Penang CM: Lack of transparency not in our dictionary

Penang Chief Minister Incorporated (CMI) will not comprise state legislative opposition members or NGOs in its newly formed monitoring committee, said Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

Replying to a question on the matter, Chow said that the CMI is a government-linked company, and its activities are “internal” matters.

“It’s a GLC, it is an internal matter. The CMI has no board or board of directors, but we have decided to form a monitoring committee,” he said at a press conference in Komtar, Penang, today.

“The company will receive and review reports, and monitor the performance of the CMI,” he added.

Asked how would the state government monitor its own activities, Chow said the committee will table reports at the state legislative assembly, if necessary.

Pointed out that there may be a lack of transparency in how the CMI works, Chow replied curtly, “Lack of transparency is not in our dictionary."

Chow was referring to a suggestion by political economy lecturer Edmund Terence Gomez who said that members of the CMI managing committee should include a state legislative assembly opposition member and NGO representatives to ensure transparency.

Gomez, who co-authored a report on GLCs by IDEAS, also said the CMI appears to be a tool by politicians to “manipulate” deals involving land or properties.

Describing Penang CMI as under the “sole control” of the chief minister, Gomez said the state executive council is often informed only after the property deals were done.

However, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had insisted in the Penang High Court that the decisions of the CMI were made after consultation with the state exco.

Lim was queried over the matter in a defamation suit brought against former Penang Gerakan acting youth chief Jason Loo.

Loo had questioned the sale of a plot of land on Peel Avenue to Island Hospital Sdn Bhd, which was carried out without open tender by the CMI in 2016.

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