“The lame excuse of collecting more parking from the 290 roads for the sake of the people was just like after squeeze the people’s pockets, and it is hypocritical to still expect the people to thank the state government for doing it to the people’s own benefit”
GEORGE TOWN: Penang MCA’s Dato’ Michael Lee Beng Seng took MBPP’s Joseph Ng Soon Siang to task today for claiming that the collection of parking fees for 290 more roads was a favour to the people.
In a statement, the youth chief said it was absurd for Joseph to lay such a claim, adding that the council’s action was akin to squeezing the people for cash.
“It seems more likely that the Penang state government has long planned for this.
“The lame excuse of collecting more parking from the 290 roads for the sake of the people was just like after squeeze the people’s pockets, and it is hypocritical to still expect the people to thank the state government for doing it to the people’s own benefit,” he said.
According to Michael, The Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) unveiled by the state government clearly shows it planned all along to introduce two tolled highways, raise existing parking charges and implement new charges to add revenue.
“Since the Penang State Government’s Transport Masterplan had the intention to increase parking charges as well as to introduce new on street parking charges to increasing the state’s revenues, why say it is doing it for the benefit of the people?
“Should the people thank the state government for collecting more money from them?
“It is simply foolish to punish the majority for some isolated cases,” he added.
Michael was referring to a claim made by Joseph, in which the council’s Financial Management Committee alternate chairman cited complaints from the public regarding parking spaces being occupied for long periods as the reason the state government imposed parking charges.
“The thing is, when the parking space is not enough, where should the people park their cars?” Michael asked.
“Insufficient parking space is a big problem. The state government has failed to address the problem of parking spaces being occupied for a long time, and instead, (want’s to) punish the motorists for this problem.
“This is akin to punishing all other motorists just for some isolated cases. Even then the problem cannot be resolved, and will only victimise the motorists.
“The state government should have come clean on its plan of increasing its revenue through setting-up of 2 new tolled highways.
