GEORGE TOWN – Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said Penang deserves more than RM5 billion allocation in terms of tax paid to the federal government.
He said the federal government should not deny and undermine Penang’s progress and its ability to churn revenue and tax payment.
“As a Chinese proverb says, if you want the horse to run fast it needs to get fed, you don’t expect the horse to run fast without feeding it,” Chow told the state legislative assembly when referring to Budget 2022 that had only allocated RM996 million to Penang.
“Penang has always raised the unfair treatment by the federal government. I raised the issue during the recent meeting with the prime minister and I also told the minister of trade and industry about the matter.
“We have yet to receive the list of approved projects in the state under Budget 2022,” he said when replying to an oral question by Satees Muniandy (Bagan Dalam-PH), who had asked about the federal budget allocations to Penang.
While agreeing that some states like Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak needed more allocations, Chow said Penang should get its returns for the tax paid by the state.
Chow said Penang wants to expand the Batu Kawan Industrial Park to accommodate the demand of the manufacturing sector but needs the funds to create infrastructure to attract investors.
“One example is the Penang South Islands reclamation project where from day one, we said the benefit of the project would be used for the light rail transit projects. However, the federal government is not helping the state,” he added. – The Vibes, November 30, 2021
