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Tan Sin Chow, The Star

The state government wants to know why the rental fee of RM200,000 was not collected before the groundwork for the Kings of Tennis event was allowed at the Esplanade field.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is launching an inquiry into the cancellation of the much-touted event, was welcome to investigate why the money was not collected by the Penang Municipal Council.

Lim said the government did not play any part in the organising of the event as it was entirely a private initiative.

“We were neither the organiser nor the co-organiser of the event. As such, if it didn’t succeed, why blame the state government?” he asked after launching the International Meatless Day Charity Carnival in Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah here on Sunday.

He said that when the event was first proposed, many heads of Penang-based non-governmental organisations came to lobby for the event to be held and asked the state government to be part of the organising committee.

“I can understand their intention, knowing that if we managed to pull it off by hosting the event, it would definitely put Penang on the international map and give tourism in the state a huge boost. But we refused to be part of the organising team.

“We told them what we could do was just to facilitate the event by waiving the RM2mil deposit for renting the field with the condition that the field must be restored to its grandeur once the event is completed.

“On top of that, we offered to waive the RM200,000 rental fee if the event was successful.

“The only problem is why was the fee was not collected before groundwork was allowed to take place,” he said.

Comments (11)

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written by varvoom, November 16, 2008 23:27:01

Another spanner thrown by those BN racist corrupt thugs to course problem, stop pussy footing about Mr Lim, go after them with the full force of the law!show them that they cannot mess you around, the people are right behind you.

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written by borneoman, November 17, 2008 03:44:07

the opposition bn will plant a mole in your midst and try to destroy you from the inside.next time double check on outsiders who offer you a hand out of the blue.

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written by Ken Liew, November 17, 2008 08:53:16

It has been collected... but did NOT put in account.. but in someone's saku only...

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written by lamakawan, November 17, 2008 08:57:39

You have done the right thing CM. LIM. You had refused to be lured into the water.

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written by chiongguo, November 17, 2008 09:16:51

borneoman wrote :

the opposition bn will plant a mole in your midst and try to destroy you from the inside.next time double check on outsiders who offer you a hand out of the blue.

If a mole were to be planted it would not be obvious. That's the nature of deception in the game of cloak and dagger. People's reputation are also destroyed for the same reason.

Checking and double checking and even triple checking will not help. We are really our own worst enemy. Whenever someone dangle a carrot in front of us, if we ourselves do not like carrot then we will not be enticed. Even if we like carrot and have no way of knowing if the offer was sincere, as long as we follow basic principles then the trust placed in you would not have be breached. The Pak dalang and pak turut and all the pak bodoh may have a field day for a little while but in the longer run their devious endeavour will backfire on them.

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written by densemy, November 17, 2008 10:12:40

No, temenggong you are WRONG WRONG WRONG. This time and forever more heads must roll over fukc ups like this

For far too long small time public servants have taken the law into their own hands and made up their own rulings... no doubt related to the thickness of their wallets

For far too long Malaysians have turned the other cheek and allowed criminals to get away with unethical and criminal practices

This is NOT the way to run a well organised civilised country

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written by cheekhiaw, November 17, 2008 12:12:14

Rent not collected because some thieves took it...

xxx

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written by temenggong, November 17, 2008 14:29:33

Demsemy,

Ariana and the financial backers are already done for, possibly will be bankrupt. There is no point in chasing here. It will be good money after bad.

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written by AngryTaxpayer, November 17, 2008 16:56:32

Actually, from what I've read of Arianna Teoh's press conference, it looks like her company was played out in a major way by the main organisers.....wonder who's the bosses of the main organisers...hhmmmmm......

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written by miwaki, November 18, 2008 08:16:41

Of course the rental fee has been collected but not accounted yet.Biasa-lah kan ni Malaysia ? Apa pun boleh.

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