Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek has called on the DAP-led Penang government to be fair in implementing the free WiFi broadband service in the state.

He said the service should cover all areas, irrespective of the parties representing them.

The DAP-led state government, he said, should give priority to the interest of the people and not those of the party's leaders.

"It's not fair to give priority to only areas represented by the DAP like Tanjung, Batu Kawan, Bayan Baru ... what about the people in other areas?" he said.

Limited resources

The minister was commenting on a report in a local English daily today that the state government was excluding areas not under Pakatan's control such as Kepala Batas, Tasek Gelugor and Nibong Tebal, citing limited resources as the reason.

Ahmad Shabery said the unfair manner the service was implemented ran contrary to the ‘People First, Performance Now’ principle encouraged by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

"Federal government leaders always take care of the needs and interests of everybody," he said.

Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen, who was also disappointed with the news, said the federal government had never been selective when providing allocations.

- Bernama