Press Statement 
by DAP Penang chairman and MP for Tanjung Chow Kon Yeow 
after visiting the stalled Millennium Memorial Plaza at Esplanade, Penang 
on Thursday, 4 July 2002 at 11.00 am.

Tired of Government Wasting Taxpayers Money, Penang DAP plans to set up "Citizens Against Government Waste" committee to eliminate waste, mismanagement and inefficiency in the government

The Penang DAP is planning to set up "Citizens Against Government Waste" committee to ensure that the principles of good governance are adhered by the government.

Although the DAP has never been in government, we however have a vision of an efficient, well-managed government that is accountable to the taxpayers.

We have worked to make this vision a reality by playing the role of the country's No.1 Taxpayer Watchdog effectively through exposing countless financial scandals so that the government would be accountable to the people.

However we feel that citizens must play its role to help eliminate waste, mismanagement and inefficiency in the government. They can help identify the most blatant waste in government and show how it can be eliminated. 

The Millennium Memorial Plaza that we are inspecting today is an example of a wasteful project that is bulldozed through despite public opposition.

In this instance, the citizens comprising NGO representatives have voiced out against the Millennium Memorial as an effort in creating artificial glamour and not in consonant with the historical area of Esplanade.

Now even the project had finally taken off the ground in January 2002, it could not be completed as scheduled although the project is conceptualised to commemorate the New Millennium.

Worse still, it has not only become an eyesore to visitors and tourists but a death trap as live wires all found haphazardly around the construction site.

By highlighting such inefficiency and mismanagement of government projects and policies, we hope the government would be more sensitive to the people's frustration with the squandering of their hard-earned money in wasteful projects.

We hope the "Citizens Against Government Waste" movement would be an effective tool to check on the government.