20/09/2025

SATURDAY | SEPT 20, 2025

FOLLOW

ON TWITTER Malaysian Paper

8

@thesundaily

‘Ghost’ flood projects leave Filipinos stranded

How did Indian zoo get an endangered great ape? BANGKOK: Tapanuli orangutans are the world’s most endangered great ape. Fewer than 800 remain in their native Indonesia. But now, an Indian zoo says it has one. An Indian court cleared the 1,147ha wildlife facility known as Vantara on Monday of allegations, including unlawful acquisition of animals and financial wrongdoing. Vantara says it houses 150,000 animals of 2,000 species, far exceeding populations at well known zoos in New York, London or Berlin. AFP spoke to seven experts on conservation and the wildlife trade. Several declined to speak on record, citing Vantara’s previous legal actions against critics. “We’ve never seen anything on this scale. It’s hoovering up animals from all over the world,” said one. Some of those acquisitions are noteworthy, such as the single tapanuli that arrived in Vantara between 2023 and 2024, according to the facility’s submissions to India’s Central Zoo Authority. Tapanulis are incredibly rare, said Serge Wich, an orangutan specialist at Liverpool John Moores University. They are confined to a small range in Indonesia. Trade is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). But there are exceptions, including for “captive-bred” animals – individuals born in captivity to captive parents. There is only one CITES record of a tapanuli orangutan ever being transferred internationally. It left Indonesia in 2023, bound for the United Arab Emirates, where Vantara says its tapanuli came from. The transfer record describes the animal as “captive-bred”. However, experts said the description was implausible. “There are no captive breeding programmes for orangutans in Indonesia,”said Panut Hadisiswoyo, founder and chairman of the Orangutan Information Centre. Only a handful are known to be in captivity at rehabilitation facilities in Indonesia, he said. Panut said he was “surprised and shocked” to learn about Vantara’s orangutan. There is no information on where in Indonesia the animal originated. The country’s CITES authorities did not respond to a request for comment. Experts said it was possible the orangutan is not a tapanuli. They look similar enough to Bornean and Sumatran orangutans, and DNA testing would be needed for confirmation. It could also be a mix of tapanuli and another species, perhaps discovered by a zoo in its collection – although experts questioned why a facility would hand off such a rare animal. Vantara did not respond to a request for comment on the orangutan. – AFP

identified in recent weeks, has never been finished. The taxpayer money paid for the dike “was clearly stolen”, Public Works Minister Vince Dizon said after visiting the site. He called it an obvious “ghost project” and said he had fired the district’s chief engineer and two others. Anger has been growing over ghost infrastructure since President Ferdinand Marcos put the issue centre-stage in a state of the union address after weeks of deadly flooding. Greenpeace estimates some US$17.6 billion in funds may have been bilked from flood-mitigation projects since 2023, much of it meant for communities that are slowly sinking due to groundwater over extraction and rising sea levels. Marcos himself has visited sites caught up in the scandal and slammed the poor quality of the dike in the village of Frances. “The dike is worthless. It’s full of holes,” said health worker Nelia de los Reyes Bernal. “Construction began last year but it has not been completed, supposedly because funds ran out,” the 51-year-old said. “There’s no storm and yet the water is rising . We can no longer use the downstairs rooms of our houses. We’ve moved our kitchens to the second floors.” In Plaridel, 81-year-old Elizabeth

tomorrow justice, including prison for those found guilty of involvement in the bogus infrastructure projects. But for construction worker Francisco, who says the floods are killing his livelihood, that kind of outcome is barely worth dreaming about. “For me, what’s important is that they return the money,” he said. – AFP demanding

Abanilla said she had not followed hearings on the scandal because she does not own a television, but felt contractors were not the only ones to blame. “It’s the fault of those who gave them money,” she said. “They should not have handed it over before the job is completed. Both of them are guilty.” Thousands are expected to take part in a protest in the capital

PLARIDEL: The dike meant to protect the Philippine town cost taxpayers nearly US$2 million (RM8.41 million). But when a minister visited this month, he found little more than dirt hastily dumped along the riverbanks. Residents of Plaridel, north of the capital Manila, could have told him what happened – contractors had only just begun a project that government officials marked “completed” more than a year earlier. The dike is one of more than 100 flood control projects at the centre of one of the country’s biggest corruption scandals in decades. It has already sparked leadership changes in both houses of Congress, but the real impact is among communities left without protection, many of them strung along rivers in the Bulacan region. “We carry our children to school when the water is high,” construction worker Leo Francisco said in the village of Bulusan. “Inside our house, the water is up to our thighs,” the 35-year-old said. “On the road, sometimes it’s knee high, sometimes ankle-high. These are ordinary days, not typhoons.” A flood control project intended to remedy the issue, like so many o Estimated US$17.6b bilked since 2023

Residents commute through a flooded area in Calumpit, Bulacan. – AFPPIC

Indonesia to table Tax Amnesty Bill JAKARTA: The legislative body of Indonesia’s parliament has included tax amnesty and patriot bond Bills as priority legislation, lawmakers said yesterday, in a further step to generate more revenues to fund major government programmes. worth of unreported assets. Taxpayers were offered lower than-normal tax rates if they disclosed hidden assets, while authorities pledged to penalise those who did not take part.

bond),” said Bob Hasan, another lawmaker. Indonesia’s Finance Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. President Prabowo Subianto proposed a 3,842.7 trillion rupiah (RM975.4 billion) budget for next year, a 9% increase from this year, with key spending on defence and free-meals for 83 million recipients. – Reuters

and was not suddenly included, said lawmaker Martin Manurung, adding it and the Patriot Bond Bill would still require a majority parliamentary vote at a later date before they become law. The Tax Amnesty Bill will be in the priority legislation list for this year, while the Patriot Bond Bill will be included in next year’s list. “We will conduct a parliamentary hearing first on the Bill (patriot

The government at the time had promised not to hold further amnesties, but to improve tax compliance. The Tax Amnesty Bill had been on the priority list from the beginning

Southeast Asia’s biggest economy carried out two tax amnesty programmes, in 2016 and 2022, which collectively uncovered more than US$340 billion (RM1.4 trillion)

Maldives journalists press for freedom COLOMBO: Journalists in Maldives will appeal to the country’s Supreme Court to repeal a new law that they say seeks to stifle the media and impose steep fines on violators, a journalists’ association said. parliamentary appointees and parliament can remove members nominated by media outlets, making it government-controlled, MJA said. “Media should be self-regulated,” said MJA president Naaif Ahmed. “We will go to the Supreme Court and ask it to dismantle this law.”

President Mohamed Muizzu on Thursday signed into law the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulation Bill. It creates a seven-member Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission with sweeping powers. The commission can block news websites, halt broadcasts and control social media, said the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA). It can also fine media outlets up to US$16,340 (RM68,741). Three of its commissioners and the chair will be

The Maldives president’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel posted on X that the law unifies oversight under an independent commission, ensuring transparency and independence from executive control, while modernising registration, setting clear professional standards and strengthening public confidence in the media. – Reuters

Journalists sit-in outside the parliament in Male on Tuesday. – AFPPIC