The Penang government failed to obtain an unanimous voice to boot out a controversial motion on land reclamation filed by BN.

Out of 38 assemblypersons who were in the House tonight, nine Umno reps voted to support the motion, 22 reps (DAP 18, PKR 4) voted against the motion, while five PKR reps abstained.

PKR has nine reps in the state assembly, however, speaker Law Choo Kiang (PKR-Bukit Tambun) and deputy speaker Maktar Shapee (PKR-Sungai Bakap) cannot vote,

In a rare move, Teh Yee Cheu (DAP-Tanjung Bungah), an environmental activist at heart, voted to support Umno.

He did this despite being warned by his party boss and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng earlier during the debate “if you stand with Umno, you will pay the price!”

The motion was filed by Muhammad Farid Saad (BN-Pulau Betong) who asked that all projects or concession involving reclamation be made public before they are finalised.

Farid’s motion also wants all new reclamation projects to be suspended until a complete detailed environmental impact assessment is conducted.

During the debate, Farid proposed that any projects which brought negative effects to Penang should be cancelled.

The House saw heated arguments over the pros and cons of reclamation projects for development in Penang.

However, the motion was rejected after it failed to obtain enough votes.

Speaking to the press later, Farid said although Umno failed to get the motion pass, the party felt “victorious” as they managed to get a DAP assemblyperson on their side.

“This shows that despite boasting that he has 60 percent votes during the general election, it does not mean he can do as he likes,” Farid said.

“It shows not all his soldiers are with him on this,” Farid added.

PKR’s state whip Ong Chin Wen said his party told its assemblypersons to vote according to their conscience, but take into consideration the current political scenario.

“So we decided to abstain from voting,” added the Bukit Tengah assemblyperson, who abstained together with Norlela Ariffin (PKR-Penanti), Cheah Kah Peng (PKR-Kebun Bunga), T Jayabalan (Batu Uban) and Lee Khai Loon (PKR-Machang Bubuk).

Deputy Chief Minister I Rashid Hasnon (PKR - Pantai Jerejak), state executive councillors Abdul Malik Kassim (PKR-Batu Maung) and Dr Afif Bahardin (PKR-Seberang Jaya) voted against Umno.

Teh expresses regret

However, at an emergency meeting at 10.30pm, Teh expressed his regret for supporting the Umno motion.

“After discussion, I felt that I have made a mistake to vote yes, in party interest, I hearby apologise to the party and want to return to continue the party’s struggle for the future,” he said.

“I understand there will be a punishment when someone makes mistake. As organising secretary, I will accept the decision by the secretary-general to carry out the punishment,” he added.

Lim said it is not easy for someone to admit making a mistake and apologise for it.

“We will definitely discuss the matter but I would like to state my appreciation to Teh for apologising to the party,” he added.

Asked if Teh was only apologising for his mistake but would withdraw his support from the motion, Lim said “it was already done in the House, you cannot withdraw your support”.

Asked why the party does not allow an assemblyperson to express his support in what he believes in, Lim said “he has already stated his views, we leave it at that”.

“I think you are more interested in PKR’s move but we will address that later”.

Asked how much is the price for supporting an Umno’s motion, Lim jested, “Definitely not RM2.6 billion”.

The House, which sat since Monday, adjourned sine die at 10pm.