About 30 protestors disrupted the launch of a new access road in Bagan, Penang today, after Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng officiated the one-kilometre road that bypasses Sg Nyior Toll.

They were protesting over the state government’s failure to remove the toll.

demonstration against lim guan eng 080511 police The new road will be an alternative traffic vein for the area, alleviating traffic along Jalan Bagan and Jalan Permatang Pauh.

The protest that lasted no more than minutes, was curtailed after over 30 police and light strike force officers moved in at about 11.30am to ask the protestors to disperse.

The officers seized several banners from the group and nabbed four people, believed to be the organisers of the protest.

Earlier, the group also protested against Utusan Malaysia ’s recent allegations that DAP was planing to make Christianity the official religion of the country, replacing Islam.

The matter ended peacefully when the protestors dispersed and those arrested were whisked away to a nearby police headquarters.

Working around the problem

Later during a press conference, Lim ( below ) said, "We have fulfilled our promise to provide an alternative to the public.

NONE "This is part of the CAT (Competency, Accountability and Transparency) governance," said the CM.

"We are not like BN and Umno - when they make roads, they put tolls on them. We make them for free," he said.

 

Asked why the Sg Nyior toll could not be removed, Lim replied, "That is under the federal government's jurisdiction, and we (the state government) cannot interfere.

"But we can do something about it (by providing the bypass road)," he said.

At the end of the press conference, State Umno Youth chief Shaik Hussein Mydin confronted Lim, saying that he did not fulfill the promise of removing the toll.

Shaik Hussein suggested that the state government had thus failed to deliver what they had promised in the past.

"It is like you are promised a maiden to be married to, but only to find out later that it is an old woman. It is not the same thing," he said.

Umno 'not involved'

When asked by reporters later, Shaik Hussein distanced himself from the protestors, saying they were residents of the nearby middle and low cost flats.

He denied that Umno was the mastermind behind the protest.

demonstration against lim guan eng 080511 shaikh hussein mydin Meanwhile, Lim, when met later, insisted that it was Umno who had organised the rally as he had personally asked Shaik Hussein ( centre in photo, in white striped shirt ) if he was part of the demonstration.

According to Lim, Shaik Hussein told him, "It's as normal lah.”

Lim was speaking to reporters after attending the first anniversary of the Speakers Corner at the Esplanade today.

Lim said Umno's action was "sneaky", describing it with the Malay proverb, “ Baling batu, sembunyi tangan ” (To hide one’s hands after casting a stone.

"If Umno did not organise the protest, why was their state Umno Youth chief in the event?" he asked.

Lim said he accepted the protest by the group against the toll road, as "they have a different opinion from us about the matter".

However, Lim was aghast at the protest against the allegations that DAP or a group of Christian pastors were planning to turn Malaysia into a Christian state.

"How can they protest against a lie?" he said.