GEORGE TOWN: Three state Umno lawmakers have refused to sign their appointment letters as Penang Transport Council (PTC) members as the trio are not allowed to influence the implementation of the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).
Teluk Bahang assemblyman Datuk Shah Headan Ayoob Hussain Shah said he did not want to accept his appointment letter due to the “rubber stamp” role assigned not just to him, but also to state opposition leader and Telok Air Tawar assemblyman Datuk Jahara Hamid as well as Bayan Lepas assemblyman Nordin Ahmad.
"We are not allowed to object to the PTMP as stated in the terms and conditions. There is no way we will sign the letters when our roles have been confined to mere supervisory ones.
"The 10 Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers have agreed that all reclamation work is supposed to be put on hold as per a resolution moved, but this is not the case when we received the appointment letters," he told reporters after emerging from a PTC closed-door discussion with civil society groups today.
The last state legislative assembly sitting had approved a motion not to begin a 1,600 hectares land reclamation project in the southern coast until the Department of Environment approves the Detailed Environment Impact Assessment (DEIA) report.
Meanwhile, Shah Headan said the trio were upset that the word 'reclamation' was inserted in the letter, and he took the Penang government to task for not adhering to the resolution moved in the sitting.
"We want the wordings in the appointment letters to be amended, otherwise there is no point of us being PTC members if we have no say at all," he said, adding that they would regroup and redraft the contents of the letters before submitting them to PTC for amendment.
Shah Headan, Jahara and Nordin did not attend the appointment ceremony on June 13 when the trio received their invitation letters and had no idea of the term of reference (of the appointment), functions, roles and powers as members of the PTC.
On May 27, the state government announced the appointments of 24 new members into the PTC, who included BN and Pakatan Harapan lawmakers as well as representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGO).
The new appointments are effective immediately and will end in Sept 30, 2017.