Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has questioned the whereabouts of the 2016 funding for Chinese primary schools which was promised by the federal government.

He said it was already the third day of the new year, but the federal government has yet to disburse the funds.

“While they failed to provide the funding for 2016, we have already disbursed the funds for 2017.

“This is the big difference between us and them, we are a competent government and they are a corrupted regime,” Lim said at a press conference today.

“It is the same as last year, we disbursed our funds on the first week of the new year, on Jan 3.

“In contrast, the federal government has yet to give theirs for 2016,” he added, after handing over the state’s 2017 RM2 million allocation for five Chinese independent schools today.

“Please walk the talk,” Lim said.

The DAP secretary-general queried why the federal government has continued to repeat the same “mistake” it did in 2015, where it also allegedly failed to deliver the funds on time.

"Since it is already 2017, the 2016 budget is considered burnt; in 2017, they need to find other channels to deliver the school funds.

"Of course, they may find other ways to remedy the situation, but the fact remains that they are eating their own words and failed to keep their own promises,” he added.

"This is embarrassing because the RM50 million for Chinese primary schools only account for 0.018 percent of the total annual budget for the federal government, which is about RM270 billion.

“This is so small compared to the money gained by Jho Low via 1MDB,” Lim claimed.

Jho Low, whose real name is Low Taek Jho, a Penang-born businessman, is one of the officials named in a United States Department of Justice civil suit against three individuals allegedly involved in money laundering of 1MDB funds.

Penang willing to loan RM50m

Lim reminded the federal government that Penang was willing to loan it RM50 million as long as it promises to pay back the money.

He then criticised MCA ministers for sleeping on the job as they failed to pressure the government to release the funding.

“It is better for them to resign, perhaps then PM Najib Razak will rethink the situation."

This year, the Penang government has vowed to continue providing the five Chinese independent schools with a total of RM2 million allocation or RM400,000 each.

The schools get an extra allocation from the chief minister, which makes the total of allocation to RM18 million, with each school receiving RM3.6 million.

Lim said he has handed out an extra RM100,000 to each Chinese independent school since 2015, to help them address the impact caused by the goods and services tax (GST).

Although Penang enjoyed rapid development in tourism, it's econony was still badly impacted by GST, he added.

“The situation indirectly affected Chinese independent schools which rely on public donations,” Lim noted.

"Under such circumstances, the federal government has not merely reduced the funding for Chinese school but sometimes even failed to deliver its own promises.

“In contrast, we will keep our promise to continue the allocation for Chinese schools. Although the economy is going to be slow, we still expect to enjoy surplus this year,” he added.