The Barisan Nasional has rapped the state government for lack of transparency to provide details of the RM300mil project by the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP).

State Gerakan local government bureau chief Teh Leong Meng said the state government should not black out information as Penangites have the right to know.

Teh urged the state government to disclose all information (drawings, terms and conditions of the proposals) to the public.

“The state government should be transparent and accountable to the people. Till today, the state government has not disclosed any detail on the project to the people….there is a blackout on it,” Teh said at a press conference outside the Penang Legislative Assembly recently.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced the plan for the project in January and gave members of the public two weeks to provide feedback to the state.

sPICE is to be constructed in front of the existing Penang International Convention Centre (PICC) in Relau, which currently houses a stadium, an aquatic centre and a huge carpark as well.

To be built partially beneath the ground, the building is to have a basement car park and a green park on the roof top. MPPP would bear RM50 million of the cost of the project while Eco Meridean Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of SP Setia Bhd, would bear the remaining RM250 million.

The company will manage the place for 30 years under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme before transferring it to MPPP.

Teh accused the state government of breaching two laws and an MPPP guideline by allowing Eco-Meridean to build an additional 1,500 units of houses, which would go above the maximum permissible density, in other projects it proposes as part of the agreement for the sPICE project.

The laws are the 1976 Town and Country Planning Act and the 1976 Local Government Act, he said, adding that the breach would have far reaching implications on Penangites.

“It is wrong for the state to breach the laws. It sets a bad precedent as in future, more developers will set terms and conditions to breach the laws. Also, the quality of life of the residents will be adversely affected,” he added.

Teh also said that the construction cost of RM300 million was three times higher than the cost of building PISA, which is larger but cost only RM105 million.

On the other hand, he added, sPICE is merely a building within the compound of PISA. “Before construction starts, MPPP has to fork out RM50 million, including costs of repairing and refurbishing the existing buildings
and lease a plot of land to the company to build a hotel,” he said.

He also questioned whether the Penang government was practising an open tender system for the controversial project and also why it was not awarded to a Penang-based company.

by Editorial Desk
gerakan4u.com