Flood mitigation projects

Flood is probably the only natural disaster in Malaysia. The country is not facing the drought or tornado. So it is natural that efforts are being made to mitigate the effects of the flood.

In the latest global seminar, Aware 2012, the minister announced the plan to implement rm880mil government projects relating to flood mitigation in the country. So far 32 projects are under way, but no details was given by him. Flood hazards maps are being prepared for the following locations:

- Muar

- Kulai

- Kinta

- Selangor

- Muda

- Other area in Kedah

- Pahang

It is noticeable the absence of Kelantan and Terengganu. We know that these two states are more prone to flooding, probably, to give the benefits of the doubt, they are included in the rm880mil project.

The minister also announced that the disaster and its risk elements are the key components in the integrated water resources management. He admitted that in the implementation of the policy ... "in the past has led to fragmented structures and uncoordinated development of management of water". Probably he is taking the challenge and the blame in the same breadth.

What surprise me is the issue of availability of clean and affordable drinking water was not a matter of concern.

KL MRT Project Start

The Kuala Lumpur MRT project is one of the mega project consuming billion of ringgit. It is divided into different phases and awarded to multiple contractors. It is not known how the award process, whether is a closed tender, on appointment based on specific criteria or open tender. However I personally have not sighted any invitation to offer in the main newspaper.

One of the lucky company AZRB will be starting by this month the viaduct project stretching from Plaza Phoenix to Bandar Tun Razak. This is the sector V6, awarded to Ahmad Zaki Resources, a contract value of RM764.9 mil. It is schedule to be completed by Jun 2016.It will be using the elevated structure along the Cheras-Kajang highway, a distant of about 5.24km.

The project delivery partner is MMC Gamuda. This is a new term, created by the government after in case of consultancy fees paid the a company amounting to about rm500mil for the purchase of the 2 submarines from a French company.

The segment V5 is awarded to IJM, valued at rm974mil to be completed in 43 months. The work involved the construction of viaduct and related works from Maluri to Plaza Pheonix, covering a distant of 5.4 km.

It will for sure a project that will make some people richer.

Alor Gajah Sentral Terminal Collapsed

The ceiling of the newly completed alor gajah sentral terminal collapsed yesterday causing passengers and workers fleeing the building. The actual cause is still unknown, and it is likely remain hidden from the knowledge of the public.

The paper quoted the situation of strong wind and the blocked pipes to be the reasons. It does seem odd as the basic construction should be designed to withstand a reasonable gush of wing. The case of the pipes were blocked by dead pigeons is not relevant as it is unlikely to impose additional load on the ceiling.

Collapse building is quite common in Malaysia, where these buildings are likely of the government projects. We we shocked by the collapse stadium in Trengganu which had rendered million ringgit investment unusable until today.

A Brief History of Failures

A quick glance at the history of our initiatives had shown our unacceptable statistics of failures. When we were excitingly busy celebrating our small and minute successes, our small neighbor at our southern tip was quietly but strategically planned and implemented the stream of activities to make it the only "first world nation" in the region.

1. I still remember the days in 1960, when the "Bahasa Kebangsaan" initiative was carries out. Thousands of school children were marching, including me, thoughout the nation singing the song, "Gunakan lah Bahasa kebangsaan kita... ".

Now, 50 years down the road, the song has hardly been played in the radio, the nation is more confused, the voices of oppositions are louder. We, as a nation are unsure how to resolve the issue of "Teaching of Science and Maths" . That itself speaks of our standard and capability.

2. In the 80, we had the Muhibbah initiatives. The government was spending millions on $$ to promote the community integration. Many people are wondering about the results. The integration has to lead by the stronger community. We are operating in ethnic barriers.

3. In the 90s, we had the " sistem payung". Someone had quoted, "I am going to create 10 bumi millionaires who are going to create 10 millionaires each" Now the 10 millionaires created are still millionaires, however there is no trace of the 2nd generation of millionaires. What is known, the government had been spending many millions of $$, enough to fund the 100 millionaires that was planned. The out of courts settlements in MAS cases are beyond expectation of discern public.

4. In 2000, we had the MSC, we still have it, in its name but not in the functions. We were the proud members of the citizen, that were witnessing an event that will propel the nation to the global era.

Seven flagships were launched, ref http://www.nitc.my/index.cfm?&menuid=28. Surprisingly, the nitc web had changed the agenda ... quoting 4 flagships were launched which were ... then in another sentence, 3 more were also launched.

5. In 2010 we had the 1 Malaysia and the ETP. If we were to ask about the concept of 1 malaysia, many will give conflicting views. Please do not have the wrong idea that the master craftmen are confused. They know what they are doing, and it is one of the tested and proven way of mindset engineering.

The above are talking about a nation. However I had seen and even involved at a lower level of significant, in organisations and even smaller companies which are mapped against the nations' course. One thing was obvious, they share the same frame of minds, they are politicians and have or had higher inclination to stage performance. My thought of stage performers, they have to twiddle themselves to 150% level for that the short interval of time, mainly for interim performance, but the reality is obviously the opposite. That remind me of the late Whitney Houston.

collapse stadium - more problems

The rm292 million stadium was completed ready for the Malaysian Games in 2008. The Terrengganu leadership under the Barisan National was happy. Then the disaster struck, a major portion of the roof collapsed. There was report that it was still under warranty. However the real situation is unknown to the majority of the population.

In Malaysia, the awards of the major government tenders are normally done in a closed situation. There is no open tender and only selected companies are invited. The companies may have a close relationship with the leaders. It is unfortunate for the country to have slipped down further in the transparency index, an international attempts to measure the corruptions in countries worldwide.

It is reported that more problems cropped in due to thief. An estimate of rm50 millions of wiring and electrical equipment were reported stolen.

When the newspaper went to investigate, the stadium was in sorry state. Almost all the facilities were damaged. The untra modern bowling alley was broken into. The control room with the expensive equipment was not spared, it look like a war zone.

The official of the stadium played the blaming game when they told that police was informed. The wonder why they cannot get guards to look after the place. Building a fence to protect the stadium was better, even if it can no longer be used for sport events, it can be viewed as a monuments of failure.

Incidently Terrengganu is a very rich state, with the royalty of the oil and gas, the royalty was withdrawn when the opposition took over the state. Some people may have different views on fairness and what is right and wrong

Sabah gas

A new project is in process for petronas for the Sabah gas. Project cost is expected to be rm2bil located at Lahat Datu Sabah. The produce of the project is 200MW of electricity. It will have to main components, the power plant to generate the electricity and the LNG terminal.

We do hope they still remember the bakun dam which was intended to produce 2400 MW of power. A few years ago, the country was very concern about who will be consuming the excess power. There was even talk making the distribution connection to west Malaysia.

It does seem odd that TNB has a standby plant in Langkawi. The shortage of electricity in Sabah is so critical that the dismantling efforts has already started to move the 70MW plants to Sabah. The job is scheduled to complete by July 2012.

Consultants had already been appointed and the initial EIA environmental effect assessment has already started.

Commenting on the Sabah gas project, it is not a good practice to have a long transmission line. The 300 km line is too long as it will be subjected to frequent breakdown due to the lightnings strike and falling trees. If this happen, the whole area will be blackout.

People is baffled by the issue of IPP, or independent power producer, when the government owned TNB had to buy the power at higher cost than the market price. The government insists that this matter is an official secret of the country and suppose to protect the interest of the country. Many feel that this is a business contract, and the official secret acts is used as a matter of convenience to protect other that the country.

satellite RazakSAT

A Malaysian paper published on 22 may 209 carried the news of the Malaysian first remote sensing satellite. It was to be launched on 12 Apr 2009 from US island of Kwajalein.

RazakSAT launch on April 21

Mar 12, 2009 ... After years of postponement, RazakSAT, Malaysia's first remote sensing satellite, will be blasted into space from Kwajalein Island on April 21.

thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/12/nation/...sec...

It was reported that the Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Fadilah Yusof said the satellite was to be flown from Subang to Bucholz Army Airfield, Kwajalein on March 21 by Malaysian Hercules.

RazakSAT, which is also Malaysia's second low orbit microsatellite, was developed through a colloboration of ATSB with Satrec Initiative Ltd of South Korea.

The 180kg satellite is expected to be carried into space on a Falcon One rocket owned by United States' Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX) from Kwajalein.

The 2.5mm Medium Sized Aperture Camera on the satellite is expected to provide high resolution images of Malaysia that can be applied to land management, resource development and conservation, forestry, fish migration and security.

According to Fadilah, RazakSAT, also the nation's first observatory satellite, would be launched to an orbital location specifically for Malaysia, to be known as the Equatorial Orbit.

He said the orbital location would enable observation to be made on the earth surface more often, as compared to other observatory satelites, that is, five to six times daily, during daylight.

"Compared to TiongSAT1, which was launched in 2006 and which was more experimental in nature, RazakSAT is considered a functional satellite in monitoring the earth's surface and environment," said Fadilah, adding that the satellite was built at a total cost of RM150 million.

Fadilah said for the first time, together with RazakSAT, two other satellites meant for educational purposes CubeSAT and InnoSAT would also be launched.

Meanwhile, Fadilah said Malaysia had the necessary expertise and capacity to develop its own satellite for sale to other countries.

"There is already a demand from countries like Iran to purchase satellites developed by ATSb," he added. - Bernama

Extracted from the Star.

On 25 Oct 2011, the audit report mentioned that the satellite is 37 km off target. The RM142mil RazakSAT failed to operate since it was launched.

In a test, it was supposed to target raja muda batang berjuntai forest reserve but the picture delivered deviated by 37 km. Correction was to be done by ATSB the original developer, but the subsequent check showed the same problem.

Last year, the minister for science and technology said that allocation under 10 malaysian plan for the next phase called RazakSAT2.

Malacca Monorail

The Malacca monorail had created another headline. In my opinion, it is NOT befitting to a state that self-proclaimed as a developed state, to be in the situation where the firemen had to use ladders to rescue the visiting tourist. It way carry the negative message that we are not capable of handling technology.

Smart Solution...

Mechanics are installing special ladders to enable passengers to climb down in emergency situation. Probably they do not believe that they can improve he reliability of the malacca monorail. I could imagine in the welcoming announcement, the driver will be saying.. 'ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Malacca monorail, a project to commemorate the proclamation of Malacca as a developed states well ahead of the targeted year of 2020. We assure you that this machine will take you through the intended 1.3 km journey even if we have to use our latest locally developed advance state of technology, the Malacca Retractable Ladder".

At 1,11 pm on 1 of 11 2011, the monorail halted to a stop in the middle of its journey. There is no way out, but to call rescue personnel to force open the doors and climb down the ladders.

It is rather unusual that the responsible personnel described the incident as a minor glitch and unavoidable.

As reported on 4 July 2010.

The Star reported that the Malacca monorail project is facing more delays. The much awaited rm16 million along the Malacca River was hitting another snag. The developer was unlikely able to meet the Aug 29 deadline despite the assurance from the chief minister Datuk Seri Mohad Ali Rustom.

According to the Council's chief engineer, there were still components of the projects which has yet to be completed.

The project initially ran into difficulties over the acquisition of land at Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai,” he said.
The track spans 1.6km, from Taman Rempah in Pengkalan Rama to Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai in the heart of the city. The project was launched in March 2008 as part of the state's project to tap on Malacca River as a tourist attraction.

While they might be able to complete construction of the station on time, he noted that the operators of the monorail would still be required to obtain the necessary approvals from the relevant authorities before the monorail was deemed safe for public use.

He said it usually took three weeks to obtain the certificate of fitness.

“We also need to apply for a license from the Transport Minis­try,” he added.

Rafiee estimated that the monorail would be fully operational and open to the public by the end of September.

On Wednesday, Mohd Ali visited the project site after learning that the opening of the monorail for public use had been delayed twice since May 31.

Besides the monorail, several other features such as mini roller coaster ride is also being developed at the Hang Tuah station.

The project is a joint venture between the council, state subsidiary Kumpulan Melaka Berhad and Agibs Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd.

The fate of the malacca monorail project remind us of the situation of eye of Malaysia, which was abandoned due to the financial problems.

1bestari net - Big Money in Smart School

The local paper carried the news about RM1.5 billion ringgit budgeted for the contract to supply internet access to virtual learning for 9924 school under Smart School Bestari project. Just to align it to the 1malaysia concept, the project was rename as 1bestarinet.

Malaysian are known to change the theme when the leadership change. Under the previous PM, the theme was.."Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang". And now is 1 Malaysia.

The idea and the implementation of the smart school was part of the 7 flagship of MSC. If you go the MSC, it still mentioned about the smart school as..."Smart School
Following the Education Development Blueprint (2006-2010), to ensure that all schools in Malaysia `Be Smart` by 2010 and assuring Smart School Qualification standards adopted throughout for quality assurance, this application is not only an investment benefit for the general society, but also a benefit for businesses for the up and coming future as it ensures that the future generations of workers or employees are more tech savvy and well versed and in tune with the ever rapidly progressing digital age."

Now it is 2011, and the billion ringgit investments were burned in smoke. The new project will draw billion ringgit for the contractors, but without accountability, it will be another smoke screen.

Incidently the link to smartschool at

http://www.mscmalaysia.my/topic/12073046901815 leads to a blank/

puduraya opened in April

The main bus station in kuala lumpur Malaysia was reopened on the 16 April 2011, after about 4 months of delay. This is a reflection of Malaysian Project Management for government based projects.

It is not unusual to have delays and sometime major defects or even parts of the buiding fallen apart, like the stadium in Terengganu.

The bus station was supposed to reopen in December in 2010, then delayed to February, then March and then April.

The star reported..."Raja Nong Chik said the developer, Uda Holdings Berhad, had informed him that all the preparations were going on smoothly for the terminal to resume operations on schedule"... He seem to be unaware or may be do not care about the prolonged delay.

Puduraya bus station to reopen April 16 Apr 2, 2011 ... PUTRAJAYA: The upgraded Hentian Puduraya bus terminal is to reopen on April 16 after several postponements, said Federal Territories and ... thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2011/4/2/...

The refurnishing of the building was intended to provide comfort to the travelling public. However in many cases, the facilities are overbuild and above the needs of the bus companies and the public. This had added cost to the public. The central ticket systems, the like of that in Bandar Tasik Putri and added to the cost of travelling. Bus companies used to issue their own tickets, and they even have their computer system linked to the seating configuration of their fleet. To use a centralizes system will be additional cost.

Puduraya bus station is centrally located, unfortunately positioned right in the and has to face the daily jam.