GEORGE TOWN, April 2 — The Penang chapter of Gerakan claimed the state remains sidelined by Putrajaya despite Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) control of the federal government.
Penang Gerakan Youth chief Teo Yin Horng claimed the PH state government even admitted it could not get funds from the federal government for projects such as its airport expansion.
“The PH federal government have allocations for projects like flying cars, a third national car and the Kulim International Airport, but couldn’t set aside allocations for Penang,” he said when pointing out that Penang voters had strongly supported PH in the general election.
“Now, the chief minister is hinting to Penangites to get ready to ‘makan sendiri’,” he said, using a phrase to mean that one has to be independent.
Teo claimed funding and allocations from the federal government for Penang were lower than for neighbouring states, especially Kedah.
This was despite Penang’s continued contributions to the economy, taxes and growth that he said outstripped what it got back from the federal government.
This showed Penang is being still marginalised, he said.
He said when Barisan Nasional (BN) was the federal government, the PH state government had claimed it was marginalised because it was an Opposition state.
“Now, Penang is no longer an Opposition state but the state still can’t fulfil the promises it made such as the abolishment of the Sungai Nyior toll,” he said.
He reminded the state that back in 2008, the administration had promised to abolish the Sungai Nyior toll but could not do so as it was under the BN federal government’s jurisdiction.
This was no longer an obstacle, he said in a press conference before handing over a memorandum to Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow’s office in Komtar today.
In it, he demanded that Chow fight for allocations for the state and fulfil promises made to the state.
“At the very least, he should fight for the Sungai Nyior toll to be abolished to fulfil the promises PH made to the people,” he said.
