This from today’s The Star newspaper:
“Give us RM 100,000 annually or we chop down all the trees near the water catchment areas in the state.” This was the threat Menteri Besar* Azizan Abdul Razak issued to the Federal Government.
He said the state government was losing millions in revenue because they could not chop down the trees for timber. “We know it is prohibited to cut down trees near water catchment areas, but the state is losing a lot in terms of revenue.”
You know what words sprang into my mind as I read that?
Blackmail and extortion.
A man who doesn’t worry about future generations.
A man who doesn’t care if even his own constituents have clean water and clean air.
A man who has never heard of global warming.
A man who has never heard of the value of the biodiversity of the rainforest.
A man who doesn’t care if he commits a crime even though he knows what the law says.
A man who doesn’t have the faintest idea of how to govern.
The guy is from PAS, a party which is supposed to uphold religious values. Yet his idea of good governance is to threaten to trash his state?
*Translation: Chief Minister – i.e. State Premier or State Governor, in this case, of Kedah State.
How horrifying. I have never thought much of politicians anywhere, but this guy takes the cake.
Grrr. Less complimentary words came into my mind. One would hope that the Federal Government could tell him that if he starts chopping down trees they’ll send in the Riot Police and have him forcibly removed from office and put on trial … though I suppose if he pleads that God told him to do it and everything would be all right, he could become a martyr for the cause. :
I never trust theocratic form of government. Utterly rubbish.
alex – politicians (like doctors, scientists and CEOs, among others) often seem to behave as though they think themselves gods, n’est-ce pas? 😀