The Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) was grilled by journalists and a blogger for 90 minutes at a special briefing yesterday over the controversial Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre (sPICE) project.

State exco member for local councils, transportation and environment Chow Kon Yeow and MPPP president Patahiyah Ismail fielded questions on the project, which the Barisan Nasional alleged would cost Penangites some RM488 million.

NONE However, Patahiyah ( left ), denied that the agreement inked with developer Eco Meridian, a subsidiary of SP Setia Bhd, to build the RM250 million project was signed in a secret manner, or that it involved backdoor dealings.

Although MPPP councillors have lamented about being kept in the dark about the deal, Patahiyah insisted that a full council meeting had endorsed the project proposal.

She said that in her 25 years of experience as a civil servant, project agreements  under the MPPP have never before been revealed to the public.

When the state government approached her to publicise the agreement for public feedback, she told them that it had never been done before, and that she had some legal reservations about it.

“However, when they said it was for the purpose of transparency, we decided to open it for public viewing. This is the first time that we have revealed such a document,” she said.

Patahiyah said she was willing to be investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over the deal as “many reports have been made against us before”.

She reminded the media that MPPP was only paying RM50 million for a RM250 million project, which also includes refurbishment and rectification of the existing indoor stadium and aquatic centre, while creating a seven-acre urban park for Penangites.

NONE She was responding to calls by state BN working committee chief Dr Teng Hock Nan ( right ) for her suspension for allegedly keeping the deal under wraps although it was signed on Aug 19, before it was recently publicised.

State Gerakan legal counsel who viewed the documents recently claimed that the terms and conditions in the contract were lopsided, prompting BN Youth to lodge a report on the matter with the Penang MACC yesterday.

BN Youth chief Oh Tong Keong said  the wing would be going on a signature drive to oppose the project, which is to be constructed in Relau.

After the briefing, blogger and social activist Anil Netto and journalists present lamented that the answers provided by the state representatives to clarify the rationale behind the project were rather “vague”.

However, a veteran reporter from a mainstream newspaper was rather impressed that the media had managed to grill a top state government leader and civil servants, a scene he said he had never before witnessed in his 17 years of reporting in Penang.

‘Deal would only benefit the developer’

Meanwhile, state Gerakan local government bureau chief Teoh Leong Meng said the deal would only benefit the developer as the local government must provide land free to the developer to build 450 units of low-medium cost (LMC) houses.

NONE Chow ( left ) said the government had insisted on the directive so that more LMC units - a pressing need in Penang these days - could be built and distributed to housing applicants.

“Teoh had tried to mislead the public that 16 hectares of land would be needed but based on the current density guideline, the state needs only to provide about 3.75 acres for the purpose,” the Padang Kota assemblyperson said.

“Anyway, if the state is unable to provide the land, the developer would not be required to build the LMC units,” Chow added, referring to the clause in the contract that would be waived after the 30-year concession period.

On whether the project has violated the Local Government Act and Town and Country Planning Act, he said the state planning committee (SPC) has the power to amend planning guidelines and allow for a higher density.

“The SPC under the previous government has granted additional density for LMC housing projects and other development proposals,” said Chow, who is also the MP for Tanjong.

On Teng’s claim that the additional density of 1,500 residential units allowed to the developer was a “total rip-off”, Chow denied that that this would result in the MPPP selling the people’s assets.

It is expected, he said, that the concessionaire would exercise the right to utilise the additional density to generate revenue to finance the sPICE project.

guan eng pc on spice 150111 spice view “Whether the concessionaire is to raise RM100 million or RM450 million as claimed by Teng, is a part of the commercial aspects of this agreement and the former is solely responsible for any business risks involved,” he said.

“This concessionaire is willing to take the risk of putting up the sPICE and recover its investment from the property development,” he added.

He urged those claiming that the state and MPPP granted the developer too many favours, or were involved in corruption and malpractice, to lodge reports with the MACC and police for a full-scale investigation as “we have nothing to hide”.

“For the state and MPPP, we are responding to the needs of Penang for an international convention and exhibition centre, which would drive economic growth in the state.

“We believe this initiative will drive Penang forward and not backward. The granting of  concession rights by the state and MPPP is to allow the project to be a winner, not a loser,” he added.