CHIEF Minister Chow Kon Yeow has defended Penang Development Corporation (PDC) over the controversial industrial land sale to Umech Land Sdn Bhd, saying there were neither weaknesses nor mistakes in the deal.
Despite rescinding the deal on the basis that PDC was not informed of the changes in stakeholders in Umech, Chow (Padang Kota-PH) insisted that no wrong occurred in awarding the deal to the construction giant, which subsequently sold a controlling stake to the public-listed Sunway Group.
He told Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubuk-PH) during this morning’s state legislative assembly session that the procedures were in line with PDC’s standard operating procedures.
It was either through open tender, request for proposal, or direct negotiation, the PDC chairman said.
He said the deal was based on direct negotiation conducted by PDC at the Dubai Expo 2020 from January 16 till 23 last year.
“The company (Umech) was the only one interested in developing the land and the deal received blessings from the PDC board and state executive councillor,” Chow said.
Umech was selected through a lengthy and transparent process.
Chow, however, said the change of company ownership was an issue as PDC was not informed of it before the official signing ceremony took place.
To avoid future discrepancies, Chow said PDC has agreed to amend all offer letters by inserting a clause that future agreements must be signed before there is a change of ownership with private sector companies.
“This will avoid any misunderstanding, which may occur over the deals.”
The deal remains up in the air after PDC scrapped it on the grounds that Umech did not disclose to the corporation that there was a change of ownership to the Sunway Group.
Apparently, PDC has left it to Umech to take the next step, perhaps to appeal or clarify what transpired.
In another development, state exco for local government Jason H’ng Mooi Lye (Jawi-PH) informed Goh Choon Aik (Bukit Tambun-PH) that there were no plans to break up the administration of the Seberang Prai City Council (MBSP).
Answering on behalf of Chow, H’ng said MBSP would continue to operate indefinitely.
MBSP technically is the biggest local government entity in Malaysia, covering a stretch of 747.81 sq km but despite certain shortcomings, it was better to have one local government overseeing the mainland (Prai) rather than three separate district councils, he said.
MBSP would also have bigger financial resources to administer Prai compared with the alternative, he added. – The Vibes, November 20, 2023.
