Equal allocations bill in the works, but won’t be tabled in November, says CM

 Chow Kon Yeow says more time is needed to fine-tune the proposed Constituency Development Fund enactment.

Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said he has instructed the state legal adviser to draft a bill on equal allocations for all Penang constituencies after receiving a request from the DAP leadership. (Johnshen Lee pic)

BUKIT MERTAJAM:

The Penang government will not be able to table a bill providing equal allocations for all constituencies at the state assembly meeting in November because of time constraints, says chief minister Chow Kon Yeow.

Chow said he had instructed state legal adviser Wan Nor Sakina Saad to draft the bill for a Constituency Development Fund (CDF) enactment after receiving a request from DAP, with the draft presented to the state executive council on Wednesday.

However, he said, the government needed more time to deliberate on the proposal and engage stakeholders before the bill could be tabled.

“I think we will not be able to present any enactment proposal in the coming state assembly meeting because we have a deadline to meet.

“I think we won’t be able to meet the deadline for this coming meeting. We (need) more time to deliberate on it,” he told reporters after presenting the Penang2030 eighth-year report card at a hotel here today.

On Sept 8, DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said the party’s central executive committee had asked Chow to table a bill mandating equal CDF allocations for all constituencies in the state.

Loke said the law would ensure fair and equal treatment for assemblymen regardless of their political affiliation.

Currently, the Penang government sets aside an annual allocation of RM60,000 for each opposition assemblyman in the state, while government assemblymen receive an annual constituency allocation of RM500,000. - FMT