Ex-DAP MP flays Penang govt over Pakatan manifesto fulfilment claim

GEORGE TOWN – Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) has been rapped for claiming to have fulfilled 90% of its manifesto for the 14th general election, as a former DAP leader said the boast only reveals the coalition’s own shortcomings and weaknesses in ruling the state.

Penang Warisan coordinator Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun said the PH state government had yet to show the people other bigger achievements, such as a timeline for the Penang Transport Master Plan megaproject and the controversial undersea tunnel project.

“This megaproject has been announced for a long time, but until now the state government has not given any road plan, or at least announced a funding plan for the projects.

For example, the undersea tunnel project. The people of Penang are now often the subject of ridicule, because this project has not started since 11 years ago,” he told The Vibes.

Ooi is a former PH lawmaker, having been DAP’s Jelutong MP from 2008 to 2018.

He and a few other state DAP personalities joined Warisan in January.

On Monday, the PH state government claimed to have implemented 90% of its manifesto for the last general election.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is the state DAP chief, had said that a total of 54 promises had been fulfilled and 12 were being implemented, while two more would not be implemented due to an overlap with the federal government’s powers.

Chow said he was confident that the remaining 10% of the manifesto would be achieved under the state government’s leadership.

Ooi said the achievements of the PH government, including when it was earlier known as Pakatan Rakyat, for 14 years in governing the state could not match the leadership of previous chief ministers Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu and Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon.

For 21 years under Lim’s administration, he had built a lot of infrastructure such as the Penang Bridge and Komtar, and brought in many big investors such as Intel.

“At that time, all the people could enjoy the development. But in the 14 years that DAP has ruled Penang, have the people felt the same way?”

Meanwhile, Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong said the state government has still failed to provide housing facilities, especially for low-income people.

He said the claim that 90% of the promises in the PH manifesto had been fulfilled was just empty talk and that in reality, it could not be enjoyed by the people.

“During the Barisan Nasional administration, we provided a good housing system so that the poor could buy homes,” he said.

“A RM300,000 house is not a house that the people can afford. They claim to have fulfilled their promise by 90%, but we know that in fact it is nothing.” – The Vibes, May 11, 2022