He said the Penang government should crackdown on illegal gaming activities which were going on with impunity.
Yusoff said there were “five to six” such outlets that should be closed in his own Butterworth constituency of Sungai Dua.
“For starters, the Penang government should close and take action against unlicensed gaming outlets. Let us get rid of them first. The licensed ones should be reviewed,” the Umno assemblyman said when debating the 2022 state budget in the state assembly today.
Executive councillor Phee Boon Poh interjected and asked Yusoff to urge Muslims not to hold shares or directorships in any companies, and the government to separate tax revenue from licensed gaming outlets.
However, he was stopped by speaker Law Choo Kiang, who told him not to interrupt Yusoff.
Hypocrisy over land reclamation
Yusoff also pointed to “the hypocrisy of the Penang government and its leaders” in their objections to reclamation projects in Melaka and Forest City in Johor, saying they were busy reclaiming land “in their backyards”.
He said one such example was the 650ha reclamation work set to begin in Butterworth, which would “wipe out” Malay and Chinese coastal fishing villages.
He said the state administration had revived the long-stalled reclamation project by signing another agreement, which was not right.
Satees Muniandy (PH-Bagan Dalam) said the reclamation project was mooted by Yusoff’s party and Barisan Nasional (BN) when it governed Penang 20 years ago.
He also asked Yusoff to get Putrajaya to help with compensation funds that Penang would incur for cancelling the reclamation.
Phee also told Yusoff that if BN was concerned about reclamation, it would not have signed the contract in 1999.
Yusoff also spoke on the issue of pig farms in Tasek Gelugor where animal faeces flowed into rivers, causing uneasiness among villagers.
Satees said Yusoff should make a stand against a PAS man who had claimed that Malays were being wiped out of Penang through the proliferation of pig farms. He said that when Pakatan Harapan took over the state, there were controls on pig farming, unlike BN, when there were no clear guidelines.
He said PAS and other detractors had claimed that PH had started these pig farms when the farms had been around for decades.
Yusoff admitted that pig faeces flowing into the river had been an issue since 1996, polluting irrigation for padi fields.
“I agree the pig farming issue has been long-standing even during our time. However, I am calling for stricter enforcement now,” he said.