Unfounded and reckless - that's the charge Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng hurled against the accusation of double standards in declassifying the official minutes on the controversial seafront land conversion in Georgetown's heritage zone.

His response came in the wake of the Gerakan and Umno's attacks aimed at the state's declassification move.

The state exco had unanimously agreed yesterday to declassify the minutes detailing the seafront land conversion from leasehold to freehold.

NONE Lim (left) said in a statement that it was the unanimous decision of the state executive council to release the minutes which include minutes of the state Land Committee and Penang Development Corporation (PDC) meetings pertaining to the conversion of 3.5 acres of seafront land in Lebuh Farquhar.

The seafront land, adjacent to the E & O Hotel, has been earmarked a for a luxurious condominiums project by PHH Heritage Hotel Sdn Bhd.

PHH is jointly owned by PDC (49 percent) and YTL Hotels & Properties Sdn Bhd (51 percent).

However, only parts of the minutes would be disclosed with the focus on the decision taken to approve the conversion and reasons to justify it.

The minutes on comments, discussions and deliberations among the state executive council, land committee and PDC board members during the decision-making process however, will not be revealed, Lim had said.

NONE "PHH is a joint venture between the PDC and YTL Hotels & Properties Sdn Bhd... all decisions (on the declassification) of the minutes of executive meetings and the Land Committee was decided and agreed upon unanimously without objection," he said.

According to Lim, former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon had agreed on Jan 18, 2007 in principal to change the plot of land from leasehold and to freehold for PHH on condition that it is developed for "residential and business purposes only".

Lim had come under attack from various quarters for decision, perceiving it to be contradictory to the earlier decision to declassify minutes of the Kampung Buah Pala controversial land deal.

In that declassification, the state government had released minutes of the previous BN administration, disclosing publicly held discussions and deliberations among then state exco members, reasons and decisions made to alienate the village land to the civil society cooperative society - Koperasi Pegawai Pegawai Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang Bhd.

However, Lim's did not reveal minutes of his administration on Kampung Buah Pala' land deal and said that it was because his government did not have any hand in the matter and all decisions were made by the previous BN government.

Kampung Buah Pala, once known as Tamil High Chaparral, was demolished and flattened in September to pave way for a lucrative condominium project undertaken jointly by the cooperative and Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd.

Lim said he did not sign any document on Kampung Buah Pala as everything was “already signed away” by the previous BN administration.

“The sale of Kampung Buah Pala land, issuance of development order and building approvals by MPPP were all given by the previous state governmen,” said the chief minister’s press secretary Cheong Yin Fan.

“That is why Lim had said that revealing the minutes of decisions on Kampung Buah Pala by Pakatan would be just like a blank page as there was nothing to be revealed in the Pakatan state exco minutes.”

He said that the state government has improved on “BN‘s miserable offer of a RM 75,000 flat to the (Buah Pala) residents with Pakatan’s offer of a RM 600,000 double-storey terrace house – the highest offer in Malaysian history.”

Three additional conditions set by Pakatan

According to Lim, the controversial seafront project had been abandoned since YTL presented its development plans in August last year.

"This has attracted the attention of Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) and they asked about the circumstances of this project as it's located in the buffer zone of the heritage site.

"By restoring the project (we are able to) restore the progress and to increase returns for the local government and MPPP (Penang Island Municipal Council).

"(And) I had held several consultations with all parties, including the developer, so the interest of the people and the state government will not be jeopardised," said Lim.

As for the agreement, Lim said three additional conditions have been set which are:

  • The height of buildings should follow the guidelines of Unesco's heritage and not exceed five floors;
  • All conditions for the change of the leasehold and premium payments for the freehold on the property must be borne by the YTL H & P; and,
  • Increase the equity held by PDC by one percent from 49 percent to 50 percent, where costs would be borne by YTL H & P.

Lim said Penang Umno and the BN are still operating within the old-fashioned mentality of the former to measure the performance of the Pakatan government.

He added that the former government's rampant abuse of power is why it is assumed that the Pakatan government will behave in a similar mode.

"Penang state government practices CAT (Competency, Accountability and Transparency) to produce a clean and honest administration, unlike BN which still does not understand the differences that separate the truth from falsehood, right from wrong and dishonesty," he said.