisions. Buyers are bound by the contract called the Proclamation of Sale. (PoS). We have received complaints from those who have bought flats at property...

Multinational companies becoming a threat to food security

admin March 25, 2011 0 Comments

The multinational corporations, aided by hedge funds, play a key role in causing the current global food crisis and rise in food prices through their increasing control of the food system. The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food Jean Ziegler recently indicted multinational companies for badly aggravating the food crisis and raising food prices. Speaking in Geneva, Switzerland,...

Boom spells doom in capital flow

admin March 21, 2011 0 Comments

The present rise in capital flows to developing countries is having destabilising effects on currencies and asset bubbles that could eventually bust, warns a new South Centre paper. By Martin Khor Huge funds at near-zero interest made available by the United States and other developed countries to boost their flagging economies are instead fuelling booms in capital flows to developing countries...

Alcoholic soft drinks – An Insidious way of creating a society of alcoholics

admin March 16, 2011 0 Comments

Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) is deeply concerned that alcoholic soft drinks have once again flooded our markets under the guise of soft drinks. While the law clearly states that alcoholic beverages are prohibited for those below the age of 18, these drinks are being sold to school children without restraint in supermarkets and 24 hour outlets. The issue of alcoholic drinks sold as...

Why sugar subsidy should be withdrawn immediately

admin March 16, 2011 0 Comments

The Government should stop subsidising the price of sugar since sugar is nothing less than a toxic substance. The recent 20 sen increase in each kilo of sugar means that the government will still end up subsidising a sinful sum of RM1 billion in 2010, based on a subsidy of 80 sen per kilogram. Malaysians consume an average of 26 teaspoons of sugar per day. This sweet indulgence has resulted in...

Call off Shrimp Farming!

admin March 2, 2011 0 Comments

Shrimp farming has again wielded its ugly image, the latest being discharge from several shrimp farms in Kuala Selangor that has polluted neighbouring mangroves swathes and threatened the firefly colony and other marine life in Kuala Selangor. Over the years, the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) has been objecting the development and expansion of shrimp farming in Malaysia as it has...

Legal precisions and misconceptions of Indigenous Customary Land Rights

admin December 17, 2010 0 Comments

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) would like to express its gravest concern over recent announcements made by the Sarawak State Government on its intention to double plantation areas in the state to two million hectares in the next ten years. Closely linked to this plan is the Sarawak State Government’s self-estimation that there exist some 1.5 million hectares of native customary rights (NCR) land...

Consumers Association Penang

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