(1st full draft press release)
1GP (GarisPanduan Perusahaan Sarang Burung Layang Layang)
The promised panacea for the ills of the industry.
60,000 farms currently earning RM1.5bil of foreign exchange awaits the sight of this guideline.
It was variously reported that when this much anticipated guidelines is implemented, it will propel the nation ahead of Indonesia and Thailand the current leading producers of the Edible Bird Nest. Malaysia currently contributes a mere 6% to the world supply.

Disruptive enforcement,licensing bureaucracy and disparate requirements of the different local councils (PBT) has been cited as the prime impediment to further growth. These came to a head when mass raids were conducted in Mukah Sarawak, resulting in eggs going bad and deaths of swiftlet fledlings. Operators then claimed that though hundreds of applications for licenses were filed and was later revealed 2 were approved.

Aerodramus Fuciphagus, the swiftlet specie that produces the Edible Bird Nest in this industry is not a protected specie in any of the producing countries. This is in tandem with CITES (an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival, of which Malysia is a signatory). A CITES report has attributed the recovery of this specie to the current commercialisation of it's nest. Nevertheless it remains in Schedule 4 of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 (Pen M'sia) and xxxxxxxxxxx for Sarawak and Sabah. As such it remain under the purview of the respective agencies. Operators are now required to apply for annual licences for
1)Housing the birds and
2)Harvesting of the nests.
3)Export permits (good for once) are granted on a picemeal basis with a tax of RM100 per kilogram of birdnest.
Birdnest (which remain a favourite tourist purchase) is reported to continue to be confiscated at departure lounges of local airports due to the export
licence requirement.

This fledging industry is not without controversy. There has been numerous public complaints over the loud chirping emanating from the farms or birdhouses as operators prefer to call them. Some too claim that they offer sanctuary to the birds and as such bird sanctuaries be more apt a name. It is understood that 3 different chirps are in use. The first with speakers facing out and up at the entrances. Second at at intermediate area (or roving area in trade speak). The final being at the building internals. It is the first chirp that brings misery to the public. Local councils have now mandated that this first chirp sound are allowed to be used only between the hours of 7AM to 7PM.
The Veterinary Services has also offered courses to incalcate good husbandry practices through the GAHP syllabus. Another public complaint is the smell of the guano from within the birdhouses. And current regulation calls for regular cleanup and proper disposal of the same. Being the ever innovative entepreneur new technology (such as Effective Microrganism (EM) - a green composting method, is now catching on amongst the operators)is being adapted for use and proven effective in terms of neutralising the ammonia which is the main contributor to the unpleasant smell. Post application of EM produces guano ready to use as fertiliser.

Majority of operators started self funded in mostly abandoned shophouses for economic reasons and the then believe (or trade secret) and layman observations of swiftlets preference for their chosen habitat. Due to the high starup cost (RM400-RM750K), most operators had either pooled family resources and their life savings. It is estimated by operators that the industry now economically support close to half a million of their family dependents.

The government has come to the realise it's potential and has allocated a large sum of money in the 2010 national budget to develop the industry .

"ADVANCING AGRICULTURE SECTOR (**)
Fourth: Develop food farming industry such as fruits, vegetables, organic farming, herbs, seaweeds and swiftlet nests with an allocation of RM149
million;" (source: 2010 Budget speech)

It is apparent why the current operators view the the availability of the guidelines with such anxiety and emotions.
They have faced heart wrenching raids and then delighted with promises of assistance.

Prior to the completion of this article and as the date draws nearer to the Cabinet approval of the guidelines (from various press releases), some facets of the guidelines become available to the operators. These were viewed with disbelief as the overall theme tended to be more bureaucracy and further licensing and a host additional conditions that are impossible to comply with.

Some examples pointed are as follows

6.1 Status Tanah
i. Hendaklah dikategorikan sebagai bangunan perniagaan
ii. Bagi bangunan 'free standing' di atas tanah pertanian , syarat nyata tanah ditukar kepada kategori bangunan perniagaan.
Grouse:
no trading is conducted in situ.
land conversion adds to start up cost for no apparent advantage nor benefit

6.2 Jarak Bangunan
i. Mempunyai jarak 150 m daripada mana - mana bangunan kediaman berdekatan.
if. Hendaklah tidak kurang dari 0.5 km. daripada kawasan perumahan dan bangunan komersial.
Grouse:
Majority of existing shophouse birdhouse will fail compliance as by design shophouses are mostly built in a terrace.

6.6 Kebenaran
i. Persetujuan daripada tuan punya premis bersampingan dengan premis yang dicadangkan hendaklah diperolehi iaitu daripada kiri,
kanan, bahagian hadapan dan belakang premis yang berkenaan.
ii.Pandangan daripada jiran sekitaran juga hendaklah diperolehi sebelum kelulusan diberi
Grouse:
An adication of responsibility and confusion over roles.

6.11 Keadaan Bangunan
i. 'Semua bangunan dijadikan perusahaan burung hendaklah dicat semula dengan satu warna bagi memudahkan orang ramai dan pelancong asing mengenal pasti tempat bangunan yang dijadikan industri burung.
Grouse:
Unnecessary cost and frivolous.

The stated objective of 1GP
2 OBJECTIF
2.1 Untuk memastikan perkembangan industri sarang burung layang - layang di negara ini ·terkawalserta mematuhi perundangan dan peraturan semua agensi kerajaan yang berkaitan dengan industri ini.
2.2 Untuk memastikan aktiviti pengambilan sarang burung layang - layang tidak akan menjejaskan populasi semulajadi burung layang - layang. tersebut.:
2.3 Mengawal dan menyelaras pengambilan sarang burung layang - layang agar ianya dijalankan secara lestari. "


Published objective in press releases
"growth to 100,000 birdhouses producing 500 tonnes of edible bird nest annually worth RM5billion by year 2020"
(source: Bernama)

1GP objective and the national objective are fatally misaligned resulting in the allocated money to be spent to 'develop' the industry on plans to work out common industrial problems faced either technical, health, specie specfic research, market access...etc.
Instead the allocation are reported to be given out to successful 'applicants' to build swiftlet farms. Nary a person in the industry seem to have a clue of how and when these applications were offered.

1)The main grouse stems from the fact that these are new and additional conditions and are made to apply retroactively.
2)The remaining grouses are that some conditions are presumptious prescriptions for variables that dertermines the success of a birdhouse.
eg restrictions on methods employed to achieve optimum temperature and relative humidity which industry experts would hesitate to venture.
3)Mostly the 1GP guidelines is not 'developmental' in nature.

This post has been edited by Cergau: Feb 23 2010, 11:36 PM

Must have cheap sale now cos' after 1GP implementation, no more buyer.

In addition to chionnguo response to things to look for?
You need to learn persistence and test your perseverance.

Persistence can be learned by asking Qs here repeatedly till someone responds.
Perseverance can be tested by going back to V1 of this thread and reading from the 1st post by Seeseng.
All the basics were discussed on V1 with some of them archived n c/f on the 1st few postings of V2.
(you are now on V2)

All,
My posting on Najib's site is now moderator approved and online.
Pls go do yr bit.
http://www.1malaysia.com.my/index.php?opti...ang=en#comments

btw, there's a Cabinet meeting today.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...77&sec=business

This post has been edited by Cergau: Feb 24 2010, 09:55 AM

Unc WW,
Me thinks the implementation is erratic.
So, for the article I need to stick with the official version.

(edited copy for publication)
It's written as a 3rd person (the reporter).
It represent your view. pls do comment.
In case I ever get sued for false representation as I do not now own a BH.
May I request some of you give me an OK on the forum to go ahead to forward to the papers.
thks


1GP (GarisPanduan Perusahaan Sarang Burung Layang Layang)
The promised panacea for the ills of the industry.

Highlight
60,000 farms currently earning RM1.5bil of foreign exchange; 0.5 million citizen dependents awaits the sight of these promised guidelines.
Heart wrenching and disruptive raids on the farms followed by assurances of formal guidelines and a development allocation in the 2010 budget
raised hopes that this fledging cottage industry will at last receive formal support and facilitated to it's fullest potential.

It was not to be so and disappointment prevails with impending Cabinet discussion towards endorsement.
Snippets of the draft guidelines were obtained and operators charged that

1)The new and additional conditions if applied retroactively, 80% of the current farms will by default fail compliance and threatened with closure.

2)Some conditions are presumptious prescriptions for variables that are determinants of the success of a birdhouse.
eg restrictions on methods employed to achieve optimum temperature and relative humidity which industry experts would hesitate to venture.

3)Few were frivolous, non-beneficial nor industry specific, resulting in additional and unnecessary bureacracy and inflation of operating costs.

4)1GP objectives are not aligned nor remotely support the 2010 budget objectives nor subsequent published financial objectives.

5)Mostly the 1GP guidelines is not 'developmental' in nature ,is self serving and bereft of intent to
a)resolve common problems or issues faced by the industry, be it technical, operational, environmental, material, health etc..
b)improve through research public perception, specie specific knowlege, farm environmentals, market access and fair pricing etc..

The Law
Disruptive enforcement,licensing bureaucracy and disparate requirements of local councils (PBT) have been cited as the prime impediments to further growth.
These came to a head when mass raids were conducted in several towns in Sarawak, resulting in eggs going bad and deaths of swiftlet fledglings.
Operators then claimed that though hundreds of applications for licenses were filed, only two were approved.

Aerodramus Fuciphagus, the primary swiftlet specie that produces the Edible Bird Nest in this industry, is not listed as an endangered specie in any of the producing countries.
This is in tandem with CITES (an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival, of which Malysia is a signatory). A CITES report has attributed the recovery of this specie to the current commercialisation of its nest. Nevertheless it remains protected under the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 (Pen M'sia) and respectively separate regulations for Sarawak and Sabah. Operators are now required to apply for annual licences for
a)Housing the birds;
b)Harvesting the nests;
c)Export (good for once) which are granted on a piecemeal basis with a tax of RM100 per kilogram of birdnest.
Birdnests (which remain a favourite tourist purchase) are reported to continue to be confiscated at departure lounges of local airports due to the export licence requirement.

Public Perception
This fledgling industry is not without controversy. There have been numerous public complaints over the incessant loud chirping emanating from the farms (Some operators claim that their farms offer sanctuary to the birds and that the term "bird sanctuaries" would in fact be even more apt)

It is understood that 3 different chirps are in use: the first, with speakers facing out and up at the entrances; the second, at at intermediate area (or roving area in tradespeak); and the final, being at the building internals. It is the first chirp that seems to bring misery to the public. Local councils have now mandated that this first chirp sound be allowed to be used only between the hours of 7AM to 7PM. The Veterinary Services have also offered courses to inculcate good husbandry practices through the GAHP syllabus.

Another complaint relates to the stench of the guano. Current regulation calls for regular cleanup and proper disposal of the same. Being the ever innovative enterpreneur, new technologies (such as Effective Micro-Organism (EM) - a green composting method now catching on amongst the operators) are being adapted for use and proven effective in terms of neutralising the ammonia,the main contributor of the unpleasant smell. Post application of EM converts guano into useful fertilisers.

A majority of operators self-funded their ventures in abandoned shoplots for economic reasons and based on the belief that swiftlets preferred such habitat. Due to the high startup cost (RM400-RM750K), most operators drew from family resources and life savings. Operators estimate that the industry now economically supports close to half a million of their family dependents.

It is apparent why the current operators view the guidelines with anxiety and fear with such stakes at risk.

The Hope
It was variously reported that when these much anticipated guidelines are implemented, the nation would be propelled ahead of Indonesia and Thailand, the current leading producers of the Edible Bird Nest. Malaysia currently contributes a mere 6% to the world supply.

The government has also come to realise the industry's potential and has allocated a large sum of money in the 2010 national budget to develop it.

Budget 2010 objective
[Reference:"ADVANCING AGRICULTURE SECTOR (**)
Fourth: Develop food farming industry such as fruits, vegetables, organic farming, herbs, seaweeds and swiftlet nests with an allocation of RM149 million;"
(source: 2010 Budget speech)].

Published financial objective in press release
"growth to 100,000 birdhouses producing 500 tonnes of edible bird nest annually worth RM5billion by year 2020"
(source: Bernama)

1GP Stated Objective
2 OBJECTIF
2.1 Untuk memastikan perkembangan industri sarang burung layang-layang di negara ini terkawalserta mematuhi perundangan dan
peraturan semua agensi kerajaan yang berkaitan dengan industri ini.
2.2 Untuk memastikan aktiviti pengambilan sarang burung layang-layang tidak akan menjejaskan populasi semulajadi burung layang-layang. tersebut.:
2.3 Mengawal dan menyelaras pengambilan sarang burung layang - layang agar ianya dijalankan secara lestari. "

Common (though not exhaustive) grouses of the draft 1GP guideline are:
6.1 Status Tanah
i. Hendaklah dikategorikan sebagai bangunan perniagaan
ii. Bagi bangunan 'free standing' di atas tanah pertanian , syarat nyata tanah ditukar kepada kategori bangunan perniagaan.
Grouse:
No trading is conducted in situ.
Land conversion adds to start up cost and time for no apparent advantage nor benefit

6.2 Jarak Bangunan
i. Mempunyai jarak 150 m daripada mana - mana bangunan kediaman berdekatan.
if. Hendaklah tidak kurang dari 0.5 km. daripada kawasan perumahan dan bangunan komersial.
Grouse:
Majority of existing shoplot birdhouse will fail compliance as by design shoplots are mostly built in a terrace.

6.6 Kebenaran
i. Persetujuan daripada tuan punya premis bersampingan dengan premis yang dicadangkan hendaklah diperolehi iaitu daripada kiri,
kanan, bahagian hadapan dan belakang premis yang berkenaan.
ii.Pandangan daripada jiran sekitaran juga hendaklah diperolehi sebelum kelulusan diberi
Grouse:
Disregard for law and order and unhealthy precedent where any business is run by the grace of thy neighbours.

6.11 Keadaan Bangunan
i. 'Semua bangunan dijadikan perusahaan burung hendaklah dicat semula dengan satu warna bagi memudahkan orang ramai dan pelancong asing mengenal pasti tempat bangunan yang dijadikan industri burung.
Grouse:
Unnecessary cost, frivolous and not industry specific.

Bravo,
Raymontec, Dunsun yr comments are both online.
Only 2?

Hackwire,
Dont take it personal, it takes all kind to make society.
1)I think I can confidently say majority would like this problem to go away, so they share a similar objective.
Not everyone is a natural leader, those who post here are the more out spoken ones.
If it gets any worse and there's a confrontation, the leader fit for the moment will appear amongst us.
Am sure DL (David Lim fyi) would hv similar feelings in the early days (self doubt, loneliness, unappreciated etc..).
Most times, you dun get to consciously step up to take leadership, just happens.

For now, there's no one apparently leading.
That's OK too, cos at this pt in time, educating the farmers of the impending calamity is what must now be done.
A nucleus leadership group will form naturally out of this chaos.

Apologies, preaching again.

All,

Would like to take the opportunity while the veterans/sifus from the last war are here (come down from smoky mountain? ) to ask a few Qs
1)Do we need a plan of action?
2)Current objective?
3)What, whom, when

Just my opinion if we we take the classical way, it will end up sadly... at the source of the problem?
1)I see a lot of us scurrying to spread the news...so many will now know, so? They will start looking up to the obvious..their assoc.
Do the assoc have a direct line to the guy with his fingers on the red button? NO!, so the assoc look further to the usual characters who were in the 1st place up there representing us.. which shd have prevented this in the 1st instance..so? Dun stop the spreading oif the news cos' it is war breaks out, we need soldiers.
2)The battle front is a little diff this time, the last war it was the enforcement (foot soldiers in the nidst of destroying you)
what we have this time is the prospect of war.
3)Need to (in a real world scenario) resolve this 'politically' and we sure as hell not want the same reps to represent us.
Where does that leave us?
4)We need to launch a pre-emptive strike of public opinion. Also the adversary get to retreat with grace w/o bloodshed.
What say you?
I hope to trigger more discussion and hopefully some good ideas will appear and we can each take away things to do in the days ahead to prepare.
Or the majority wish to continue venting/ranting and wait for the war(w/o organised opposition) to break out and then...?
Just my 2 bit.

---

Added on February 26, 2010, 5:24 pmglobalexm,
Were the guidelines shared on yr site and any reactions?
How would you rate their reactions if any?
tenang? marah? mengamok?
Its ok to revert in BM, just that I cant respond well in BM, maaf.

This post has been edited by Cergau: Feb 26 2010, 05:24 PM

ChanK,
thks for the only good piece of 'good' news.
May I request you ask DL if it's proper to ask those assoc that are friendly to authorise him (or his association) to represent them for matters related to 1GP with the authorities?
I do not think we can get any new association operational in time for this purpose. (thus my suggestion above).
It gives his representation legitimacy (the authorisation from the assoc).
But pls go ahead to form the alternative assoc for the longer term, I am IN.

1)If you have access to the Dato you mentioned.
May we request that he makes an appearence soon to provide some assurances that things are under control?
If he does that then we can go refocus on the assoc!
You suggest that he has more to lose so he shd be more concerned. Are you suggesting that he is not concerned?
If so, why the silence thus far?

2)I am little baffled......
All the horses has bolted and and the most frequent suggestions are...go strengthen the local assoc.
We are requested to now gather at the gate and quickly start rebuilding the fence ("Don't sit in front of the computer discussing, go do something about it")while behind us, the horses are getting further and further away.
(My observation is obviously faulty if the draft proves to be a hoax.)

my 2 bit

As requested

http://www.scribd.com/full/27157792?access...sk4rzqcuw6j6g6z

tuck fook,
It is already widely reported in the MSM of 1GP up for discussion this week in the scheduled Cabinet meeting.
If at this post mortem stage where your associates are still unaware of the contents then it may be by design.
ie it is being kep out of sight from yr associates.
Stuff of the cloak and dagger kind isn't it?

Yes, we are aware of the infantile state of the said guidelines. With a clue in the doc, it can be dated latest to Dec 09.
However I think the majority of contents will remain due to the territorial culture of the various agencies involved.
Moreover it still require a separate endorsement by the National Land Council under Muhyiddin.
So the PBT guys are bound to want to impress him with their 'thick' contribution.

As to the heritage building problem, I did pick up that release (by a Carol Loh or someting) & thought it good.
Just that I recall before the heritage piece there was an announcement of the stand to be taken for such..ie
the govt will leave it to UN to decide

There is no necessity to confront the ally in DVS. A sweet request to confirm content will suffice.

I take it that you are acquainted with the Dato and DVS.
May we request your continuing update here?
Thanks in advance.

u r welcome.
1)I take it that u didnt test right next to an existing BH?
2)200 birds is indeed impressive ... over a period of less than an hr?
3)Did the birds circle or just flew past you? They shd circle.
Even if they were not reacting to yr sound you hv found a good spot
If you have got the pooling sound, they shd be chasing each other.
If you have the piyit sound (sounds like a chick being tortured!!) , they shd come very close to the speakers but not chasing each other.
Oh! dun ask me for my sound as I paid good money and also not fair to the seller also-lah!

In essence the magic is in the sound.
After you are satisfied that you have a good test sound and h/w, u shd go test at yr grandad's place.
See if you get similar results.
If not you can always find the land owner at Batu Berendam and promise to marry his spinster daughter for the use of the land.
(not advisable if he's a blood relative and also forbidden by law)

Sifus pls jump if u feel otherwise on my 2 bit (except for the last bit-lah).

Hi tangsn,
It's OK lah!
This is a public swiftlet forum .
A forumer's political affiliation not important here lah?

Cheers bro.

a good case study.
No offence intended bro.
A classic demonstration of human communication

It started out as a crappy DRAFT 1GP, folks decided to refer to their assoc to verify authencity.
Along the way, the message got mangled.
The same crap has gone full circle and now being known as a crappy Cabinet paper.


aeiou228,
All of us realised that this cant be the paper for the Cabinet when 1st sighted.
But then this is all that was available on the week of the Cabinet discussion.
Back to communication problem again,.... folks in the know are not sharing the info.
Or maybe there is none to share.

Always got silver lining-lah.
Now more people poking around for a good copy of the latest draft 1GP.
Hopefully someone with the proper connection post it here-lah.
When WW checked with local assoc they weren't even aware there was 1 floating around, why the assoc never asked for 1????
Maybe they didnt even know when the Cabinet was to discuss it, good assoc reps these flers.

Now all perked up and on everyone's lips, so if finally released and proved unfavorable, the reaction will be swift and furious.

Yeah, I noticed the gibberish characters.
It was either OCRed or PDF generator error.
BTW it came from an official regional source, not central; and was subsequently verified as a draft.
How draft is this 1GP draft is anybody's guess.

Fret not, Hackwire,
There;s plenty of potential to change things right here and as it is.
This forum is VERY active, just navigate backwards and check the stats.
There were 150,000 hits on this specific subforum alone.
It is 2nd only to the stock market subforum.
If Seeseng is agreeable we can talk with Admin for top level listing and other potentials.

An association is as good as the members.
Dun worry abt the brick and mortar type associations, some will die a natural death from neglect.
Folks online here are the cream of the active members already. Some may be members of these brick and mortar assoc too.
Like soneone already mentioned, nothing to stop someone from becoming members of multiple assoc.
See for yrself how in times of trouble folks gravitate towards this forum for info?

Use/recycle any registered (in the interest of time) dormant assoc (was offered earlier on here).
Here I am not so sure (mayb the sifus can offer advice).. change the AA to accept online polls or whatever to make this forum the communication channel of this association. Meeting can be held online and an occasional face to face sitdown ones.
1)Polls can be rigged up right here (not very sure).
2)Make registration compulsory for a small fee (aka memebrship fee) and contribute back to LowYat for the support or whatever ...can discuss
3)If successful we can also cater to the non-online fellas too, use twitter, surely even the oldest guy has a hp now.
4)No need to attract people with nice informative articles...we have a ready audience already...safely thousands (out of the 150,000 hits)
start a micro wiki for swiftlet farming from past posting. (I know it takes 2 weeks full time to get thru V1).
5)If done properly it merely an online assocition/community and since it's formed properly, it has legitimacy of representation,
So we impose on the govt to nego with us or at least inlude us in their discussion.
6)We offer both personal and assoc membership. so we naturally becomes the Fed or umbrella by sheer nos. Not just by name.
7)Make the registration a no brainer in terms of cost..maybe rm5, so other assoc will join an associates.
Details can be worked out, 1 obvious problem is when so cheap, politicians can create false assoc by putting down Rm1,000,000 can create a 200,000 member assco if rm5. So more to think -la,

Seeseng what u think, or I am just talking ayam jantan.

Comments pls,

My 2 bit to generate discussions.

This post has been edited by Cergau: Mar 1 2010, 01:24 PM

All,
Any progress on this?
Is MALAYSIA BIRD’S NEST MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION (MBNMA) dormant and can be reactivated.
What needs doing in assuming the use of this assoc.
I am out of my depth here.
I am (as per my prev post) interested to revive the assoc to legitimise this online forum as an assoc.
Is that feasible.???
Sifus????

I dropped DL an email on an add (dlyc7888) which I used months ago.
But silence....since.
Someone mentioned he's retired from activism, so I am hesitant to call him.
(if the hp nos are still good??)

Hi tuckfook,
thks for the update.
1)Is your opinion post or pre consultation with the lady Dr?

2)Even if it's not possible to implement retroactively, respite ends upon expiry of the annual license.

3)In my layman opinion, the guidelines are what it is, guidelines
It will require gazetting at the state level to have effect of law (with or without state enhancements?).
Only way it can be made NON-retroactive is knowing how many exist NOW (ie pre implementation) and to exclude them.
Last known effort at registration in N9, it was made known that all registartion are on hold till guidelines issued.
So, there are mixed signals, no clear indication.

---

Added on March 1, 2010, 10:50 pmHi ChanK,
thks for yr advice.
If the supposedly assoc is active, and not readily available for use, it is quite pointless to start a new one.
It make more sense to join existing ones and influence from within.

Going back to holidays already.
We have not advanced an inch.
Nothing has changed. Do you know something that most of us dont?


This post has been edited by Cergau: Mar 1 2010, 10:50 PM

Dear WW. Tomytan,
I would like to repeat here my reply to tuckfook and I quote
"All of us realised that this cant be the paper for the Cabinet when 1st sighted.
But then this is all that was available on the week of the Cabinet discussion.
How draft is this 1GP draft is anybody's guess."

May I please request that we do not use strong words like 'HOAX'.
It gives the impression that it was distributed with BAD intent, calculated to create confusion and mayhem. Which I do not think the case. I can't see a reason for such actions from the authorities. A fully armed and ready army intent on resistance is not to the authorities advantage incase of unfavorable guidelines.
Or maybe the authorities are great chess players? This is exactly their intentions? ie creating distrust amongst us? We have fallen into a trap of our own creation, irrespective of the existence of this real or imagined ill intent by the authorities.
Let's call it VERY DRAFT 1GP or for the more imaginative amongst us...CRAPPY DRAFT 1GP.
Cool bros.
my 2 bit

WW,
You hit the issue on the head with yr Qs
"why isn't the final draft provided to the states Associations,"
In the letter posted, it is being finalised over next few days.
So the next course of action. I suggest
Proactively ask assoc to request nicely for copy to 'proof read' before Cabinet viewing.

This post has been edited by Cergau: Mar 2 2010, 12:16 PM

ChanK,
pls check PM