Guan Eng on warpath with tourism minister
Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen has been chided for not doing her homework when criticising the state government over the RM5 million failed carpark at the foot of Penang Hill.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the minister was always ‘‘blaming him’’ for the project dubbed ‘Kancil Carpark’ although it was approved under the previous state government.
Lim (left) said upon approval, the project was handed over to the Public Works Department (JKR) and then to PDC Consultancy for the design.
He urged the minister to respect the conclusions and recommendations of the Investigative Board special panel which was tasked to probe the problems plaguing the carpark.
The board recently recommended that the project be demolished and rebuilt, to cater for the needs of visitors to the tourist spot in Penang.
“She is a doctor, not an engineer, architect or surveyor, and she should respect the conclusions and recommendations of the investigative board,” said Lim, at a press conference today.
“If Ng wants to whack (us), check the facts properly, look at the mirror. She could criticise the board because perhaps she is better than a professor and an engineer,” he quipped.
“But I do not dare (criticise the board) because I am not an engineer or an architect, she is brave maybe because she is smarter (than them).”
‘Ng, don’t play politics’
Lim urged Ng not to play politics over the matter and to base all her allegations on facts as the state government has decided to demolish the car park according to the recommendations of the board.
The board, he said, comprised experienced members – professor Omar Munir, who is a surveyor, architect Lawrence Lim and engineer Lim Kok Kong.
He added that the members of the board were no ordinary engineers or architects.
“One is a former president of the Malaysian Institute of Engineers (Kok Kong) and the other is still the president of the Malaysian Architects Board (Lawrence Lim), while the surveyor is from the engineering department of a university,” he stressed.
Lim said that if the minister needed to criticise the decision of the Investigative Board, she should at least base her criticisim on “facts” or allow more qualified persons to comment on the matter.
“If you are a doctor, why criticise an engineer or an architect?” he asked Ng.
Funded by federal government
Lim was responding to the minister’s latest comment on the car park, where Ng said Lim should be held accountable for the failure of the multi-storey building.
A disappointed Ng (right) demanded answers from Lim, who is the chairperson of Penang Development Corporation (PDC), the agency in charge of managing the project, which was funded by the federal government through the Tourism Ministry.
She suggested that the resignation of one or two persons over the matter would not be enough.
Meanwhile, Lim reiterated that the contractor for the car park was appointed by the federal government.
The car park, he added, was designed by PDC Consultancy, which was merely a sister company of the state’s development arm, the PDC.
“Who is the chair or PDC Consultancy? It is not Lim Guan Eng but Rosli Jaafar. When this project was carried out, I was not informed about it at all,” he said.
Rosli has since resigned from his post and is currently attached to another agency.
“Only when it was completed and did not obtain a certificate of occupation, was I informed about it,” Lim added.
Lim said he was not informed about the progress of the project because it did not involve the state government or PDC.
He clarified that he did not hold any position in PDC Consultancy, which was why he was never referred to and was never asked to provide approval for the car park project.
“I have never signed a single document (related to the project),” he added.
MalaysiaKini - Susan Loone – Dec 5, 2011
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/183240
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Daftarlah Sebagai Rakan DAP! 
http://greenstate.penang.gov.my
Great comeback Lim. Ng certainly does not behave like a professional at all. This is the quality of BN politicians…very slack, mah!