Penang State Government Under Pakatan Harapan Is a Property Developer’s Government

The Penang state government under Pakatan Harapan is a Property Developers' government. From the time Lim Guan Eng became Chief Minister until Chow Kon Yeow’s tenure today, land in Penang is continuously being sold off at a frantic pace, to the detriment of the people of Penang.

Facing tough questions in the Dewan Undangan Negeri from Penang’s Opposition Leader Datuk Muhamad Yusoff Mohd Noor Penang, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow was forced to admit that in 2011, the Penang State Government, Penang Development Corporation  (PDC) and the Penang Island City Council(MBPP) have sold a whopping total of 1,100 acres of land in Penang, worth up to RM 12.5 billion.

This figure is staggering. Besides selling off our land, has the Penang state government no other ideas for economic development?

Chief Minister Chow is using excuses like helping the rakyat and helping the economy recover, to justify the Penang state government’s current mania in selling off large parcels of land. Such conduct is inexcusable.

When the former Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was in office, DAP strongly touted how strong Penang's economy was under the new government. Unfortunately, Chief Minister Chow’s revelations show that since 2011, Penang’s shining economic record was largely due to being flush with profit from land sales.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia began in March last year, by which Chief Minister Chow was already selling off land in full swing. When faced with the economic impact of the pandemic, they still refused to stop.

Selling land at the rate the Penang State Government is doing is like killing the goose that lays golden eggs.  Is this the "Competent, Accountable and Transparent (CAT)" policy of the Pakatan Penang State Government?"

Every day, the Opposition wastes no time calling upon the newly formed Federal Government in Putrajaya to listen and accept the opinions of Pakatan Harapan, and that their opinions be implemented by the National Recovery Council.

However, the Pakatan-led Penang State Government itself has resorted to such inefficient methods to raise capital by frantically selling off land, in order to paint a rosy illusion of Penang's economic stability. Are we supposed to believe that if they were to work together with the central government, their advice will help lift the country out of the current economic troubles Malaysia faces?

The responsibility of the Pakatan Penang state government is to ensure that the people of Penang can live and work in peace and prosperity after the pandemic subsides; not to create a false illusion of economic success. Therefore, the state government should come up with concrete development plans for the economic recovery that will help the rakyat, instead of just selling land.

Datuk Tan Teik Cheng
MCA Penang State Liaison Committee Chairman
MCA Vice President

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