Malaysia Kini - Susan Loone Sep 13,2011
Penang Gerakan has continued to taunt Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng over his announcement that Blackberry maker Research in Motion (Rim) is planning to set up a manufacturing plant in the state.
In doing so, the party's deputy secretary Goh Kheng Sneah claimed he has been vindicated for questioning Lim's announcement, as it was recently revealed that Rim is merely considering a local outsourcing partner.
International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) secretary-general Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria had clarified that Rim has not set up a manufacturing facility in Malaysia but was considering a local outsourcing partner.
"Outsourcing and building a plant are two different things. Miti's clarification shows that I was speaking the truth and Lim was lying," said Goh (right).
"Either Lim has cheated the people or he is not so smart. But he still wants to keep silent on the matter and had assigned his special investment officer Jeffrey Chew to comment about the issue.
"Lim needs to respond to this issue personally. I don't know what Chew was talking about as he has no idea about the matter."
Goh also pressed Lim to answer six questions related to the location, amount of investment, the nature of the plant - factory or outsourcing outfit - and number of jobs created by the venture.
"I humbly ask him to answer these questions and tell us what is the estimated economy impact from the investment and what is his role in bringing it in," he said.
"It is shameful for him merely to depend on news reports when making (such) announcements. If you ask me, his role in attracting RM12 billion in investment last year was very minimal.”
Goh said Lim's "problem and weaknesses" can jeopardise Penang's sustainable development as he “lacks knowledge” of the technology industry.
This, he said, is worsened by Lim's refusal to cooperate and his tendency to "keep looking for a fight and (likes to) reproach others".
'Goh twisted my words'
Lim said the announcement of the Blackberry venture had been published in the press and announced by a federal government officer.
He also said he had used the term "manufacturing plant" but that Goh had twisted his words.
"When we talk about the old business model, we usually mention 'plant', but the new business model involves outsourcing, - meaning, another company is asked to manufacture the phones and in this case,they are doing it in Penang," said Lim (left).
"This has even been verified by the Indonesian embassy official, who said that the phone is being manufactured here because it is more competitive in Malaysia.”
Lim declined to comment on the actual investment, saying it would be more appropriate for the company involved to make the announcement.
He noted that there are news reports indicating that Indonesia plans to take action against Blackberry for outsourcing its manufacturing to Penang, but that Gerakan is still asking "where is the plant?".
"Gerakan is very dishonest to (mix) politics with business. If they want to attack the state government, please do so with facts, not lies,” added Lim.
