Penang DAP organising secretary resigns
Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu quits his party post over support for the motion on the controversial land reclamation issue.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu has resigned as Penang DAP organising secretary effective today.
DAP secretary Lim Hui Ying said in a media statement here today that Teh submitted his resignation letter via an email to Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow and himself.
In his resignation letter, Teh informed the party leadership that he had decided to resign over his support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) motion on the controversial land reclamation issue that was tabled at the Penang Assembly on November 20.
Even though Teh apologised for his political “mistake” for going against the DAP-state government’s interest in the motion, it was understood that the avid environmentalist would somehow be made to pay a heavy price for it.
During the assembly debate on the motion last Friday, Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng had warned all Pakatan Harapan state government elected members by saying: “If you stand with Umno, you will pay the price.”
The motion was eventually rejected by 23, comprising 18 assemblymen from DAP, four from PKR and one from PAS, against 10 votes, consisting nine from BN and Teh.
Five PKR assemblymen – party whip Ong Chin Wen of Bukit Tengah, Lee Khai Loon of Machang Bubuk, Dr Norlela Ariffin of Penanti, Cheah Kah Peng of Kebun Bungah and Dr T Jayabalan of Batu Uban, abstained from voting.
Later Lim accused the five of being in cahoots with Umno although PKR rubbished these claims, insisting that the five had voted according to their conscience.
Representatives of the Tanjong Bungah Residents’ Association (TBRA) paid tribute to Teh and commended PKR’s five (PKR5’s) for acting according to their conscience and principles over the motion.
In a statement issued today, TBRA chairman Renji Sathiah said Teh’s support and the PKR5’s abstention had been misconstrued as support for BN and added, “It certainly conveyed a message that this issue was bigger than party politics.”
Giving Teh a big “Hurray,” he said the assemblyman had been consistent in alerting the media and the public about potential environmental disasters for years.
He recalled that Teh once shaved his head over “Botak Hill”, a common reference to Bukit Relau in Gelugor. The hill earned its unwanted name due to a large bald patch that first appeared in 2013 and was still visible from as far as the Penang Bridge.
More recently, Teh also called on the state government to cancel the proposed reclamation project at the Middle Bank in the Penang Channel to preserve the seagrass bed as a conservation and heritage area.
“TBRA believes that Teh was not only right to follow his convictions but has expressed the Penang people’s opposition against (land) reclamation,” said Renji.
He said being a fervent environmentalist, Teh could not be expected to vote against a demand for independent environment impact assessments (EIAs), public hearings, feedback, opinions and recommendations to be seriously considered before embarking on land reclamation projects.
The current Penang government has been frequently criticised over its lack of proper development planning, non-implementation of the Penang Structural Plan and Local Council Plan, and its alleged pro-developers policies.
Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhammad Farid Saad filed the motion on land reclamation on the final day of the year-end assembly sitting.
The motion called on all projects or concessions involving land reclamation to be made public before being finalised.
It also demanded for new land reclamation projects to be suspended until a complete and detailed environmental impact assessment was conducted.
