Penang BN has warned that the state will go bankrupt if the deficit budget persists, as has happened over the past two years.

Youth vice-chairperson Tan Hing Teik said the Pakatan Rakyat cannot run a state by continuing to announce deficit budgets.

“If this goes on, sooner or later Penang will go bankrupt and there is no denying it,” Tan told a press conference today.

“The state tabled a deficit budget of RM107.78 million in 2011 and in 2012 a total deficit of RM213.71 million.

“Now, the chief minister is telling Penangites that there will be another round of RM262.04 million deficit this year. What is going on?”

Tan said the Penang government has been "wasting the people's money and has not been effective".

"We urge the CM to focus on the state economy and control the increasing deficit," he said.

"Penang under the BN government never had a deficit this high." 

Last November, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had announced a deficit budget of RM262 million, an increase of RM48 million from 2012.

The amount takes into account the 2013 estimated income of RM708 million compared to the operational expenditure of RM970 million for next year, he explained.

He said the deficit will be managed via the state’s accumulated savings, which stood at RM710 million at the end of 2011.

Although a deficit budget was announced in previous years, the state usually recorded a surplus at the end of the year.

Face-to-face welfare aid

Gerakan Youth deputy chief Oh Tong Keong lauded the move by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to distribute the 1Malaysia Welfare Aid “face-to-face”.

NONE “While the intention is good, this is not a perfect step and has drawbacks which the government should heed,” said Oh ( right ).

“Since this aid will usually be distributed at a specific time and location, the recipients might need to travel far just to get their aid.

"This would present a big challenge to the poor as they might not have the time and funds to pay for their transportation.

“As for the elderly, some even have memory loss to the extent of not even knowing their names.”

He asked how the disabled would collect their aid without assistance since it would be a challenge for them to travel to the distribution centre, and they could also face the risk of being robbed.

“This is one of the main problems that the government has to anticipate if they want to move forward with the step," he added.

“We hope that, in any scheme or idea the government wishes to implement, the interests of the people must always be given top priority."