Penang Should Buck Up On Infrastructure: Lee Kuan Yew

The Penang Government should buck up on its infrastructure as it is inferior, in comparison to those in Ipoh and Seremban.This is the view of Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

"That was the reflection of the graceful decline that Penang has undergone over the last 18 years, and we need to improve in order to make up for the previous neglect," noted Lim.

He was speaking to reporters after receiving Lee, Singapore's first prime minister and the Father of Modern Singapore, and his delegation at his office in Komtar here Saturday.The minister mentor is on an eight-day visit to Malaysia.Lee's last visit to the state, better known as the 'Pearl Of the Orient', was in 1989, when Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu was chief minister.Lim said the state government was willing to cooperate with the federal government to improve the city's infrastructure, especially communication and transportation.

He said Lee had also stated that there would be an increase in the number of flights from Singapore to Penang next year."There would be about 12 flights daily and 84 flights weekly for the Singapore-Penang route next year," added the chief minister.On Penang and Singapore, Lim said they shared a commonality in terms of establishing a clean and good government."We may have different thoughts, views and perception but we certainly share the same ideology, in terms of establishing a good government with competency, accountability and transparency," he said.

Source: Bernama 13 June 2009