Press Statement by the Chief Minister of Penang, YAB Lim Guan Eng in George Town on 13.11.2015
Barisan Nasional should concede the fact that their rule in Penang died and ended because of failed governance and lack of transparency, accountability and competency in running the Penang state administration. In terms of reclamation projects, I had revealed in the Penang State Assembly during my 2016 Penang State Budget presentation on 6 November 2015 that the Penang State Government had so far approved 60 acres of land for reclamation.
In comparison, the previous Barisan Nasional state government had reclaimed 3241 acres of land. I had not included 1120 acres reclaimed by PDC for industrial, commercial and housing purposes as this was to spur economic growth. If that 1120 acres had been included, Barisan Nasional would have approved 4361 acres which would be more than 72 times of what has been approved for reclamation by the present Pakatan Harapan-led State Government.
The difference between Barisan Nasional state government’s approval of 4361 acres of reclaimed land in contrast to the present State Government’s 60 acres lies not just in terms of the large disparity in terms of the land size of area reclaimed but also that the land reclaimed was either conducted without public open tenders or below market price. This can be seen by the fact that companies that were granted the reclamation projects either recorded extra-ordinary profits or the public failed to obtain any discernible benefit from these projects.
For instance, the land reclamation approval in Tanjung Pinang was granted at a shockingly low price of RM1 psf. The present State Government managed to improve the terms of the concession land by increasing the reclaimed land granted to the State Government from 10% to 20% after intensive negotiations with E&O.
As for the Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Highway project, favourable terms granted by the Barisan Nasional state government has enabled IJM Properties to rely on their reclaimed land in Penang as their principal and dominant profit generator. Hence, Barisan Nasional should concede that their lack of transparency and accountability in conducting the reclamation of the state lands had caused losses of revenues which otherwise could have benefitted the Penang people.
Furthermore, the 60 acres of reclaimed land that has been approved by the present Pakatan Harapan State Government has enabled the State Government to set up a RM500 Million fund for building affordable and public housing (22,515 units) as well as sports complexes of world class standards, including a velodrome, three basketball courts, an open public football field with international specifications and an international Olympic-sized swimming and diving pool. In contrast, for the 4361 acres approved by the Barisan Nasional state government, why did the Penangites not benefit in comparable terms equivalent to 72 times more?
Even if we compare in terms of money paid to the State Government, when the Pakatan Harapan Penang State Government sold 106.1 acres of land at Bayan Mutiara, we received a higher sum of RM1.1102 Billion compared to the 3661 acres by Barisan Nasional state government that only obtained a lesser amount of RM1.0586 Billion.
In other words, Barisan Nasional state government got less money even though they sold 36 times more land than the Pakatan Harapan State Government. This proves the benefit of the open competitive tenders and transparent governance practiced by the Pakatan Harapan Penang State Government as compared to the opaque and crony policy of the Barisan Nasional state government.
The State Government regrets that the Federal Government has marginalised Penang by refusing to approve any projects for Penang during the 2016 Federal Budget. Accordingly, the Penang State Government has to find other sources of revenue in order to ensure continued investment of infrastructure improvements, investment in education and investment in innovative enterprises to propel Penang’s economic growth towards high-income economy status. This would necessarily include future proposals for land reclamation that can optimise returns to the State Government without affecting sustainable development and also minimise environmental impact.
LIM GUAN ENG
槟州首席部长林冠英于2015年11月13日在乔治市发表声明：
国阵应该承认，他们在槟城已经因为施政失败及不透明、不能干及没有公信力而丧失政权的事实。关于填海的事项，我已经于2015年11月6日提呈2016年财政预算案时说明，槟州政府已经批准60英亩的填海面积。
相比起来，国阵前朝政府已经填了3241英亩的面积。我还没有将槟州发展机构为了工业、商业及住屋理由、刺激经济成长所填的1120英亩地段。如果加上这片1120英亩的填海地段，国阵可说时批准 了4361英亩的填海面积，比目前希望联盟政府批准 的填海面积超出72倍。
国阵州政府在批准 4361英亩的填海面积，与目前州政府批准的60英亩相比之下，不只是面积的差别，也包括前朝的填海工程并没有经过公开招标、甚至是低于市价。这可以从拿到填海工程的公司都赚到盆满钵满可以看出，而公众也没有从前朝的填海工程获得好处。
例如：在丹绒槟榔的填海计划竟然是以1平方公尺1令吉的超低价格颁布出去。现在州政府与E&O几经斡旋后，才得以改善特许填海的条件，让州政府可以获得10%-20%的填海地段。
至于敦林苍佑高速大道计划，国阵政府所给予的特优条件，也让IJM Properties在得以利用槟城的填海成为下金蛋的金鹅。 因此，国阵应该承认，由于他们的不透明及没有问责能力，导致前朝州政府的填海工程方面亏掉收入，这些收入原本可以让人民受惠。
再说，目前希望联盟政府所批准的60英亩填海面积，让州政府得以成立一个5亿令吉的基金，以兴建可负担房屋及公共房屋（2万2151个单位），以及一个国际水平的体育馆，包括符合国际标准的一个室内赛车场、三个蓝球场、一个足球场及一个国际奥林匹克运动会标准的游泳池及跳水池。相反的，在国阵政府所批准的4361英亩的填海面积中，为何槟城人民并没有从中获得额外72倍的好处？
就算我们比较州政府的收益，槟州希望联盟政府在珍珠湾出售106.1英亩的土地，所获收益为11亿1020万令吉，而国阵政府在出售了3661英亩的地段后，所得收益为10亿5860万令吉而已。
换句话来说，即便国阵掌政时期比希望联盟政府卖出多36倍的土地，但赚到的钱却远少于后者，这证明了槟州希望联盟政府所采用的公开招标及透明施政模式，确实效益更多，比前朝政府的黑箱及朋党作业模式更能奏效。
对于联邦政府在2016年的预算中边缘化槟州政府，不给予槟城任何计划一事，州政府深感遗憾。职是之故，槟州政府唯有自寻出路，以便找出资源，继续投资予基础建设、教育、创意企业等，推动槟城向高收入群体的目标迈进。这当中自然包括在不影响永续发展及对环境影响最少的情况下，让州政府从未来几项填土计划获取利益回酬。
林冠英