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 ©New
Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Hamidah Atan
PUTRAJAYA: The Catholic weekly Herald has been publishing a lot of articles on
social issues and politics, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Seri
Bernard Dompok said yesterday.
However, he had not read the article in the publication's
latest edition that touched on the Permatang Pauh by-election, he said after
launching the Public Complaints Bureau's website here.
"I have not read that particular editorial piece.
"So it is not fair for me to comment but from what I have read before, there
were articles on poverty, social issues and world affairs.
"I do not know which article had attracted a lot of attention but the weekly has
been publishing articles on politics and social issues," said Dompok, who is
also United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation president.
He said he was only told that "the article is meant to ask
people to pray for Malaysians who are going to vote in Permatang Pauh so that
they would make the right decision."
The Home Ministry's Publications and Quranic Text Control Division has warned
the Herald to stop dabbling in politics.
The unit had said the Herald should limit its articles to religion as stipulated
in its publishing permit.
It warned that further infringements could result in a suspension or revocation
of the weekly's licence.
The Herald had defended its position by reiterating that politics was part and
parcel of religion.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar had said publication permit holders
were required to restrict their writings to what had been specified in their
permit.
Going beyond what they had been licensed for would constitute a breach of permit
conditions, he said.
On another matter, Dompok said the bureau received 4,780 complaints against
ministries and government agencies in the first seven months of this year
compared with 5,350 for the whole of last year.
He said 45 per cent of the complaints were filed online at www.bpa.jpm.my, the
bureau's website.
A total of 3,419 (71.5 per cent) complaints, ranging from delays, poor service,
weak enforcement, unfair decisions, lack of public utilities to abuse of power,
were solved.
He said people now felt at ease in filing their complaints from "the comfort of
their homes, without having to post them or coming to government offices".
The bureau would be opening another five branches in Selangor, Negri Sembilan,
Perlis, Kedah and Kelantan, he said.
Bureau director-general Dr Chua Hong Teck said the Royal Malaysia Police
received the most complaints, at 145, among government agencies, while the Johor
government, with 164, topped the list for state governments.
The ministry with the highest number of complaints was the Home Ministry (153),
followed by Energy, Water and Communication Ministry (150), Finance Ministry
(115), Prime Minister's Department (101), Works Ministry (92), Education
Ministry (75), Natural Resources and Environment Ministry (64), Women, Family
and Community Development Ministry (60), Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
Ministry (54), Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (45), Federal
Territories Ministry (41), Human Resources Ministry (39) and Transport Ministry
(36).
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