Saturday, August 25, 2012

VSS for lacklustre performance



http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/8/25/north/11911461&sec=North





GEORGE TOWN: State Gerakan leaders are disappointed that Penang has supposedly recorded a 70% drop in investments during the period of January until May this year.

State Gerakan secretary Goh Kheng Sneah said from the statistics from Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) showed that Penang now ranked seventh in Malaysia in the first five months of this year.

“Penang recorded only around RM1.1bil of the total proposed capital investments for the first five months of this year. From our own calculations, we are bracing for a lower inflow of investments this year. This reflects badly on the state’s performance.”

Goh revealed that Malaysia was now ranked number seventh in term of investments when compared to last year, where it held onto the top spot.

Besides that Penang also had investments which were approved in the past two to three years which did not materialise, Goh said.

“Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should have the details on the investments which did not materialise. He (Lim) should do something before Penang’s economy suffers a downturn,” he told a press conference at the state Gerakan headquarters yesterday.

Goh also noted that he is 99.99% positive that the production line for the handphone maker Blackberry is pulling out its manufacturing line from Penang.

“My sources informed me that the production line is pulling out and I would like Lim to comment on that matter.”

Goh said he is willing to apologise to all Penangites if the information is untrue.

“If the news is true, then Lim should do something to salvage the retention of the production line and if he cannot then, he (Lim) should apologise to the public,” Goh said.

Penang Gerakan vice-chairman Ong Thean Lye questioned the many overseas trips incurred by Lim mostly to China and Korea.

“Can he tell us what kind of investments, he has obtained so far? I remembered about two years ago, he (Lim) said upon returning from Korea that investors were going to invest in a golf resort at Batu Kawan but until today we have not seen anything,” Ong said

Ong was referring to the RM350mil golf resort that was proposed in 2008.

The project fizzled out after a memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed between the Penang Development Corporation and South Korea’s DK ENC Company Ltd, lapsed in 2010.

Ong also questioned Lim on what kind of investments and plans he has in mind to transform the economy from relying on labour-intensive to a hi-tech manufacturing hub.



http://www.thechoice.my/featured-articles/55348-new-statistics-show-drop-in-penang-investment-under-lge

Penang Gerakan has alleged that despite promises from the Chief Minister that companies have secured approval from the State Government to invest, many have so far failed to do so.

Statistics showed a drop by as much as 70 per cent to RM1.1 billion in investment so far this year compared to the RM9.1 billion recorded last year. Although the year is not yet over, such hesitance by companies may seriously weakening the state's position.

"From the statistics we obtained from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), Penang is on the seventh position among states in Malaysia," assistant secretary, Goh Kheng Sneah said on Friday.
"By right, the chief minister should monitor all approved investment to help improve the state's economy, but it looks like the state government is not doing its work well."

Such remarks aren't the first to challenge the grand claims made by Lim Guan Eng over just how much (or how little) he has achieved in development since he took over the state.

Recently the Deputy Prime Minister set LGE the relatively simple task of challenging him to show his evidence.
"[Lim] said that only one month after becoming Chief Minister he had brought in a huge amount of investment, so I want him to prove his claim - as all this was the result of the efforts of the federal government and the previous state government," Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

The DPM's message was simple – that Guan Eng should not take credit for initiatives that were achieved via the federal government – such as the work done by the International Trade and Industry Ministry.

"Whatever there is in Penang now is the result of the previous state government's contribution. We also want to know what he (Lim) has contributed, especially in helping the people cope with the rising cost of living," he said, in reference to the numerous initiatives that the Government is orchestrating to help everyday Malaysians.

Indeed in some cases, the State Government in Penang is actively blocking investment.

Take the case of the Penang Port. Under Lim Guan Eng's watch as Chief Minister, the port, one of the oldest in the country, was left to decay. When the Federal Government stepped in to privatise and regenerate the site to its former glory, the DAP-led State Government forcibly blocked the attempt.

Putrajaya had awarded the regeneration project to Syed Mokhtar's Seaport Terminal Sdn Bhd on the proviso that it would fund the dredging work to upgrade the site. After all, why should millions in taxpayers' money be spent on dredging when there are companies willing to spend this money and also have the expertise required?
Yet the State Government wasn't so keen, arguing it would oversee the project itself. Whether this was because it wants to waste taxpayers' money itself or perhaps hand out lucrative tenders to its own chosen contractors is unclear.

For the party that sells itself on being pro-business, DAP in Penang certainly seems to be confused on the matter.


http://www.thesundaily.my/news/471370

Posted on 24 August 2012 - 07:06pm
GEORGE TOWN (Aug 24, 2012): Penang Gerakan claimed today that companies which had secured approval from the state government to invest over the last three years had yet to do so.

Its assistant secretary, Goh Kheng Sneah, said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should tell the people the state of the industrial and economic situation in Penang, and explain why companies which had secured the approval of the state government had yet to invest.

He also said that statistics showed a drop by as much as 70 per cent to RM1.1 billion in investment so far this year compared to the RM9.1 billion recorded last year.

"From the statistics we obtained from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), Penang is on the seventh position among states in Malaysia," he told a news conference.

"By right, the chief minister (Lim Guan Eng) should monitor all approved investment to help improve the state's economy, but it looks like the state government is not doing its work well," he said.

Goh also asked the chief minister to verify a claim that a company manufacturing mobile telephones did not intend to continue investing in the state.

"If the claim is true, the chief minister should consider adopting the appropriate measures to retain the investment in the state," he said, adding that he was prepared to apologise if the claim was untrue. – Bernama

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