Penang Government gives more freebies, this time to religious teachers (19/03/08)
GEORGE TOWN: The newly-formed DAP-PKR joint state government announced today fresh freebies for the people of Penang during its first state executive councillor’s meeting.
In this latest round, some 1,465 Kafa (obligatory religious requirement) teachers will receive a one-off RM600 ex-gratia payment effective April 1. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Exco approved a RM879,000 allocation for the purpose.
When announcing the news earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin said the payment was made in appreciation of the religious teachers’ sacrifices and good work in educating the young in the state.
“We appreciate what the teachers are doing and to repay them, the state Exco has agreed to an ex-gratia payment,” he told a Press conference after the Exco meeting. The meeting, which concluded way past lunch time, was chaired by Lim.
In his first press conference upon his swearing-in as chief minister a week ago, Lim announced the waiver of all outstanding parking and hawker license summons issued by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) and Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) before he took office. The one-off arrangement was made to help reduce the burden of the people, especially the poor.
In today’s meeting, Lim said the Exco also discussed on the controversial RM25 billion Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project.
He reiterated that no approval had been given for the project, especially from the MPPP.
Lim said the developer of the project was disallowed from further promoting and selling contents of the project but can submit a new application through the normal procedure.
On the appointment of new MPPP and MPSP councillors, Lim said he would make an announcement on the matter at an appropriate time after getting advice from the state legal adviser. It was reported that all 44 MPPP and MPSP councillors had tendered their resignations in batches.
