GEORGE TOWN: Penang Gerakan took Penang Island City Council (MBPP) councilors to task for not addressing numerous pressing issues faced by the local community.
In response to the DAP’s claim that Gerakan has surfaced only now, in the run-up to the 14th general election, to raise issues, party spokesman Ooi Zhi Yi said that Gerakan has been issuing press statements at regular intervals since 2008.
Displaying the party's press release records to the media yesterday, Ooi said Gerakan has been hands-on and consistent in highlighting various public grouses over the years.
"The DAP councilors are good at gaining political mileage, and to claim that Gerakan representatives only appear when a general election draws near is absurd.
"We have been raising local issues close to people's hearts since the Barisan Nasional lost in Penang in 2008. Have the people in power in the state government chosen to ignore the matters we have raised?" Ooi said.
He cited the unresolved cow dung and biting ant infestation issues near a housing estate in Air Itam that have made people's lives miserable.
Ooi said that the MBPP should have issued notice to cow owners to stop their cattle from wandering into public areas.
As for the ants, a specimen of the insect was shown to the press by a residents' representative, Lau Chee Heng, who said many people were regularly bitten by the ants which crawl into their houses at Jalan Chor Sin Kheng.
Ooi also hit out at the overly-bureaucratic procedures at the local council level which have dragged out outstanding local issues.
Ooi urged the councilors to stop shifting their responsibilities on local issues (which they claim are outside their jurisdiction), as they have access to federal agencies' representatives appointed through various joint committees.
"The councilors can easily relate the issues to respective federal agencies and departments in charge," he said.