KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Finance Minister should stop lying about the amount of land sold by the Penang state government when he was its Chief Minister, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In a Facebook post, the ex-prime minister said Lim had stated earlier it was unwise to sell assets to keep the government afloat, and indicated the latter remains unsatisfied with him.

“In a press statement, Guan Eng said in his 10 years as Penang Chief Minister, the state government only sold 43 hectares of land,” Najib said.

He said Lim was being dishonest, as in January 2014 in his personal blog Lim had mentioned 99.2 hectares of land had been sold by the government.

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“Let Guan Eng expose Guan Eng. In truth these past 10 years has seen the Penang state government sell or give away up to 2,337.5 hectares of land, not 43 hectares as he claimed.

“This includes two PPP projects for the tunnel project which is yet to materialise or the PTMP project where land reclamation rights have been given out,” Najib said.

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He added Lim’s dishonesty was such that he claimed to have reduce the state government’s debt by 90 per cent, whereas it was the BN federal government’s efforts in 2010 at restructuring the states’ water assets which really did the job.

“The central government provided help and simultaneously reduce the debt of the states by as much as RM655 million, around 95 per cent of Penang’s debt at the time.

“Guan Eng himself stated to the press that the BN central government assisted Penang in reducing its state debt by 95 per cent. The Internet never forgets,” Najib said, providing another link to Lim’s blog dated to June 2011.

If the government leaders can remain dishonest in the face of such clear and concise facts at hand, he said they would similarly be unafraid to lie about the country’s financial matters.

“Guan Eng should realise he is no longer an Opposition politician but shoulders a heavy responsibility as Malaysia’s financial minister. Thus he should be as honest as appropriately possible,” Najib said.