GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow is meeting Deputy Chief Minister II Jagdeep Singh Deo to see whether he needs to extend his medical leave.
Chow said he will meet with Jagdeep's family on Friday (Aug 2) to offer an extension of leave as he recovers from bone and skin-related medical issues.
"He (Jagdeep) is recovering and receiving treatment from doctors. The state executive council has agreed to give Jagdeep extra time to recover. I will meet his family members," said Chow.
"I will inform them that if he needs extra time to recover as advised by the doctors, they can write us a letter for it to be approved," he added at a press conference held at his office in Komtar on Thursday (Aug 1).
Chow was responding to a question on Jagdeep's return to his duties as his 11-day leave will end on Aug 5.
"We will give him as much time as he needs until the doctors believe he can return to work. We will approve the extension as then he can seek treatment and recover," he said
Chow had previously given Jagdeep 11 days leave from July 22 to Aug 5 for medical reasons.
Jagdeep had shared that he was in Kuala Lumpur to get a second opinion on his ankle injury.
To a question about the state government’s proposed 20% tax redistribution being deemed unfeasible, Chow said he hopes that there will be more Federal projects implemented in the state.
"They (Putrajaya) proposed that we apply for an advanced allocation so that we can get the funds needed to carry out projects in the state.
"These advanced allocations are a form of federal loans that have to be repaid and there have been instances where some states could not repay the amount and it ended up accumulating in loans.
"We have not reached that point as we have enough in reserves," he said.
Chow said the Federal Government could fund other state projects instead of returns in cash.
"There has been funding in the form of the airport expansion project, light rail transit (LRT) and other projects," he said.
It was reported that Chow had asked the Federal Government to review the tax distribution system to return at least 20% of the taxes collected from Penang back to the state during the recent state legislative assembly.
