theSun | TUESDAY JANUARY 20 2009 7

news without borders

More billboards to
China’s
civil
service
exam
cheats go

come down in PJ
high tech
pg 10

by Tim Leonard dismantled.

newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: The Petaling Jaya City Council
(MBPJ) continued its blitz on billboards by ordering
the removal of four more twin-pole billboards and
22 other billboards.
In a letter addressed to 4As (Association of
Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia) president
Datuk Vincent Lee, MBPJ town planning department
director Sharipah Marhaini Syed Ali said some of
the billboards posed a risk to the public, while oth-
ers were not appropriate in terms of location, their
environmental impact and aesthetic value.
The letter stated that MBPJ councillors had,
after a study on Dec 15 last year, found to be
hazardous a twin-pole billboard put up by Setia
Media Sdn Bhd in front of a two-storey shophouse
along the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP),
near Jalan SS2/2.
Another study on Dec 26 had found three
twin-pole billboards and three other billboards
to be in dangerous positions and ordered them
The billboards, belonging to five companies,
were in the vicinity of the Federal Highway (Sec-
tion 5 and 5a), along the LDP near the PKNS field,
at the Seri Setia KTM Komuter station and near
the PJX project development site.
Nineteen other billboards in the city, belonging
to nine different companies, were found to be
erected at unsuitable locations without taking
environmental and aesthetic factors into con-
sideration.
Although the letter did not specify a time
frame, it said the council was looking at other
billboards that might have to be dismantled.
The decision to bring down illegal and inap-
propriate billboards was made at the council’s
recent full board meeting.
The first of such billboards was dismantled last
week at Taman Megah, near the LDP.
The owners of 11 other structures had also
been served with notices to remove the billboards
within a week, failing which they would be dis-
mantled by the council.

All our members are properly

accredited, says PCAM
by Terence Fernandez
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: The Pest
Control Association of Malaysia
(PCAM) has taken offence to
incoming Selangor Develop-
ment Corporation (PKNS) gen-
eral manager Othman Omar’s
claim that 70% of its members
do not have a licence from the
Pesticides Board.
Its president, Ang Tan Loong,
said all of its 206 members
nationwide are properly accred-
ited. He questioned Othman’s
motives, considering that a
court case on the matter was
pending.
“PCAM’s legal case against
MPSJ (Subang Jaya Municipal
Council) is still pending, so we
are baffled as to why Othman
should implicate our associa-
tion as it may be sub judice,”
said Ang, who contacted theSun
in response to yesterday’s
report that disclosed Othman’s
interests in Konsortium SJ Pest
Control Sdn Bhd.
In December 2007, PCAM
filed a petition in the Shah Alam
High Court to declare null and
void the MPSJ’s decision to
require pest control operators
to be registered with the con-
sortium, with each having to
pay a RM3,000 deposit.
(Othman had been managing
director of Konsortium SJ Pest
Control but divested his inter-
ests in the consortium following
his appointment to PKNS.)
The plan was to get all
owners of business premises
in the municipality to obtain
compulsory fumigation services
from the consortium at a fee of
RM600 before their annual busi-
ness licence could be renewed.
Initially, the consortium con-
sisted of only bumiputra com-
panies, but following protests
from pest control operators and
the business community, the
scheme became all-inclusive.
Othman had said the
scheme was meant to assist
bumiputra businessmen. He
said claims that some of the
consortium companies did
not have a Pesticides Board
licence were irrelevant as the
consortium itself had one.
Othman had said the req-
uirement for such a licence
was introduced only via the
Pesticides Act (Pest Control
Operator Rules) 2004.
“It can take about a year
to obtain a licence. Seventy
per cent of the association’s
members do not have such a
licence,” he had said.
To this, Ang replied: “Most of
our members were registered
even before 2004, but they
have all the required documen-
tation.”
There are now 20 companies
under the consortium. Three
– Rentokil Initial (M) Sdn Bhd,
Ochre Pest Control Sdn Bhd
and Ang’s company Stopest (M)
Sdn Bhd – have been dropped
for refusing to pay the RM3,000
deposit.

Syed Hamid denies trade in on which we disagree,” he told a press con-

Myanmar nationals
KANGAR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid
Albar yesterday acknowledged that many My-
anmar nationals have entered this country via
the Malaysia-Thai border but denied that there
is human trafficking involving the Myanmar
immigrants.
Certain quarters had alleged that human
trafficking activities involving Myanmar nation-
als were going on in this country although they
could not prove that they existed, he told report-
ers after visiting the state police headquarters.
“Where did these foreigners get their infor-
mation? They assume that they know more
than we do. If there is proof, action can be
taken. Don’t make wild accusations,” he said.
– Bernama
Guan Eng: PR leaders met
to strengthen ties
GEORGE TOWN: The first formal meeting
of leaders of the Pakatan Rakyat states on
Sunday was aimed at strengthening their
ties, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.
“We discussed in depth various issues
such as how to foster a closer relationship
and to achieve some degree of uniformity
of policies.
“We will also continue to discuss areas
ference yesterday. However, he declined to
elaborate on these issues.
The meeting, chaired by Selangor Mentri
Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, was held
at Seri Mentaloon, the official residence of
the Kedah mentri besar.
The PR leaders endorsed the establish-
ment of a council of mentris besar, chief
ministers and executive council members
to ensure they would not be sidelined by
the federal government.
Public transport fare
formula soon
IPOH: The government has come up with a
formula to resolve the issue of public transport
fares including that of a surcharge imposed
by bus and taxi operators, Entrepreneur and
Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk Noh
Omar said.
“The formula will be announced after a
meeting with representatives of all public
transport operators and consumers associa-
tions. It will ensure that operators do not lose
out and consumers are not burdened,” he said
after giving away prizes at a Bank Rakyat golf
competition yesterday.
The first meeting with representatives of
express bus, city bus, taxi and school bus opera-
tors is to be held in Kuala Lumpur today.