The state government has been taken to task over its claim that it has eradicated hardcore poor in Penang.

Penang Gerakan local government bureau head Teh Leong Meng believed there were still many poor people who are suffering in silence and need shelter and money.

Teh referred to the case of a man and his grandson living in a goat shed in George Town as one good example of the state government’s failure to address hardcore poverty in Penang.

M.D. Manogaran, 70, who is a former labourer of the Penang Municipal Council, and his grandson, M. Sharran, seven, have been living in the shed for the past 10 months without water, power supply or toilet.

A few days after a welfare organization had highlighted their case, the state government offered them a room in a low-cost flat for rental of RM66 per month.

Three years ago, Manogaran had sought help from Sungai Penang state assemblyman Koid Teng Guan, who visited them.

Teh said Manogaran’s case proved that the state government had lied when it claimed that it had successfully eradicated hardcore poverty.

‘There is also an absence of proper data on hardcore poor in the state,” Teh said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“The DAP-led state government is like Bomba fire-fighting squad…when a problem is highlighted, they take action and appear like ‘heroes’.
“But what about the silent poor? What is the state government doing to help them?” he asked.
Teh reiterated that the present state government had not built any new low-cost flat or house in Penang since March 2008.
“All the low-cost flats/low medium cost housing which have been completed (in the past three and a half years) or to be completed were started by the previous state government,” said Teh.

by Editorial Desk
gerakan4u.com