The Penang Public Accounts Committee (PAC) head Jagdeep Singh Deo has rejected suggestions that there could be a conflict of interest if he were to head the on-going inquiry into the ‘Kings of Tennis’ debacle due to his position as the Penang Tourism Council (PTC) deputy chairperson.

Although PTC endorsed the cancelled tournament as a state sports tourism event, Jagdeep said it was not an official state project.

Thus, neither was a working committee set up to oversee the implementation of the event nor was the programme discussed in any PTC meetings.

"The event was once mentioned in a PTC meeting as an imminent event. It was endorsed to give the event state recognition.

pac probe king of tennis 151108 jagdeep "PTC never held any discussions or made decisions on the event because it was a fully private initiative, not a state project," said Jagdeep after presiding over the first inquiry session into the tennis debacle yesterday.

The inquiry lasted two and a half hours at the Penang legislative assembly building in Georgetown.

Several legislators, who declined to be named, have privately raised concerns that Jagdeep’s role in the inquiry and PTC could lead to a conflict of interests.

"There is no conflict of interests at all because I was never involved in any decision making process for the tournament," Jagdeep told Malaysiakini .

The PAC inquest was arranged after the Pakatan Rakyat state government and local municipality came under fire for a perceived lack of competency following the tournament’s cancellation.

The prestigious tennis event was scheduled to take place between Nov 14 and 17 in a makeshift grass court and 5,000-seat stadium in the Esplanade field and was to feature tennis greats like John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and James Blake.

Apart from Jagdeep, others in the nine-legislator PAC are Pulau Tikus’ Koay Teng Hai, Pantai Jerejak’s Sim Tze Tzin, Sungai Bakap’s Maktar Shapee, and Permatang Pasir’s Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman (all from Pakatan Rakyat), Teluk Bahang’s Dr Hilmi Yahaya, Bayan Lepas’ Syed Ameruddin Syed Ahmad, Pulau Betong’s Muhammad Farid Saad and Seberang Jaya’s Ariff Shah Omar Shah (all from Umno).

Dr Hilmi did not attend the session yesterday as he is down with the flu while Hamdan skipped the first hearing as he is in Mecca performing the haj.

The remaining seven-person PAC called up three Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) officials – president Zainal Rahim Seman, secretary Tan Cheng Chui and community service department director Mohamad Ismail Ibrahim, to assist in their inquiry.

"They were co-operative and assisted effectively in our in-depth inquiry," said Jagdeep.

State executive councillor Danny Law Heng Kiang, who oversees the tourism development, culture, arts and heritage portfolios and event organiser Arianna Teoh will attend the next session of the PAC on Nov 27.

Event organiser issued notice

Meanwhile, the MPPP has issued a 14-day notice dated Nov 14 to Teoh’s company - Arianna Events Management Sdn Bhd - ordering it to dismantle the makeshift stadium and restore the damaged Esplanade field to its original condition.

pac probe king of tennis 151108 tennis court It’s learnt that the repair works could cost some RM500,000. Prior to the fiasco, the field underwent repair works worth RM800,000.

If Teoh’s company fails to carry out the repair works by Nov 28, the council will carry out the repair works and bill her company for it. The bill will include the RM200,000 rental for the field, compensation for loss of parking and hawking businesses in Esplanade and general damages, estimated to total nearly RM800,000.

Although Teoh said her company would carry out the repair works, Zainal wants her to pledge her commitment with an official written reply to MPPP by next Friday.

Once it has wrapped up its inquiry, the PAC will submit a report on its findings to the House and make recommendations on actions and rectifications to be undertaken by relevant bodies to resolve the controversy and prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.