Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) has regarded Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s claim that the state has been sidelined by the Federal Government when giving out allocations.

The state’s BN working committee chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan said Lim was trying to twist facts after realising that the opposition pact had failed to bring development to the state.

“The question of the federal government marginalising the Penang government does not arise at all,” he said at the state Barisan headquarters at Bayan Point here recently.

Lim had reportedly lamented that the federal government’s allocation of RM700 million from 2001 to 2008 constituted only 3% of the RM25.6 billion the state had contributed to federal coffers in revenue during that period.

In response, Dr Teng, who is also Penang Gerakan chief, said the amount was only the annual grant given by the federal government that went into the state’s consolidated funds.

“Lim doesn’t seem to understand the federal government system, because based on the FederalConstitution, each state is given a grant for six areas including welfare, roads, taxes and local authorities amounting to hundreds of millions of ringgit,” he said.

Apart from the grants, Dr Teng said the Federal Government also implemented projects in Penang under the 9th Malaysia Plan amounting to some RM7.2bil over five years.

“The RM7.2bil worth of projects did not include the construction of the Second Penang Bridge (RM4.5bil), upgrading of the Mengkuang Dam (RM1.2bil), Penang International Airport (RM211mil), Swettenham Port (RM97mil) and programmes under National Key Economic Areas (RM635mil),” he said.

However, Penang BN secretary Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said the federal government always gave more than what the Penang government allocated for the state, for example, the state government had allocated only RM3 million for welfare aid while the federal government gave RM63.3 million for the same purpose.

“This includes the allocation for social responsibility like for the Rapid Penang bus service which continues to operate although not profitable, and for facilities at tourist spots such as the Bukit Bendara funicular railway,” said the Teluk Bahang assemblyman.

He said the federal government had given more than RM50 billion to Penang, hence Lim should withdraw his statement as it could confuse the people and to understand the federal system and the federal government’s financial contribution, which was incomparable to the state’s revenue.