Dap Wants Autonomy For Penang

Autonomy for Penang in national interest
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/138933

The recent spat between the Penang chief minister and the State Development officer brought to light an issue that most people think about but dare not suggest: autonomy for Penang.
Always the bell wether state, Penang has all the ingredients of being an example of a new model of development in Malaysia.
The best way to make Penang a sustainable and liveable state is to grant its people more autonomy to determine the type of development they need and the freedom to aspire to better futures.
Penang has a higher per-capita income than the rest of Malaysia and contributes about 30 percent of the total value of exports fromMalaysia.
Lacking in natural resources, Penang has been reliant on its people and foreign direct investments to modernise. But a national policy intent on 'spreading'wealth across the board has resulted in the artificial stunting of places like Penang.
Different model
Whilst wealth is concentrated in the Klang valley with KL as the biggest beneficiary, it is now time to look to a different model of wealth creation - one that does not take away from centres of growth but instead builds them up.
Like Kuala Lumpur and now, the Iskandar region in Johor, Penang needs to be given the opportunity to decide what type of development is suited to it.
Currently, there is so much politicking over such a small physical space with three to four layers of bureaucracy that Penang has not been able to achieve its full potential.
Like the Basque region in northern Spain, which recently saw a great rejuvenation, Penang can be declared an autonomous region with its state government allowed to collect taxes, manage its own finances and carry out its own development policies.
Uncontrolled development
There are two examples why the current system does not work for Penang. The first involves uncontrolled development in the state where development does not follow the existing requirements and limitations imposed bythe Structure Plan and Local Plan.
It is only natural that developers would want to maximise profits from their small plots of land. But uncontrolled development has led to very high densities in places like Batu Ferringhi and Tanjong Bungah, with scant regard to the carrying capacity of the one road that serves thearea.
The second example involves swift-breeding in Georgetown.Although the state government has come out quite clearly that swift-breeding is not suitable for heritage buldings and there have been incessant complaints by property-owners, there is still little action on the ground.
In both cases, the red-tape arising from federal, state and local governments make decision-making nearly impossible.
A certain type of high density development may be suitable for the Klang Valley, but not for Penang. Similarly, swift-breeding may be okay for some towns but not in Georgetown, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
In both instances, federal agencies have to be consulted and they have to make decisions that take into consideration the whole country. In short, the decisions are not only hard to make, but are also unnecessarily unimaginative.
There are fears that autonomy for places like Penang will lead to the eventual disintegration of the federation. The reality is that we are not so much a federation but a union, where state governments have very little autonomy to determine the type of development suited to local conditions.
Giving back to state governments their constitutional rights and the extra resources generated by its citizens will enable these growth centres to better contribute to the wider development of Malaysia.

tunku : this is what they are planning for long time, first autonomy then they will ask for separation.first they took singapore away and now they want penang.we hope the government will investigate this dirty agenda of dap thoroughly.no wonder they are "cleaning" away some people out of penang lately.they are not given right to do business etc.dap is playing with fire now.we hope things are under control.