Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has instructed all state departments to provide answers for the weaknesses and baseless complaints pointed out in the recent Auditor-General Report 2011.

Lim also wants mistakes featured in the audit report that have been caused by others not involved with the state government to be to identified.

Although the financial performance of the state government was so far the best in Penang's history, Lim said, he accepted the recommendations put forward in the report with an open heart.

He clarified one of issues raised in the report, that of the RM557.25 million allocated for the nine state departments to implement 2,489 projects, only RM171.05 million was spent.

"Actually, only RM23.9 million is yet to be spent, not RM362 million as stated. This was unspent because the project was delayed and the said department has been instructed to avoid further delays," the chief minister added in a statement.

Lim also said he has several quarters to thank for the flying colours given the Penang government by the auditor-general.

Team spirit and efforts of Penangites

First, Lim thanked Penangites for the team spirit and efforts of all administrators of the state government for the highest surplus record in history, which grew by 312 percent from RM138 million last year and from only RM33 million in 2010.

He attributed his administration's CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) policy for enabling the surplus to increase by as much as RM105 million in a year, achieving a record of RM138 million.

This amount, he added, was based on the RM192 million (47 percent) increase in revenue collected last year, from RM411 million in 2010 to RM603 million last year.

This took place, he said, despite the fact that there was an increase of RM88 million (23 percent) in operational expenditure, from RM377 million in 2010 to RM465 million last year.

Lim also thanked de facto Law Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz, who congratulated Penang on its sound financial management, especially in increasing its revenue by 47 percent or RM192 million.

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