No key to boat and greeted by a snake: What an omen for Koh Tsu Koon! ;)

CM tells Tsu Koon Pulau Jerejak problems are of his own doing

By Debra Chong

January 12, 2011

Koh has blamed the PR state administration for the problems faced by BN during their recent camp on Pulau Jerejak.

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 12 – In Penang, the spats between the ruling Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government and its rival Barisan Nasional (BN) faction have grown more strident and public as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak mulls calling for the 13th general elections this year.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today called his predecessor, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, irresponsible for blaming problems faced during the state BN’s recent camp at the Tropical Island Resort (TIR) at Pulau Jerejak on the new administration.

Pulau Jerejak is a 362-hectare island off the eastern coast of Penang, which once served as a penal and leper colony.

“He is not satisfied because there was no key to the boat and there was a snake in the storeroom,” Lim said in a media statement today, referring to the Gerakan president and state BN chief.

The DAP secretary-general said Koh should not blame PR because the jetty at Bayan Bay and Pulau Jerejak was managed by the resort company, which was granted the project by the previous BN administration.

TIR is a joint-venture partnership between Putrajaya-linked UDA Holdings and state-owned Penang Development Corporation (PDC) with shares split 51 per cent and 49 per cent respectively

Lim, who is also PDC chairman, said the project had caused the state agency to suffer a RM19 million loss which it cannot recoup.

He said almost all usable land on the former leper colony had been handed over to UDA during Koh’s 15-year tenure as chief minister.

Lim dared Koh to explain for the loss.

“Is Koh brave enough to explain the new RM19 million scandal in Pulau Jerejak?” the first-term CM challenged.

“Or is he going to wait until March?” he added, mocking Koh’s promise that there are surprises in store for the PR state government.

Lim had earlier this week dared Koh to disclose why the state government had to pay RM40 million over the Tang Hak Ju land scam and why the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) suffered a RM230 million deficit for seven years.