Muhyiddin slammed for repeating 'lies'

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been accused of being "irresponsible" for rerunning a slander stated in the October 2011 Penang Socio-Economic Research Centre (PreCISE) report.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng expressed regret that Muhyiddin had chosen to play with racial sentiments by repeating lies that 18,000 Malays have left Penang as the state does not provide affordable housing.

"This allegation is baseless because since Pakatan Rakyat ruled the state in 2009, 11,596 low and medium cost homes have been built by the Penang government and private developers," Lim said in a statement.

Apart from that, he added that the state has allocated RM500 million to provide at least 18,000 low medium cost homes on 227 acres of land set aside in all five Penang districts.

"For example, there will be 12,000 units of affordable homes in Phase 1 in Batu Kawan, on a 200-acre plot of land, while Phase 2 will see 6,000 units on 77 acres of land," he said.

Lim (right) also clarified that all five districts in Penang has land provided for affordable housing with 28.9 acres in Seberang Perai North, 31.7 (Seberang Perai Central), 10.21 (Northeast District), 5.84 (Northwest District) and 200 (Seberang Perai South) to be implemented by the state's development arm, Penang Development Corporation.

Embarassing and Unjust

The report by PReCISE was recently cited by former Deputy Chief Minister Fairus Khairuddin.

In response, Muhyiddin had said that the situation is "very embarassing and unjust" because without affordable housing, Malays are forced to leave Penang.

Lim, the DAP secretary-general, also opened fire on the BN-controlled media which quoted Muhyiddin as saying that Penang has a hidden" plan to drive Malays out of the state.

"The allegations can be refuted by looking at the 2011 voters registration list where there was an increase of 34, 931 Malays in Penang compared to 2008," he told his opponents.

Lim also shot down BN and Umno's allegations that the state had hiked up the land premium, causing property prices to soar.

"These are false allegations as the state had never increased the land premium rate, it remains the same as it was under the Gerakan led BN government," he said.

"A government cannot influence the price of property because it is determined by the market and public confidence," he added.

Lim said BN and Umno's greed in wanting Malay votes have caused them to play with racial sentiments and indulge in slandering the Pakatan government.

He added that this was evident in the BN controlled media's reluctance to publish the DAP or state government side of the story to refute all the slander and lies.

"If the truth is not told, BN and Umno's action can jeorpardise the good relations and harmony among the different races in Malaysia," he added.