01 APR 1998 Parliament-Debate CORPORATE FIGURES RAPPED FOR LUKEWARM RESPONSE TO NATIONAL FUND

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (Bernama) -- A government backbencher today rapped the corporate figures for their lukewarm response to the National Fund although they were the ones who benefited immensely from government projects. By right, they should have come forward to contribute to the fund as a mark of gratitude to the government for what they had reaped thus far, said Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Yan). They must be sincere in contributing to the fund and should not hope for anyting later in return, he said when debating on the motion of thanks to the royal address by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong. " What is regrettable is that the fund has not even touch RM1 million," he said. Badruddin also urged the government to ensure that private institutions of higher learning had a quota for Bumiputera students to prevent being monopolised by a certain race. He also urged the newly-appointed Mara chairman Ruhanie Ahmad to ease the entry conditions for rural students to enter Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM). He said the condition requiring students to score "A" in all subjects in the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination would only deprieve rural students the opportunity to enter MRSM. Seripah Noli Syed Hussin (BN-Sepang) urged the government to monitor the merging of banks and finance companies to prevent big-scale retrenchments under the pretext of restructuring. She said there were rumours that more than 50 per cent of Sime Bank staff would be retrenched following the acquisition by Rashid Hussein Berhad (RHB). Abdul Aziz Yassin (BN-Muar) urged the government to set up a National Solidarity Council to advise Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad on issues threatening public order. Political veterans like Tun Ghafar Baba and Tan Sri Omar Yoke Lin Ong, who have no other commitments, should be appointed as members to the council vested with powers to investigate issues threatening national security. Dr Yap Yit Thong (BN-Lumut) questioned the system used by the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department to monitor privatised projects. At present, there was no system or mechanism to monitor the projects, he said. As such, there were privatised services which only caused problems to the people like the sewerage services by Indah Water Konsortium and medical check-ups for illegal immigrants by Fomema, he said. Dr Yap said he received complaints from several private practitioners that Fomena asked them to send the urine and blood tests to Premier Diognastic Laboratory although it was not allowed to do so under the agreement it signed with the Health Ministry. He also asked how foreign workers with tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and leprosy could enter the country while the government had stated that they should obtain a clean bill of health from their country before entering . Of the 45,000 foreigners tested, three per cent were found to be suffering from the three ailments, he said. Immediate steps must be taken to deport them to their country of origin, he said. The will sit again tomorrow. -- BERNAMA AKT TS