Four motions to be tabled at DUN sitting

CONFIDENT: Taib (centre) arrives at the PBB headquarters to chair the pre-Council meeting. Accompanying him are PBB deputy president Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu (left), State Secretary Datuk Amar Morshidi Abd Ghani (second left) and other senior PBB leaders.

Posted on November 1, 2010, Monday

KUCHING: A motion to seek permission to present a Private Member Bill called ‘Land Law Reform (Renewal of Terms of Documents of Titles and Acquisition) Ordinance 2010’ is one of four motions that would be tabled at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting which starts today.

DUN speaker Dato Sri Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar said the motion would be tabled by Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong.
He said Yong had to seek the consent of the august House because she had no authority to table any bill without getting the DUN’s permission first.
At present, only a minister could table a bill.
Yong, who is also state DAP treasurer, wants to table the Private Member Bill to, among others, repeal part of the Land Code (Chapter 81) in relation to renewal of terms and resumption of alienated land. “Before a member can table a draft on a bill, she must obtain leave from the Dewan. You can’t just table a bill because you are not a minister,” Asfia told reporters after attending a BN pre-Council meeting at PBB headquarters here yesterday.
The meeting, usually held a day before the DUN sitting starts, was chaired by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Asfia also announced that BN Backbencher Club chairman Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who is Asajaya assemblyman, will table the only motion from the BN side.
The motion will touch on the negative effects of political culture imported from the peninsula. It will be seconded by Pujut assemblyman Andy Chia.
The remaining two motions would be tabled by state DAP chairman and Bukit Assek assemblyman Wong Ho Leng.
One would be on the responsibilities of ministers and the other on the debris that clogged the Rajang River recently.
Asfia said only one bill, the Supply Bill 2010 (2011), would be tabled during the current sitting. Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is also the state Finance Minister, would table it.
The DUN sitting, which will be on until Nov 10 (there are no sessions on Nov 6 and 7), will see a total of 249 questions.
Present at the meeting yesterday were Deputy Chief Ministers Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan and Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, Social Development and Urbanisation Minister Dato Sri William Mawan Ikon, Land Development Minister Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, Housing and Urban Development Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg and Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.