GEORGE TOWN, Dec 31 ― Penang fishermen were compensated more for land reclamation projects by the current administration than the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) state government, said Lim Guan Eng.
The Penang chief minister accused BN of hypocrisy in protesting against a proposed land reclamation project, saying the coalition had approved similar work when it was it power.
“Such hypocrisy is not only double-standards but also cruel and oppressive because it serves to deny and deprive the rakyat,” he said in his New Year message issued today.
He expressed his regret over the “political vengeance by some national federal agencies” by protesting against the proposed land reclamation, highlighting their lack of protest over similar projects during the previous BN administration.
The proposed land reclamation was to finance the Penang Transport Master Plan (TMP), which Lim said will help to resolve Penang's traffic congestion problems.
He said Penang will be heading for a transformational year in 2016 that will either help to resolve its traffic congestion problems or prove that Putrajaya practices the politics of vengeance.
He said the state's traffic congestion can only be overcome if Penang is allowed to implement the RM27 billion TMP, a five-in-one public transport solution involving LRT or monorail, ferry or water taxis, taxis, buses and cable cars.
The TMP was undertaken at the Penang state government’s initiative following the failure of the federal government to fulfil its repeated promises to build an LRT in the state, he added.
Lim also said 2016 will see Penang emerge as a national and regional hub for tourism, services and high-tech manufacturing, citing growing tourist arrivals.
“However success bring its own problems with traffic congestion being the critical challenge,” he said, reiterating the importance of the TMP.
