Rep: Gauge Penang's feats by the people's response

The DAP has dismissed criticism by BN that the state government had under-performed during its three years in charge of Penang.

Komtar assemblyperson Ng Wei Aik said Penang’s performance should be judged by measuring the people’s response instead of BN’s satisfaction.

Ng ( right ) said the administration led by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has room for improvement, but that feedback from the people has been “quite positive and impressive”.

He stressed that there have been many changes since Pakatan Rakyat took over the state in 2008.

For example, there have been improvements in the fields of financial management, transparency and investment.

He urged detractors to evaluate the state’s economy by looking at investment figures, which were the highest nationwide last year.

“You can evaluate our economic status by looking at investments. If people are not confident about the state, would they come here and make Penang overtake Selangor’s investments last year?” he asked.

Ng was responding to BN's charge that Pakatan has not kept its promises to develop or improve the state.

Umno liaison chief Zainal Abidin Osman ( left ) said Pakatan’s three years of administration were “disappointing”, while state Gerakan chief Dr Teng Hock Nan criticised the coalition for not attending to many issues affecting Penangites.

Penang had attracted the highest amount of investment into the country last year, recording a total of RM12.238 billion, a jump of 465 percent compared to 2009.

‘We need time'

On problems like traffic congestion and living conditions, Ng said these issues require time to be addressed.

“We have been urging our state assemblypersons to take care of their constituencies, and we have provided them with resources to do that,” he said.

“These problems exist everywhere, but perhaps BN is so naive that it thinks these can be wiped out totally."

On the hike in property prices, Ng said it is difficult to control the market’s influence, noting that housing is under the jurisdiction of the federal government vide the Housing Development Act.

Rather than give up, Ng said the state has plans to pass a Bill to enable a housing board to be set up.

“Although we cannot resolve all the housing complaints immediately, at least we are trying to (take) some power from the federal government,” he said.

“When drafting the Bill, we have to use other state laws as reference to convince the state legal advisor (to approve the document).”

Ng related that the state government has attempted to improve cleanliness in Penang. However, the federal government wants to take over solid waste management, and this has affected Pakatan’s efforts to reform the municipal councils.

“We also proposed to adjust the taxi tariff to convince drivers to adopt the meter system, but this was not approved by the federal government which is  in charge of licensing,” he said.

“As for local government elections, we really want to have it but are not allowed to do so, even though they (BN) may be able to win a few seats.”

Ng blamed the centralisation of power in the federal government for all the problems plaguing Penang.

“Lim is very busy, it is impossible for him to intervene in all aspects,” said Ng, who is Lim’s political secretary.

“Please do not tie our hands and legs and then challenge us to fight in the ring."