KUALA LUMPUR – The Penang Development Corporation (PDC) has made amendments to all offer letters to include clauses on company stock changes prior to signing any agreements, following the contentious equity structure of Umech Land Sdn Bhd.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (Padang Kota-PH) said that the amendments will prevent the same issue from recurring.
Although the Umech Land deal involving PDC land in Byram fell through, he reiterated that the selection process was thorough and transparent, as well as without weaknesses or errors.
He told the Penang Legislative Assembly today that the issue arose when PDC was not notified of the change in Umech Land’s equity structure that took place prior to the signing of the agreement.
“In the case of Umech, sales were conducted through direct negotiation, a result of promotional efforts undertaken by PDC at Expo Dubai 2020. The Expo Dubai 2020 took place from January 16 to 23, 2022.
“This company stood as the sole entity demonstrating a sincere interest in conducting business in Penang. Before participating in Expo Dubai 2020, announcements and promotions regarding the upcoming projects had been made.
“These projects had also received approval from the state executive council (exco) meeting and the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) Board,” Chow was quoted as saying by Buletin Mutiara.
He was replying to an oral question by Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubuk-PH), who also asked for a chronology of the Byram land sale for the development of Batu Kawan Industrial Park 2 (BKIP2).
Lee had brought up the reserved price of RM26.53 per sq ft that had been subjected to criticism.
In response, Chow said the reserved price was approved by PDC’s board of directors, taking into consideration overhead cost, infrastructure cost, and loan interest.
Last month, the PDC board, which is chaired by Chow, called off the joint venture with Sunway-owned Umech Land Sdn Bhd amid criticism over the Byram land deal.
In a statement on October 17, PDC cited that major changes to Umech Land’s equity structure, which led to a change in the controlling stakeholder, were not approved by PDC and could not be accepted by the PDC board.
Previously, former deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy urged Chow to suspend the sale of PDC’s 226.22ha of land in Byram, near the Pulau Burung landfill site in the BKIP2 industrial park.
Ramasamy had said 70% of Umech Land shares were acquired by Sunway Bhd a few days before the sale of the land and that negotiations for the deal were with Umech Construction.
The Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce also reportedly questioned the state for awarding the project through direct negotiations. – November 20, 2023
