GEORGETOWN, Nov 27 - The Penang state government today disclosed details of the Seberang Perai Municipal Council's (MPSP) RM223.7 million losses in reserve funds since 2000.
"The public shall judge whether such expenditures benefited public interest or is just another sad example of Barisan Nasional's cronyism, mismanagement and money politics," Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said of the previous Gerakan-led administration.
A statement from Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, claimed that from an accumulated surplus of RM 230.1 million on Jan 1, 2000, a budgeted reserve of only RM6.4 mllion will remain at the end of this year.
It said that Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan, who is also the former state local government and traffic management committee chairman, claimed that the money was used for various projects to benefit the people.
These include cleanliness campaigns, anti-mosquito programmes and landscaping, as well as the building of two markets, a multipurpose hall in Butterworth and two modern sports complexes in Kepala Batas and Bukit Mertajam, the acquisition of land for infrastructure development and a sanitary landfill in Pulau Burung due to closing of dumping site at Ampang Jajar and extra expenditure on house-to-house collection of solid wastes from thrice weekly to four times a week.
Lim however, said that RM84.3 million was spent on a new MPSP headquarters in Bandar Perda despite the state government having allocated to MPSP a 30 acre site in Ampang Jajar.
Other contentious items are the "constituency funding" of RM 50.3 million, where RM 300,000 is given yearly to each BN assemblyman in Seberang Perai and another RM8.6 million to MPSP councillors.
"This is no different from money politics as the roads are still filled with potholes and drains blocked," Lim rebuked.
"Clearly MPSP's coffers were depleted by irresponsible spending that only benefited the few cronies of BN. Teng should explain the necessity of these contentious items," he added. -- TMI
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