Barisan Nasional has condemned as “unconventionally lopsided” the agreement signed between the developer and the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) for a mega-million ringgit convention and exhibition centre in Penang, dubbed sPICE.

NONE BN working committee chief Dr Teng Hock Nan ( left ) said the agreement for sPICE - a subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Cente - in Relau appears to be too “protective” of the developer at the expense of ratepayers.

“With one stroke of the pen, (the parties to the agreement) have signed away the interests of the people of Penang,” said Teng, a former state executive council member, at a press conference today.

“The agreement is a rip-off and a sell-off of the rights of Penangites, which is binding up to 60 years,” he added.

BN lawyers scrutinised the agreement in Komtar on Monday, and lamented that they were under duress to view the document due to limited time.

Signed on Aug 19, the signatories to the contract include the MPPP and developer Eco Meridian, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SP Setia. The project is expected to be completed by 2014.

To be located at Relau, the project boasts of the country’s first underground exhibition centre, and includes a 2.8ha public park, hotel, retail outlets and a carpark.

Teng said that the agreement had three unusual terms, including a net asset value estimated at RM488 million for the developer based on the island’s population of 700,000 people.

Secondly, the agreement involves allowing the developer to build extra 1,500 units at the current market price of RM300,000 per home, which works out to be about RM450 million, he added.

Thirdly, MPPP has also to provide the developer land to build the required 450 low and medium cost residential houses, where each units, costing not less than RM72,500, must be built at a size not exceeding 650 sq ft each, he stressed.

On top of this, Teng said the council will also allow the developer to build a hotel on the land which is undervalued.

Council president asked to explain

Teng, who is former Pulau Tikus assemblyperson, wants MPPP president Patahiyah Ismail and her 24 councillors to explain the decision behind the agreement to such an unconventional contract.

“They have to be responsible for it, and to explain to us how they arrived at the decision to sign the lopsided agreement. Is there anything below the table?” he queried.

“We also want to know if the clause to build the extra 1,500 units was in the original requirement when the state government invited application for an open tender," he said.

"To us, agreeing to the project seems to be a blatant abuse of power, at the expense of the people of Penang," he stressed.