State Barisan Nasional Youth chief Oh Tong Keong (third from left) with fellow members during a press conference at the proposed site of the public housing project site in Jalan Burmah, George Town, Zainal Abidin yesterday. Pic by Asman Ibrahim
GEORGE TOWN: THE Penang government has come under fire for selling off a piece of prime land, which was meant for a public housing project, to entrepreneurs who now plan to use it to build a private medical centre.
In expressing shock over the DAP-led state government's decision to sell the 1.37ha plot in Jalan Burmah, here, state Barisan Nasional Youth chief Oh Tong Keong said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng must come clean and explain why a public housing project was being replaced with a private hospital.
He said the state government's action was wrong and reflected that Lim's administration was only concerned about making money instead of embarking on projects that benefited society, especially the low- and middle-income groups.
"The land has been sold discreetly. It was only revealed by the state housing executive committee member a day after we asked why the Penang government was not doing anything to kick-start the public housing project.
"The chief minister must come clean and reveal everything," he said, adding that even a signboard on the plot indicating the landwas owned by the state government had not been removed although the property now belonged to others.
The issue concerning the land was highlighted by the state BN Youth on Friday when the state government was urged to explain why it had failed to embark on a public housing project approved on the land by the previous administration in 2005.
The project involves the construction of 272 units of affordable houses in Jalan Burmah, opposite the site where Tune Hotel is located.
In an immediate response then, state Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai was quoted as saying that the housing project was no longer on the agenda and that the land had been earmarked for a medical specialist centre since 2010.
The issue concerning the land was highlighted by the state BN Youth on Friday when the state government was urged to explain why it had failed to embark on a public housing project approved on the land by the previous administration in 2005.
The project involves the construction of 272 units of affordable houses in Jalan Burmah, opposite the site where Tune Hotel is located.
In an immediate response then, state Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai was quoted as saying that the housing project was no longer on the agenda and that the land had been earmarked for a medical specialist centre since 2010.
He said a medical centre was equally important in Penang, especially as it was in a good location.
Wong added that several parcels of land in Jalan S.P. Chelliah and other places in the state had been identified for affordable housing projects.
State Umno Youth chief Sheikh Hussein Maidin said Lim must reveal when tenders were called, who had purchased the land and how much it had been sold for.
He said it was the responsibility of the Penang government to reveal such details as people were concerned about land sales in the state.
"If this trend goes on, all state government-owned land would be gone soon. The state government cannot be profit-oriented.
"Lim has been trumpeting how much money the state government has saved. He must now explain why he did not use some of it for the public housing project."
Sheikh Hussein also said it was Lim's responsibility to ensure the state government retrieved the land and revived the housing project.
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