Penang CM trashes 'irresponsible reporting'

Two Umno-controlled newspapers have incurred the wrath of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan for attempting to pit him against the state police.

Lim said a report in the Malay-language Berita Harian and English-language New Straits Times (NST) had made him appear as if he had blamed the police for a mishap involving water sports in Batu Feringghi.

He denied placing the blame on the police after a Chinese national’s legs were fractured last week, when a water scooter rammed into her.

“Why should I blame the police? I regret that the papers have tried to play this up. When I make a clarification, such as about (deputy premier) Muhyiddin Yassin’s (statement being twisted by a news agency yesterday), it is never reported in those papers,” he said.

“This is irresponsible reporting...Berita Harian, please do not be like Utusan Malaysia...and the NST was not even at the press conference, (so) how could it report such a thing?”

The dailies had then quoted Penang police chief Ayub Yaakob’s terse response to the remarks attributed to Lim.

Ayub (right) said Lim was “twisting stories” when the state government has itself failed to use the law to regulate the problems, which include unlicensed beach operators. He said Lim was trying to put the responsibility on the police.

“It is the state’s job to draw up regulations to ensure the safety of those engaged in water sports activities,” Ayub reportedly said.

“The state has the power to do that, so it should have the political will. The police can only act according to the law. I do not understand why we are being dragged into this.”

‘Enforcement of rules’

Lim clarified that the state government is concerned about water sports activities, and that it plans to upgrade the effectiveness of related rules and regulations.

“We were talking about the enforcement of rules and regulations, not about (inaction of) the police,” he explained.

“We had also learnt that some of the operators are drug addicts. The police have investigated this and found it to be true, but this had nothing to do with the accident.”

Lim said he has contacted Ayub to clarify the matter, also taking the opportunity to praise the police for helping to bring down the crime rate in Penang to one of the lowest nationwide.

He urged the dailies to refrain from “whacking’ him or creating conflict between him and the police through baseless reports.

Lim added that, if he were in the shoes of the police, he too would have been angry after reading the report.