GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today acknowledged that Penang's debt reduction was made possible with help from the Federal government.
This was achieved after the Federal government had converted the RM655.24 million in water debt to 45 annual lease payments of RM14.56 million by the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP).
Guan Eng, however, fired a broadside at Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who recently told the Penang government to be honest to itself and cancel the water restructuring deal with the Federal government if it still wanted to claim credit for the state's debt reduction.
Guan Eng said Abdul Rahman had forgotten that the water debts were incurred by the previous Barisan Nasional-administration, and that it was only fair to return those water debts to the Federal government.
He also added that the debts taken over by the Federal government was not for free, but in exchange for water assets surrendered by PBAPP, and now owned by the Federal government.
"The water restructuring deal, taking over of water debts and surrendering of assets, is not peculiar to Penang but also applied to all other states.
"This water restructuring deal involved a surrender of state rights by the BN state government before 2008.
"Most importantly to Abdul Rahman is that the Penang government is the only state that did not have any outstanding debt payment arrears at end 2016. Further, PBAPP had also paid on time and in full all the annual lease payments," he said in a statement issued today.
Lim said Abdul Rahman should not behave "childishly and throw a tantrum out of sheer political jealousy", to ask the state government to cancel the water restructuring deal, unless he is willing to guarantee the Federal government walks back on the five points mentioned above.
Abdul Rahman had recently said that the 95 per cent Penang state debt reduction was made possible by the Federal government in a water restructuring agreement in the year 2011, when the Federal government had agreed to convert RM655.24mil of existing state debt to 45 annual lease payments of RM14.56 million.
He also accused the Penang government of using Federal government assistance to “mislead” the people.