Story by Chan Lilian
STOP politicising the rabies issue for cheap publicity.
That was the message for state Gerakan chief Teng Cheng Yeow from Penang exco members Dr. Afif Bahardin and Phee Boon Poh.
In an article in a local online portal, titled “Teng proud Penang under Gerakan didn’t kill dogs, only pigs”, Teng was reported as saying that during the BN government administration, only pigs were culled.
Responding to this, Phee revealed that it is untrue that dogs were not killed during the BN administration.
“Teng was the former political secretary to former Chief Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon and then, an exco member. How can he claim not to know that under the BN government, 6,054 dogs were shot and put to sleep by private companies that were paid by the local councils. The cost of killing the dogs was RM80 each and cost the councils RM484,320,” Teng said.
“Teng is more interested in politicising this issue than protecting human lives. I am sad that there he has no sense of priority,” Dr Afif said while chiding Teng.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who was at the press conference hoped that people will be able to see things rationally, with logic and not clouded by emotions.
“We do not want to politicise this issue. I do not understand why Teng is so irresponsible. We did not make the decision to cull stray dogs unilaterally. It was based on the expert view of the Health Ministry and the Agriculture & Agro-based Industry Ministry. Penang is the third state to do so after Kedah and Perlis. If Teng disagrees with our actions, he should question these Ministries and the experts. Teng shouldn’t seek cheap political mileage,” Lim said.d.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(s);