'I did not sabotage Penang Govt': Nik Ali

2009/11/21

BUTTERWORTH: The Penang State Development Office (SDO) said today it had never sabotaged nor had it put any pressure on the state government. Its director Nik Ali Mat Yunus said on the contrary, he respected the office of the chief minister and accepted the fact that Lim Guan Eng was the head of the Penang government.

"In line with the cabinet decision, the SDO acts to intervene to ensure that federal projects, which have run into problems, are completed on time.

"I'm only doing my duty as a civil servant," he told reporters after closing a dialogue programme organised by Pengasih Malaysia and Petronas here.

He was commenting on Lim's statement that the SDO was trying to exert pressure on the state government so that federal projects could go on, or else it would cancel the projects and withdraw the allocation.

Nik Ali said as the lead agency of the federal government in Penang, he had to ensure projects were implemented smoothly.

Citing the RM6 million Botanical Park project as an example, he said, the Irrigation and Drainage Department as well as the Botanical Park Department, which is the implementing agency, had given the assurance that the state government would resolve issues including the relocation of shophouses and a squatter colony from the project site.

He said that the project was now running behind schedule as the state government had yet to carry out the relocation of several shophouses from the area.

He said that the reminder on the importance of the project, which was sent to the implementing agency, could not be regarded as an act of sabotage. -- BERNAMA

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