Shareholders of the proposed Bayan Bay Marina Yacht Club in Penang will know the fate of their membership on Thursday when the High Court decides on whether or not to sanction an application by a developer for a "scheme of arrangement" to revive the stalled Bayan Bay development project.

A shareholders' liaison committee has filed an intervening petition to be heard as a rightful party to application filed by Bayan Bay Development Sdn Bhd.

At a press conference here yesterday, committee spokesperson Tan Tcheow Wei urged all 292 exclusive membership shareholders to turn up at the court on Thursday where the High Court is scheduled to hear both applications and decide on several pertaining issues.

The presiding judge would have to decide whether or not to sanction the scheme to develop the stalled Bayan Bay Site A Package 1B5 project without the proposed Marina Yacht Club, order the developer to include the club in the scheme or sanction the scheme without the club and order the developer to fully refund the paid-up membership fees of RM35,000 per person to the shareholders.

The liaison committee filed an intervening petition in February to object the Bayan Bay Development's application, which was filed late last year to obtain court sanction on the scheme of arrangement.

Technical, financial problems

Under the proposed scheme, Bayan Bay Development Sdn Bhd would give the development rights to CP Landmark Sdn Bhd under Section 176 of the Companies Act 1965.

CP Landmark would take over the debts of Bayan Bay Development by injecting RM70 million initially and build the stalled RM270 million Bayan Bay Megamall project within 24 months with a total outlay of RM99.1 million.

The scheme was agreed upon during a court-convened meeting on last Oct 29 and Bayan Bay Development filed an application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Nov 21 for a court sanction.

The five-storey mega mall project, which has been 60 percent completed, was launched in 1996 and targetted to be ready by 1999.

However, the project was halted in 1998 due to technical problems and financial crisis faced by Bayan Bay Development, a joint venture between the Kuala Lunpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) main board property group Anson Perdana Berhad (70 percent) and the Penang Development Corporation or PDC (30 percent).

PDC chairperson is Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

Full refund

The mega mall was originally part of a multi-billion-ringgit mega development encompassing a marina waterfront, which includes the club, a theme park, resort hotels and condominiums.

After failed negotiations with seven companies between 1998 and 2003, last April, Bayan Bay Development successfully negotiated with CP Landmark, a subsidiary of CP (SEA) Sdn Bhd, to revive and take over the mega mall and other related Bayan Bay development projects.

However, when the Bayan Bay Development filed in an application for court sanction, only then it became a public knowledge that the marina club would be omitted from the revival scheme.

The upset shareholders then filed in their petition. What angered the shareholders the most was Bayan Bay Development's offer to refund only RM9,000 of the RM35,000 per person membership fees, which they had already paid, to offset their loss.

"If the developer cannot build the marina club, then it should refund us fully. It's our hard-earned money," said Tan.

Bayan Bay mega project was planned to develop a new administrative capital and tourism hub for Penang on a reclaimed land along the southeastern coastal strip of the island.

On Thursday, not only the club shareholders, but also all Penangites, will know whether the far behind-schedule mega township project would resume without any more obstacles.

ATHI VEERANGGAN is malaysiakini 's Penang-based stringer.