Assemblymen allocations will not be frozen: Lim

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (pix) has said that allocations for assemblymen who failed to attend the swearing in of the Penang Yang di-Pertua will not be frozen.
He said only an additional layer of vetting was imposed for the "outright grant" of RM50,000 per quarter, equaling to RM200,000 per year.
He said assemblymen who missed the ceremony needed to apply for the allocation from the Chief Minister's Office instead of being disbursed directly.
"The allocation has not been reduced and will still be disbursed to constituencies," he said in a press conference today.
The issue was raised by Penanti assemblyman Dr Norlela Ariffin who expressed her concerns her allocations maybe frozen until Sept 2017 in a May 14 Facebook post.
In her post, the PKR elected representative reportedly said she was ordered to remain at the PKR Convention held on April 29, the same day as the swearing in ceremony.
The post can no longer be found on her page.
Lim noted assemblymen from DAP and Umno were also affected as they did not attend the ceremony and defended the move to impose an extra vetting process.
He said it was a "slap on the wrist" and asked how a government backbencher could not attend the swearing in ceremony.
He said respect must be shown to the person who held "the highest post in the state."
"Even Kak Wan (PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) came," he added.
Earlier, Lim announced a RM200 million project to develop infrastructure for the global business services (GBS) for the state.
He said the "GBS by the Sea" project will be sited at a 72.84ha site in Bayan Lepas where the first phase will be for a nine storey building to be completed in 2020 and can host 3,000 jobs.