Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has continued to justify the ‘no open tender’ requirement for the Island Hospital expansion project on Peel Avenue.

His opponents have criticised the transaction, as not complying with Penang’s 'Competency, Accountability and Transparency' (CAT) principles.

But Lim insisted that Penang practises an open tender system, as his administration has conducted RM35 billion worth of projects via the system since 2008.

Describing the Island Hospital expansion project as an “economic game changer”, Lim said the RM156 million, 99-year lease of state land to the hospital will bring high-value investment of RM2 billion.

“For potential economic game changers, direct negotiation is the norm,” Lim said at a press conference after attending the opening of the first meeting of the fifth term of the Penang legislative assembly.

Economic game changers

Lim said that the Island Hospital expansion project was similar to getting international firms like Ikea to come to Batu Kawan, or multinational companies, where the deal was also finalised via direct negotiations.

He also likened the situation to that of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak meeting executive chairperson of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, who is also digital economy adviser to the Malaysian government.

“Economic game changers set the terms and conditions, not us,” Lim quipped.

He told his critics to compare this RM156 million lease to the RM35 billion worth of open tenders conducted by Penang, or the RM2 billion investment to build the Island Hospital or the RM7 billion worth of economic value generated for Penang through this expansion project.

The RM2 billion to expand the hospital, he added, is expected to be invested by a foreign investor.

“The project, which will build the largest private hospital in Malaysia, with 1,000 beds, is an economic game changer, that would help to establish Penang as a medical city,” said the DAP secretary-general.

“It will create 2,000 high value jobs, reverse brain drain by attracting back doctors, nurses and specialists from overseas and generate an economic value of RM7 billion,” he added.

He said this when refuting a report from The Star today which quoted him as saying that building affordable housing on the land which was leased for the project “doesn’t make sense”.

Lim denied the quote, saying he had remarked instead that building affordable housing alone on the land was not enough without creating job opportunities for people.