Gerakan has slammed Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for being irresponsible in keeping mum on Bosch Solar Energy Malaysia Sdn Bhd's decision to cancel plans to build a RM2.2bil solar facility in the state.
Penang Gerakan secretary Goh Kheng Sneah said that instead of informing the public on the big drop in investments himself, Lim delegated the announcement to investPenang executive committee chairman Datuk Simon Wong.
“This was unlike in the past three years when Lim was quick to announce any increase in investments in Penang so as to claim the credit immediately,” said Goh.
He also questioned Lim about the state government's preemptive steps to overcome the drastic loss of investment.
On Monday, Wong issued a statement that Bosch's board had decided to discontinue its global crystalline photovoltaic business for the manufacture of ingots, wafers and solar cell modules.
To this, Goh claimed that Bosch's decision had affected many small and medium enterprises that were supply chains to the multi-billion investments, and more than 3,000 jobs were estimated to be lost.
It was earlier reported that Penang suffered a 73% drop in total investments from RM9.11bil in 2011 to only RM2.47bil last year.
