Guan Eng's personal spat with PKR rep a distraction from floods: Gerakan

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has successfully distracted people from the floods by omitting Kebun Bunga assemblyman Cheah Kah Peng from the list of Pakatan Harapan assemblymen who will dish out aid, said a state Gerakan leader.
Now, the entire Penang has become preoccupied with the alleged spat between Lim, the DAP secretary-general with his alliance partner - PKR's Cheah, said state Gerakan Publicity Bureau head Ooi Zhi Yi.
According to Ooi, Lim had either directly or indirectly taken the attention away from floods to a personal dispute between him and Cheah, a PKR lawyer.
"Frankly, people here have been conversing of late about the alleged quarrel between Lim and Cheah rather than on flood mitigation," he said in an interview.
To Ooi, Lim has won the battle of perception by allegedly invoking a dispute with Cheah.
Last week, Cheah revealed that he was omitted from the list of 30 Pakatan state assemblymen who were entrusted to register the victims and dish out aid from the flood relief fund founded by the state government.
This one-off payout of RM700 was for the Nov 4/5 floods which had caused widespread damage to the state with waters only receding one week later in some villages.
Lim had clarified that the omission was due to a procedural change, and announced that Pulau Tikus assemblyman Yap Soo Huey would oversee Cheah's Kebun Bunga constituency.
Ooi said that Lim was distracting people because the state was struggling to cope with the demands of flood mitigation where some of the suggestions were to halt hill slope development and to reprimand developers who were careless when constructing projects.
Secondly, Ooi said the effects from what is best defined as climate change has come to bear in Penang with more intense weather patterns from rain storms to high humidity.
Yet, Penang cannot seem to come out with a formula to address climate change, Ooi said.
Veteran Gerakan leader Wong Mun Hoe believed that DAP wants to seize the Kebun Bunga state seat from PKR; hence the criticism levelled towards Cheah.
Cheah meanwhile, has offered to speak to Lim about their alleged quarrel, saying he has no malice towards anyone in Pakatan as they are partners in fighting Barisan Nasional.