KUALA LUMPUR: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has expressed disappointment over the lack of direct aid to families under the RM60 billion stimulus package unveiled yesterday.

“Although the figure is huge, what is the benefit to the man in the street? If there are to be huge projects, I suggest that there should be open tender and not just for companies registered with the Finance Ministry. It should be open for all,” said Lim, who is also the DAP member of parliament for Bagan.

Direct aid to the critical sectors was important and the best way was to give cash incentives to the people as had been carried out in Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, he said when met at the parliament lobby after the mini-budget was unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

On the RM250 million allocated for the expansion of the Penang Airport, Lim said he was “a bit disappointed” with the allocation as Penang Airport was the second most profitable airport for Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).

“We welcome the proposal but it falls short of what is required. The annual profit of MAHB is RM500 million but we are only getting RM250 million. It should be dollar for dollar,” he added.

Tony Pua (Petaling Jaya Utara-DAP) said the actual amount the government was forking out was only RM15 billion, which was too small.

“There are some good measures for long term like the RM25 billion guarantee scheme for manufacturers but such measures take a long time to take effect.

“In a crisis budget, we have to think about two aspects. First, short-term measures and second, medium- and long-term measures; and I see no short-term measures.

“In times like this, it is important to put money into the pocket of the people, especially those who are in need. I do not see any unemployment benefit, not even the conventional measures like food stamps or coupons for the people to buy goods, which will immediately have an impact on our crisis,” he said.

He said the country could wait for 12 months before feeling the impact.

“We have to have measures that have immediate impact within the next month and this part is particularly disappointing in this budget.

“We need to relieve the burden of the people in the short term. There are some tiny measures where the retrenched workers’ tax exemption would be raised from RM6,000 to RM10,000 and that have very minimal impact on the sums the people are receiving,” he said.

However, Pua said he was happy to hear that Najib had finally lowered the gross domestic product growth projection from 3.5% to between -1% and 1% assuming that all measures worked.

“It is a range that we can work with and it is good for us to know the baseline so that we can move forward from there,” he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the effective execution of the mini-budget  must involve full cooperation between the private sector and the government.

“The stimulus package will strengthen the economy and Insya’Allah, it will prevent us from falling into recession,” he told reporters.

“The global economy is in a bad shape and it is important that we understand the impact of it. The future will not be easy for us and so, everything depends on the execution of this stimulus package. Hence, we must be united.”

Asked how the government would fund the package, Abdullah said: “We have the resources within the government.”

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said the new low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) showed the government’s commitment to improve the aviation sector. The LCCT project in KLIA will be completed by 2011 at a cost of RM2 billion.

Ong said so far no details had been furnished except that a new LCCT would be built by MAHB.

“The present interim LCCT is not going to be adequate to handle the increasing passenger load. By 2011, the capacity required would exceed 20 million,” he said, adding that the new LCCT would be able to cater for 30 million passengers in the first phase with room for further development.

On the 50% rebate on landing charges for two years for airlines operating from Malaysia, Ong said it would attract more airlines to make the KLIA a hub in the region. Presently, there are 57 airlines operating from Malaysia.

Asked how the rebate would affect MAHB, Ong said: “Sometimes when you need to dish out such an incentive, you will need to strike the right balance. On one hand, you need to woo more airlines, on the other hand there would be a certain degree of reduction in your revenue.”