REHDA PENANG’S FELLOWSHIP DINNER
SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW IN CONJUCTION WITH REHDA PENANG’S FELLOWSHIP DINNER
8 JANUARY 2021 @ G HOTEL PENANG
YB Jagdeep Singh Deo
State EXCO for Housing, Local Government and Town & Country Planning
YB Yeoh Soon Hin
State EXCO for Tourism & Creative Economy
Mr. Tan Hun Beng
Chairman REHDA Penang
Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Toh Chin Leong
Immediate Past Chairman, REHDA Penang
Yang Berbahagia Dato’ David Fong
Organising Chairman
Fellow Committee and Members REHDA Penang,
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
I am very pleased to be invited here this evening to join you for your Fellowship Dinner. I thank Mr. Tan Hun Beng, Chairman of REHDA Penang, Organising Chairman Dato’ David Fong and the committee of REHDA Penang for your invitation. I understand that this fellowship dinner was originally planned to be on 30th October 2020 but had to be postponed a few times due to the CMCO.
Penang has over the years faced various challenges such as the economic crisis in 1986-1988, the ringgit depreciation in 1988-1989 and the global financial crisis in 2008 but each time we have been able to overcome these adversities and eventually, become more resilient.
This time round, the Covid-19 pandemic has severely hit the economy. As people face economic hardships, the property sector will also not be spared. However, I believe that such challenges are not something new to REHDA and with the cooperation between REHDA and the State Government, we will be able to overcome these hardships.
During the early stages of the pandemic and MCO in March 2020, Penang unveiled a RM75million Covid-19 economic stimulus package aimed to assist the poor and the vulnerable which had benefited almost 410,000 recipients. These included our hawkers, small businesses, petty traders, taxi drivers, trishaw riders, e-hailing drivers, the physically challenged and the B40. It was an economic aid for the working class to regain their foothold in order to continue to be self-sufficient and to take care of their families as well as a business continuity package.
Later, in August 2020, the state government allocated an additional RM4.5 million under the Penang People’s Aid Package 2.1 to benefit six target groups affected by the Movement Control Order (MCO). The fund included the provision of agricultural input incentives worth RM400 to 1,142 farmers as well as a one-off RM500 special cash assistance to book and newspaper sellers, school canteen traders, event management companies, as well as active organisations and associations registered with the Registrar of Society.
The pandemic has shown no signs of abating. The slowdown in the global economy due to the Covid-19 outbreak as well as the impact of the MCO on the state’s economy has to be addressed holistically through careful planning and rapid action.
The Penang State Government has set up a Penang Socio Economic Recovery Consultative Council (PSERCC) on 13th May 2020 to act as an advisory body to the government to formulate measures to stimulate economic growth and socio-economic development, attracting private investments as well as to coordinate and accelerate economic policy decision-making.
Members of the PSERCC include representatives from the Penang State Government, KPKT, Jabatan Perumahan Negara and NAPIC. In addition, the State Government has also co-opted a representative from REHDA to be member in the PSERCC to provide feedback on the property development industry.
The Penang State Government has also reshuffled the duties and portfolios of members of the State EXCO to face new challenges following the Covid-19 pandemic. The restructuring of EXCO portfolios was made to ensure the state administration machinery functions more efficiently.
This restructuring and rebranding of the portfolios is also part of the state government’s focus on rehabilitating and boosting our economy in post-Covid-19. As you are aware, several portfolios were amalgamated and rebranded while others were replaced to highlight the new focus while several portfolios were moved in the process of being amalgamated.
The Penang State Government will be reviewing the Penang Structure Plan (PSP) 2030, the Penang2030 vision as well as some development policies as we try to re-strategize in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our priority now is to stimulate the state economy and the state EXCO on 10th June 2020 had considered representations from REHDA and approved relaxations on foreign purchasers’ threshold, state consent fees, levy on foreign purchasers as well as reductions in development charges and other contributions.
We cannot deny the fact that developers have been adversely affected in terms of sales; and buyers are also impacted in terms of their purchasing capacity.
We believe in advocating a better quality of life for the people of Penang and the State Government appreciates the role played by REHDA. The continued progress and prosperity of Penang can only be realized with the cooperation of all parties including REHDA through consultation, dialogue and public private partnership.
Thank you and have a pleasant evening.