12 theSun | WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 12 2008

Poser over
RM60m in assessment Penang Perkim
by Opalyn Mok never dissolved so it is illegal

arrears uncollected newsdesk@thesundaily.com

by Humayun Kabir
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
IPOH: Fifteen local
government councils in
Perak have assessment
arrears totalling RM60.7
million.
Topping the list is
Ipoh City Council with
RM31 million in arrears,
State Local Government
Committee chairman Nga
Kor Ming told the State
Assembly yesterday.
This is followed by
Taiping Municipal Council
with RM5.5 million in
arrears, the district councils
of Tanjung Malim with
RM4.17 million, Kinta Barat
RM3.45 million, Kinta
Selatan RM3.4 million and
Kerian RM2.7 million, and
Manjung Municipal Council
RM2.7 million.
Kuala Kangsar Municipal
Council has RM2.3 million
arrears while the district
councils of Tapah and Perak
Tengah have RM1.8 million
and RM1.47 million in
arrears respectively.
Teluk Intan Municipal
Council has RM863,000
arrears and the district
councils of Lenggong
RM201,000, Gerik
RM189,000, Pengkalan Hulu
RM183,000 and Selama
RM133,000.
Nga said these arrears
from the local government
councils have been
outstanding for between 25
and 30 years.
“Some of the reasons for
non-collection of arrears
are that the ratepayers have
shifted out and cannot be
traced while some had
died,” he said.
However, the state
government is making a
concerted effort to collect
the arrears by issuing
demand notices, making
house calls, getting warrants
of seizure of moveable
house items, strengthening
the enforcement collection
unit, issuing legal notices,
creating awareness among
the public with road shows
and giving incentives
like mystery presents
and souvenirs to make
ratepayers pay up their
dues.
Nga was replying to a
written question by Canning
Assemblyman Wong
Kah Woh who wanted to
know the total amount of
outstanding assessment
arrears in the state and the
methods adopted by the
state government to collect
such arrears.
Later, during lunch
break, Nga, who
celebrated his 36th
birthday yesterday, cut
a birthday cake jointly
with Mentri Besar Datuk
Seri Mohammad Nizar
Jamaluddin and senior
executive councillor Datuk
Ngeh Koo Ham, at the State
Secretariat canteen.
GEORGE TOWN: A
businessmen is taking
legal action to prevent the
setting up of a new state
Perkim (Muslim Welfare
Organisation) by a pro-tem
committee.
Claiming to be the
incumbent chairman of
Perkim Penang, Datuk
Noor Mohamad Backer
Some of the Abu Backer, who lodged a
police report on Tuesday,
reasons for said Perkim Penang is
non-collection in existence, is legal and
of arrears operating at its office in
are that the Burma Road.
ratepayers “Although I was stripped
of my posts as the Perkim
have shifted national deputy president
out and can- and Penang chairman in
not be traced 2006, Perkim Penang is still a
while some legally registered organisation
under the Registrar of
had died.” Societies (ROS) and I was
re-elected uncontested as the
– Nga Kor Ming chairman in Perkim Penang’s
annual general meeting last
year,” he said.
Noor Mohamad Backer,
who claimed to have
continued running Perkim
Penang and keeping it in
operation until today, stressed
that Perkim Penang was
for any quarter, including
the so-called Perkim Penang
pro-tem committee to form a
new state Perkim.
He was responding to
a letter sent to all of the
organisation’s members
by one Datuk Mohamed
Darus, acting as the Perkim
Penang pro-tem committee
coordinator, to form a new
Perkim Penang division.
In his police report, Noor
Mohamad Backer challenged
Mohamed to produce
documents from the ROS to
prove that Perkim Penang had
been legally dissolved.
He also plans to file an
injunction in the next few
days to prevent the pro-tem
committee from forming a
new Perkim Penang division.
Meanwhile, Perkim
national deputy president
Datuk Dr Ariffin Suhaimi said
Noor Mohamad Backer does
not have any right to lodge the
police report.
“He is no longer a Perkim
member and all his posts in
Perkim have been terminated
since 2006 due to disciplinary
problems,” he said, adding
that the Perkim Penang
division has been suspended
since 2007.

Cops want entertainment centres with foreign GROs shut down

IPOH: The Perak state government and local
authorities have been asked to revoke the li-
cences of entertainment outlets that hire foreign
women as guest relations officers (GROs).
Chief Police Officer Datuk Zulkefli Abdul-
lah said police had received many SMS (short
messaging service) messages from wives who
complained that their husbands were spending
time and money in these outlets.
“We cannot ignore these complaints as peo-
ple would say we are not doing anything.
“I hope the local authorities will help with
this problem,” Zulkefli told reporters during
the state police chief’s monthly gathering here
yesterday.
He said 983 foreign women were arrested in
305 raids for not having identification documents
in such outlets from January to September.
“Most of the women were from China,
Indonesia and Vietnam and did not have the
documents or used tourist visas to work, which
is an offence,” he said.
Zulkefli said police found rooms and hiding
places during the raids, adding that some outlets
had been raided several times but continued to
operate.
He said the local authorities should lay down
stringent conditions to such outlets before issu-
ing them the operating licences.
He said police were also coming down hard
on gambling via computers in cyber cafes which
were also frequented by students.
Zulkefli said in the first nine months of the
year, 1,385 computers were seized in 125 raids.
“This is a 75% increase compared to last year,”
he said.
He also called on Tenaga Nasional Berhad to
cut off electricity supply to such gambling joints
while the local authorities should revoke their
operating licences. – Bernama