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Sunday November 8, 2009

Minister: 'Approve land applications'


GEORGE TOWN: Saying two can play the game, Minister in the Prime Minister’s De­­partment Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop has advised the Penang government not to hold back its approval for land applications made by federal agencies.

“If the state does not want to cooperate with the Federal Government, maybe there are other matters in which the Federal Govern­ment may find it difficult to give the state what it wants too.

“So the state and the Federal Government will have to cooperate, or both will lose out. We have to work together for the good of Penang,” he told a press conference yesterday after chairing a Penang Federal Action Council meeting.

Nor Mohamed said he was unhappy that the state government did not give fair consideration to land applications made by the Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda) and other federal agencies.

He said Perda had applied to develop some land but had not received feedback from the state until now.

“This matter is one of the hurdles faced by government agencies. I hope the state would not delay in giving approvals for projects regardless of whether it is by federal or state agencies or the private sector,” he said.

Nor Mohamed also said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has decided that the department’s Implementation and Coor­dination Unit (ICU) would resume its previous role as troubleshooter to resolve issues that slowed down the implementation process of federal projects.

Asked about the Penang Sentral transport and logistics hub project in Butterworth, he said all issues had earlier been resolved and the Federal Government would provide sufficient allocation under the 10th Malaysia Plan.

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