State Gerakan acting Youth chief Jason Loo said there were double standards at play when state Public Works Committee Chairman Lim Hock Seng invited federal minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan to view documents related to the undersea tunnel at his office.
Loo said his request to view the documents via the state’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Enactment, however, was met with hurdles and red tape.
“I don’t understand why the state government wants to create a difference between the people they want to kowtow to, for example the Umno minister or all the developers that they like, and the people of Penang.
“…so I am here to try my luck to enjoy the privilege that was given to an Umno minister.
“The minister can walk into their offices to view the documents, but as for myself, I still have trouble viewing the documents, despite paying nearly RM500 to access them under the FOI,” he told reporters at Komtar today.
“I have heard people say that in front of Penangites they (state government) whack Umno, but behind the people they grab Umno’s sarong,” Loo added.
Lim recently invited Rahman to his office to view the documents related to the RM6.3 billion project involving an undersea tunnel and three paired roads. Both were engaged in a protracted question and answer battle, with no end in sight.
Lim’s treatment of the Gerakan acting Youth chief however was vastly different as he did tell Loo’s assistant that he “doesn’t want to see him.”
Meanwhile, Loo questioned the need for a Statutory Declaration (SD) for documents obtained under the FOI.
He said despite being brought up before, the new SDs were “redrafted and changed” three times, with the words “for own reference only” and others redacted. He said a new “purpose of information” column was created in place of the “for own reference only” words.
“We are here as the Opposition, trying to have a proper check and balance to the state government’s decisions. So why won’t they allow us to do our job?
“I just want to ask the Penang government, are you answerable to the developers, the people you kowtow to, or the people of Penang?”
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