A ‘poorly designed’ RM5 million multi-storey car park at the base of Penang Hill has now become the subject of yet another controversy plaguing Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

A report has been lodged against Lim at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission  by Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng, who wants the former to be accountable for the project.

Tan said he was suspicious that the state government under Lim, the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) may have “misused their powers and mischannelled” funds allocated to the project.

Lim has denied the claims, saying that the project was approved by the previous state government under the BN and the Tourism Ministry in 2007.

“We have no say in it. We did not want to say this early on as we do not want to pass the blame to the previous government,” he told reporters in Penang.

“Everything has been decided in the past and I was not informed about the progress of the project as we are not the approving authority nor the client,” Lim added.

The problematic project involves a five-storey carpark with 112 parking lots and bays for six tourist buses to stop within a 0.62-acre piece of land at the foot of the popular hill resort.

Delay in its completion has resulted in the area becoming congested, with cars being parked illegally along the road leading to the hill.

NONE PDC general manager Rosli Jaafar ( left ) said the announcement that the state government development arm had been appointed to be the implementing agency of the project was made at a Tourism Ministry meeting in September 2007.

“That is why the new Pakatan Rakyat government and Lim were not told of the progress of the project; he was not asked to give approval for it because the client here is the Tourism Ministry,” Rosli said.

An open tender was called on March 23, and three months later, DTE Construction Sdn Bhd won with a bid of RM3,958,988.26 to complete the project within 14 months.

It was eventually completed on Oct 9 last year, although the actual date of completion was March this year.

‘Encroachment’ of nearby houses

Rosli said the project ran into some problems when the lot turned out to be smaller than the size that was agreed upon, due to ‘encroachment’ by owners of nearby houses.

An amendment to the building plan was submitted to MPPP in November last year, but it is yet to be approved, he added.

“We will not compromise over the public safety aspect. When there were complaints it was not safe, an independent engineering geotechnical expert was appointed to investigate the building thoroughly,” he said.

“It took them 30 days to complete the probe and on Aug 24, a report was sent to PDC,” he added.

Rosli said the PDC then carried out several checks on the site together with the MPPP, and the last exercise was conducted on Monday.

The checks will continue until the council is satisfied that the building is safe before it issues an Occupancy Certificate.

He also apologised, on behalf of the PDC, for the delay in opening the carpark, reiterating that public safety and consumer satisfaction were among the corporation’s priorities.

“We concur with Lim’s directive that PDC must comply with MPPP’s instructions; there should be no special treatment whether the project is under a state government agency or the Tourism Ministry,” Rosli said.

“We expect to submit the final report on the project to Lim in two weeks.”