'Khalifah' Guan Eng In Yet Another Row Over Ramadan Lot Rental

Wednesday, 11 August 2010 13:38 |

The issue of Ramadan traders at Komtar has taken on a new twist with allegations and counter-allegations surfacing on the collection of lot rental fees.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday accused Komtar Merchant Association (KMA) vice-chairman Mohamed Ghani Abd Jiman of committing criminal breach of trust after alleging that the latter had failed to pay Penang Development Corporation (PDC) rental collected from traders.

This was immediately denied by Ghani, who went on to challenge Lim to lodge a report against him to back the allegations.

Ghani said Lim should file a report with the police and also the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) if he had evidence on the alleged claims.

"He should be brave enough to personally lodge a report against me instead of slandering me in the media," Ghani said, adding he also planned to lodge a report regarding the matter.

Meanwhile, Ghani said he and several of the association members met with PDC officials yesterday and managed to get approval from the corporation's officials to allow traders to operate at Komtar's concourse area.

"We were able to sort out problems faced by the traders over the lot rental and now they can all operate their stalls there starting tomorrow," Ghani said.

He added that each operator would pay RM50 daily to the association, which would in turn hand over the money to the PDC.

The issue of traders facing difficulty in setting up stalls for the fasting month had hogged the headlines after they claimed the state government was giving them a hard time in setting up their stalls.

The traders led by Ghani staged a protest at Komtar on Monday, and also gathered there yesterday, to voice their frustrations against Lim's administration.

This is the second year running that traders intending to set up stalls during the Ramadan period have faced difficulties with the state authorities.

The matter had also captured Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's attention.

The deputy prime minister had chided Lim previously for failing to live up to his mantra of championing the rakyat's cause.

Muhyiddin said while local authorities had always created temporary sites to allow petty traders to earn extra income during the fasting month, the Penang government was making it difficult for them to earn a living.