By depriving Chien Aun and Boo Chang of development funds, the Gerakan-led Penang State Government is penalising the people of Bayan Lepas and Datuk Keramat and showing the ugly face of a petty-minded, vindictive and selfish government.
I was wrong yesterday when I said the two Lims should not be denied the annual allocation of RM50,000 accorded to Barisan assemblymen for "minor developments" of state assembly constituencies.
I now understand that each Barisan Nasional State Assembly member could get up to RM100,000 yearly from the state development funds. For minor road and drain repairs, these Barisan Nasional elected representatives are allocated up to RM200,000 yearly.
This would mean that every year, each Barisan Assembly member gets about RM300,000 a year. Did the Barisan Nasional state assembly members give a full and proper accounting of how they spend RM300,000 from state government funds allegedly for the development of their constituencies?
Would Barisan Nasional State Assembly members who were previous incumbents make a full public accounting where their RM300,000 annual allocations for constituency development went to in the previous five years, giving full details of each development allocation?
The Gerakan-led Penang State Government should live up to the motto of "Penang Leads" as a good and just government, by ensuring that the two Lims are not deprived of the annual RM300,000 of development funds for their respective constituencies,as well as extending to the three Barisan Alternative Assemblymen the RM300,000 annual allocation for the development of their constituencies.
In keeping with the mottor "Penang Leads", the time has come for the launching of a state-wide campaign for "Good Governance" involving political parties, NGOs and Penangites whose first demand is that the two ex-Gerakan Lims should not be denied development funds which should also be extended to Opposition members.
Penang’s "Good Governance" movement can be a pioneering movement to ensure fair, honest, accountable and good governance in the other states as well as at the national level.
I will contact political parties, NGOs and individual Penangites, including Chien Aun and Boo Aun, to sound them out on their reaction to the launching of a Good Governance movement in Penang.
(13/1/2000)