Where’s the money gone?
The money former PM Abdullah was talking about does exist. So it seems. That is contrary to what Rais said. Now was Rais himself been misinformed? Is the money there? Will Penang get the RM25 million as promised or what?
By MOHSIN ABDULLAH/MySinchew
This is not what you might call a very current topic. But since it’s not yet settled, I feel it deserved to be discussed. I’m talking about what is termed as federal allocation for Penang and Melaka following its successful listing as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Penang is still saying the promise of the allocation by the Federal Government has yet to be fulfilled. However little is known if Melaka has received its share. Simply because unlike Penang, Melaka has not been making noise. It has been quiet. Too quiet.
There are allegations of course. Some folks say the Federal Government purposely with held money from Penang because the state is run by a Pakatan Rakyat government. Some say Melaka has already got their money. That’s why they are mum about it. For Melaka to come up in the open to say they have already received the allocation would only prove the Federal government’s double standard.
But for Melaka to say it too has not got its share, then the BN Federal Government would be seen as going against their word even when dealing with a BN administration. But all this are allegations and theories. However Melaka’s silence is not helping matters. Just what is happening?
Let’s take a step back and remember how excited the whole of Malaysia was when the country was told of the UNESCO decision. We, the rakyat and our leaders were all very proud, to say the least. In fact a grand event was even held in Kuala Lumpur’s Dataran Merdeka graced by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong to honour Penang and Melaka. And in November last year, then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was on record to say that RM50 million would be allocated to the two UNESCO sites–Penang and Melaka–for conservation purposes. Meaning RM25 million for Penang, RM25 million for Melaka.
And as Penang claimed they have not got their RM25 million, the state government complained. The Federal government responded via Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim. And what a response it was.
Said Rais, the money promised was a misconception. Now, leaf through the Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary and we learn that misconception is: “A belief or an idea that is not based on correct information or that is not understood by people.” With that some questions came up.
Is Rais saying the media got it wrong? The media misunderstood what the then PM said and passed on the wrong information to the Malaysian public? Or is Rais saying Tun Abdullah when he was Datuk Seri and PM of Malaysia got it wrong? And he wrongly informed the Malaysian public? Or could it be that Pak Lah himself was wrongly informed of the existence of the RM50 million allocation? You see Rais was also quoted by the media as saying that such an allocation did not exist. So did Tun Abdullah promised something that did not exist? Knowingly or otherwise? Just what is Rais trying to say or tell us?
And now we read in the papers that a “federal allocation promised to Penang (for the UNESCO listing) has been given to Khazanah Nasional.”
This we are told by Penang state Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow in a report in The Star newspaper on 20 September 2009.
Chow claimed that on Thursday, 17 September 2009, Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcob had told him and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng that the money had been given to Khazanah, a Federal Government investment arm.
“Since the money has already been given to Khazanah, I hope the Federal government will consider giving the state government RM25 million for our conservation projects,” Chow was quoted by The Star.
Based on this, looks like there is such an allocation. The money former PM Abdullah was talking about does exist. So it seems. That is contrary to what Rais said. Now was Rais himself been misinformed? Is the money there? Will Penang get the RM25 million as promised or what? And what about Melaka? What actually happened?
What ever it is, someone’s not telling the truth. The big question is who?
