The influx of 17,000 tourists via five international cruises to Penang on March 13 has sparked a row between the state government and Penang Port Commission (PPC).

The new PPC chairperson, Tan Teik Cheng, came under fire from Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for not “dealing intelligently” with the issue.

PPC oversees the iconic Swettenham Pier, which has become the focus of the row between the two parties.

Lim has accused the state MCA chairperson for "ignoring" a tripartite deal agreed between the Penang government, former PPC chairperson Dr Chua Soi Lek, and the developer appointed to expand the pier.

“Sometimes I do not know if he (Tan) has to go back to school to learn. I feel the new PPC chairperson must do his homework and know what were the past issues,” DAP secretary-general said at a press conference today.

“Let's deal with this intelligently. We (Lim and Chua) have our differences but the fact is, when we have intelligent people discussing an issue, we can come to an agreement.

“Do not make statements that show you need to go back to school to learn some more,” Lim (photo) added.

Yesterday, Tan said that a RM200 million proposal to expand Swettenham Pier was already in place.

But the current Swettenham Pier only has two dockyards, which is insufficient to cope with the increasing tourist demand.

According to state executive councillor Danny Law, Penang will see 17,000 tourists in five international cruises to the island on March 13.

“However, Law failed to understand the problem facing the pier,” Tan had said.

Tan lamented that the Penang government has yet to grant the land title to PPC to expand Swettenham Pier.

Currently, the PPC only has temporary occupation licenses for two plots of land, to be renewed twice annually.

“Without the land title, we couldn't implement any of our plans and even face problems in appointing a contractor to manage the Swettenham Pier,” Tan had said during a press conference.

'Land belongs to Penang government'

Lim explained that a court ruling in 2014 has ruled that the plot of land where the pier is situated belongs to the Penang government.

The court had also ordered PPC to pay the Penang government RM25,000 in costs, he recalled.

Lim said Penang held its rights to the land so that it can give its views in the development of the pier, to ensure the project is successful.

He cited the case of the RM43 million Tanjung City Marina project in 2005, which failed.

“The project is now buried under the sea with no hope of revival, but since it is a federal project, we don’t want to interfere,” he said.

Lim urged Tan to state how the ownership of the land by the state at the Swettenham pier affects its expansion programme.

He told Tan to explain why he has ignored a previous agreement reached between the state government and Chua to develop the pier.

“We should not allow political differences to colour our perception until when you look at the Penang port, you can feel the hatred from the new chairperson,” Lim said.

“That he wants to extract political vengeance, more than wanting to see the port succeeding."

Lim said the previous chairperson even called for an open tender for a developer to develop the site.

He asked if Tan had complied with the state’s open tender condition when he talked about the RM200 million expansion plan for the pier.

Lim said Tan had not communicated with the state government on the plan, but has instead put the blame on the latter for not being able to carry out its project.

He said he is no longer interested in meeting Tan to discuss plans for the pier.

“We rather speak directly to Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai. We hope he can be serious and deal with this issue intelligently.

“Don’t bully the state government by talking about the land which belongs to the state,” Lim added.