GEORGE TOWN, August 10 — Lim Guan Eng berated Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today for getting involved in what he said was a lie that the Penang state government was discriminating against Malay traders.
The Penang Chief Minister said Muhyiddin “was stirring racial sentiments” when he said that the state government had victimised the traders.
“I’m not sure how DPM (Muhyiddin) can get himself involved in this lie. He is supporting a person who can be charged for criminal breach of trust,” he said, referring to Komtar Merchant Association (KMA) vice-chairman Mohamed Ghani Abd Jiman whom he claimed had not paid Penang Development Corpoation (PDC) the rental collected from the traders.
“This is not the first time the state government is attacked. It’s repeated many, many times. I strongly feel like the state government’s dignity has been violated,” he added.
Umno’s Utusan Malaysia hit out at Lim and the Penang state government yesterday with a front page story headlined “Malays still oppressed” which highlighted allegations that the administration was preventing Malay traders from setting up Ramadan stalls.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin was reported to have said that the Penang state government was being unfair to Malays.
PDC also clarified yesterday that Malay traders were not being discriminated and that the issue arose from the failure of KMA to pay rent it had collected from traders.
Lim said today that if Muhyiddin was not fully informed about the issue, he should clarify the facts and withdraw his statement.
He stressed that the state government had no issues with the Bazaar Ramadan stalls, but was only concerned with KMA’s actions.
“Now because of this person [Mohamed Ghani], it has become a racial issue,” he added.
PDC general manager, Datuk Rosli Jafar, who was also present at the press conference said “he was sad with how things had turned out”.
He said the problem would not have arisen if KMA had been professional.
“We welcome traders but rules and regulations must also be followed. You have to pay before starting operations,” he said, adding that KMA had set up stalls without paying PDC the rental collected from traders.
“We also have to consider the sensitivity of other users of the building. We don’t want the area where the state administrative office is located to be congested as this will be an inconvenience to visitors to the office,” he added.
Rosli said PDC would be holding a meeting with the traders today to explain the real issue.
He said PDC was not sure how many traders were involved because “he was told that some traders owned more than one stall”.
More than 100 traders led by Mohamed Ghani staged a protest at Komtar yesterday over what they claimed to be the “state government’s discrimination against Malay traders”.
Following this, PDC agreed to increase the number of stalls at the third floor concourse area to 17. The traders were required to pay RM50 in rental per day. The remaining 10 traders would be able to set up their stalls at level four of the building and they would pay RM25 per day.
Malaysian Insider
10/08/10
The Penang Chief Minister said Muhyiddin “was stirring racial sentiments” when he said that the state government had victimised the traders.
“I’m not sure how DPM (Muhyiddin) can get himself involved in this lie. He is supporting a person who can be charged for criminal breach of trust,” he said, referring to Komtar Merchant Association (KMA) vice-chairman Mohamed Ghani Abd Jiman whom he claimed had not paid Penang Development Corpoation (PDC) the rental collected from the traders.
“This is not the first time the state government is attacked. It’s repeated many, many times. I strongly feel like the state government’s dignity has been violated,” he added.
Umno’s Utusan Malaysia hit out at Lim and the Penang state government yesterday with a front page story headlined “Malays still oppressed” which highlighted allegations that the administration was preventing Malay traders from setting up Ramadan stalls.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin was reported to have said that the Penang state government was being unfair to Malays.
PDC also clarified yesterday that Malay traders were not being discriminated and that the issue arose from the failure of KMA to pay rent it had collected from traders.
Lim said today that if Muhyiddin was not fully informed about the issue, he should clarify the facts and withdraw his statement.
He stressed that the state government had no issues with the Bazaar Ramadan stalls, but was only concerned with KMA’s actions.
“Now because of this person [Mohamed Ghani], it has become a racial issue,” he added.
PDC general manager, Datuk Rosli Jafar, who was also present at the press conference said “he was sad with how things had turned out”.
He said the problem would not have arisen if KMA had been professional.
“We welcome traders but rules and regulations must also be followed. You have to pay before starting operations,” he said, adding that KMA had set up stalls without paying PDC the rental collected from traders.
“We also have to consider the sensitivity of other users of the building. We don’t want the area where the state administrative office is located to be congested as this will be an inconvenience to visitors to the office,” he added.
Rosli said PDC would be holding a meeting with the traders today to explain the real issue.
He said PDC was not sure how many traders were involved because “he was told that some traders owned more than one stall”.
More than 100 traders led by Mohamed Ghani staged a protest at Komtar yesterday over what they claimed to be the “state government’s discrimination against Malay traders”.
Following this, PDC agreed to increase the number of stalls at the third floor concourse area to 17. The traders were required to pay RM50 in rental per day. The remaining 10 traders would be able to set up their stalls at level four of the building and they would pay RM25 per day.
Malaysian Insider
10/08/10
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