Kota Belud: The debate between Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng may have to wait a bit longer yet.Rahman said since the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had disallowed the debate, he has no other choice but to obey. "If it was up to me, maybe I would carry on with it. But as a Minister, it is difficult because I do not want to give the wrong signal to the people that, because I am a Minister, I can defy the direction or advice from both MACC and the IGP.
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So this is my problem now," said Rahman.Nevertheless, the Kota Belud MP said he had shown time and again that he had never backed down from a debate and he had also debated other opposition leaders in the past.
It is not a question of whether he is scared or not, he said, because in fact, he is ready for the debate but for the last minute instruction by the police not to do it.In the meantime, he advised Lim to be prepared to give his statement to the police and MACC over the sale of state land at Taman Manggis which has been allegedly linked to Lim's purchase of a double-storey bungalow for RM2.6m.
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The live-debate, scheduled to take place on April 19, was called off by TV3 on advice from the police and MACC that it could jeopardise investigations into the two deals.Lim claimed that he had been "played out" by Rahman in using the police to escape from the debate.
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"This issue cannot be taken too lightly by providing inconsistent and absurd answers from the Penang government and the Chief Minister."The issue has a lot to do with the issue of the poor and marginalised people in Penang. That is why I urge Lim to give his full cooperation and not to delay giving the answers to the questions posed by Barisan Nasional and NGOs, and even some DAP leaders in Penang," he said.Rahman also took a jibe at Lim for the latter's unfulfilled political promises which he made in 2008 in which Lim vowed to solve housing problem, skyrocketing home price, traffic woes, and that he would never sell state lands or continue with the sea reclamation activities so rampant during BN's reign."We want to ask Lim whether all these issues have been resolved after eight years he became a Chief Minister of Penang? "So far, we heard these are still problematic. Prices of homes in Penang are still rising, sea reclamation is still ongoing, hillside development is still rampant, traffic is murder, and damages to the state's natural treasures and environment are widespread," he said.
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He also accused Lim's government of not acknowledging the contribution of many NGOs especially organisations working for the rights of consumers and human rights.He advised Lim to stop giving the same tired and irresponsible excuses that all the problems in Penang were created by the previous government.
