Spectres of Altantuya, Nurin haunt meeting

Reports by Neville Spykerman and Halim Said (NST Street)

SHAH ALAM: The spectres of murder victims Altantuya Shaariibu and Nurin Jazlin Jazimin were briefly raised in the state assembly meeting.

Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San cited a video clip of Altantuya as an example when he questioned the efficiency of installing closed circuit television cameras in the state.

He said the police had not been able to identify the suspect as the images on the video clip were blurred.

However, executive councillor Ronnie Liu responded by saying that the blurred images referred to were not those from a video clip in the Altantuya case, but were those of Nurin.

(Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, 8, was abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered a year ago. Her mutilated body was found in a sports bag dumped outside a shop in PJS 1, Petaling Jaya. Her killers are still at large.

(Altantuya Shaaribuu, a Mongolian translator, was killed in Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, in October 2006. Two policemen and a defence analyst are on trial accused of her murder.)

Liu said the proposed CCTV project was an initiative of the previous government to provide CCTV service to all the local councils in the state.

"However the project was put on hold as the cost was too steep. Nonetheless we have resume discussions with the contractor that the previous government has selected, and are in the midst of tweaking the technical aspects to ensure that the images captured on CCTV are of good quality," he said.

Liu said the state government will ensure that the money spent on the CCTV installation will not be a heavy burden.

The executive councillor for modern agriculture methods, natural resources and entrepreneurship, Yaacob Sapari, told the House that the State Fruit Valley project, taken over from the previous government, was progressing well.

Yaacob said the project was neglected by the previous government administration. "When I visited the area, it was badly managed and in a poor state. After we took over, we restored the project and our local produce has increased," he said.

He said the project was initiated to help increase the state's food exports, especially local fruits, and to minimise the import of foreign fruits.

"The project started in 2003 and has been developed in phases. So far, 352 hectares out of the total 533 hectares have been developed for the Fruit Valley project. Various crops such as starfruit, papaya, and other local fruits are being planted," he said.

Yaacob said the valley now also has a lake, gazebos and fruit collection centre.

"On average we can produce 10 tonnes of fruits a month to be exported or sold on the local market," he said.

Yaacob said up to August, sales of RM1.286 million were recorded, of which 78 per cent was starfruit for Europe.

"An agro-tourism area is almost completed and open to agro-tourism projects. We believe that this project is the only one of its kind," he said.