Hundreds at Taman Manggis for flash mob against Guan Eng

GEORGE TOWN - Hundreds from Barisan Nasional (BN), non-governmental organisation (NGOs) and the red shirts movement converged on Taman Manggis after Friday prayers this afternoon to stage a flash mob against Lim Guan Eng.

As the police tried to usher them away from the busy Burmah Road, the groups led by Penang BN and Umno held up placards labeling the Penang chief minister cruel, and chanted for his resignation.

“We are here to point out the cruelty of the Penang state government that took away land meant for public housing, effectively taking away homes for 272 poor families,” said Penang Umno Youth Rafizal Abd Rahim.

He was referring to the latest claim against Lim’s administration that the Taman Manggis land was sold off to build a private hospital when it was initially earmarked for affordable housing.

“The state government lied by saying they are replacing this land with an even bigger land in Jalan SP Chelliah because there is no public housing at Jalan SP Chelliah,” he said.

He alleged that the affordable housing project on Jalan SP Chelliah does not even have low cost housing units.

“Today, we are demanding that the (Taman Manggis) land be developed as a public housing site as per the proposal submitted by the previous BN state government,” he said.

Rafizal added that if the state government could not develop that land, it should prepare 272 units of public housing in Jalan SP Chelliah as replacement.

“If the chief minister does not want to be labelled as a liar, then he should prove it by building the 272 public housing units at SP Chelliah,” he said.

Penang BN Youth chief H'ng Chee Wei said the state does not provide sufficient homes for the the lower-income group.

“This is why we are here today, to demand for public housing for the poor,” he said.

The red movement’s Mohd Ali Baharom, known as Ali Tinju, said that today’s gathering is to fight for the public’s right to affordable housing.

The group dispersed at about 3pm after the police told them to leave.

The Taman Manggis land was sold off to Kuala Lumpur International Dental Centre (KLIDC) in 2012 by the Penang state government.

BN had protested then, alleging that the BN state government had set aside the land for a public housing project.

The sale of the land was also recently linked to Lim's purchase of his RM2.8 million house.