I refer to a report in The Star quoting a statement made by Lim Guan Eng, the chief minister of Penang, on the legal and cost exposure to Penang state government should some approved development projects have to be cancelled in order to retain Unesco’s World Heritage Site status for the island.

He was quoted as saying: ‘If all the projects are cancelled, the state government will request the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry to pay compensation to the developers’.

This type of attitude and remarks are slowly becoming his trademark - too quick to jump to politicise an administrative and managerial issue for his own convenience.

One has to wonder how a chief minister who supposedly espouses utmost prudence when dealing with people's money can make this kind of suggestion when everyone knows that any compensation from the government's coffer involves taxpayers' money - whether it's the state's or federal government's coffers.

It is very easy for Lim to always point a finger to others but it is also time for him (now that his honeymoon period is long over) to become more chief ministerial and statesman-like by providing the solution that is least costly to the people as a whole.

Shifting the exposure or problem to the federal government just because his party is not in power at the federal level is plain politicking.

A good politician, when faced with his situation, would have considered the best way to achieve both results - going ahead with the development without losing the status. This way, the taxpayers do not need to pay the cost of compensation and Penang can continue with its world heritage site status.

Often, this involves negotiation with the developers to explore ways to proceed with the development while adhering to Unesco's guidelines.

But a full time politician like Lim who has very little experience in managing administrative issues like this will naturally resort to politicking rather than doing the most commonsensical thing that any manager at any respected organisation would have done - sitting down and discussing the best way to manage the situation before issuing any statement.

I fully agree with some others that Lim has to be careful in the future with his statements lest he inadvertently exposes his own inexperience. .

His misleading statements about Petronas in the past (for example his accusation that Petronas has its own private jet and its bosses live like kings) are but a few examples of a series of statements that show he has a long way to go.

And four years to 2012 is a long time with many opportunities for inexperienced politicians to undress themselves.

Lim does not want to wake up in 2012 realising he has been undressing himself before the electorate to find himself naked on the streets without power.