Disputes spill into the open

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and the party’s veteran MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw are taking each other on in the open, days after the latter questioned environmental protection in Balik Pulau.

And the unease between the two is apparent. On Sunday, Dr Tan posted on Facebook in English, Malay, Chinese and Jawi that Balik Pulau had become “less green”.

“Going round Penang Island today, we find the coast is changing and Balik Pulau is less green.

“The population of 850,000 require houses and employment.

“The priority is to preserve the forest and the green,” he observed.

Questioned by reporters in Penang yesterday over this, Lim claimed that “Dr Tan has been incommunicado from party leaders since early this year”.

“We have not been able to contact him. We will deal with this matter internally,’’ he said.

Dr Tan, contacted by The Star on his handphone at about 3.20pm yesterday, pointed out that he was accessible as the newspaper had managed to track him.

“How long did it take for you to call me?” he asked.

“I have no problem ... what’s your problem?” he retorted, in apparent reference to Lim who is the Penang Chief Minister.

The 75-year-old party central executive committee member and former DAP national deputy chairman said he could not help it if his phone was engaged. “If it is not, then I will usually reply,” he said.

Dr Tan, who won the Kepong seat in 1982, has been critical of the DAP-led Penang government.