Air Putih assemblyman Lim Guan Eng has accused the Penang state government of directly awarding an additional 70 acres of sea reclamation land off Karpal Singh Drive, bypassing the open-tender process.
Lim pointed out that the extra 70 acres was not mentioned in the original Joint Development Agreement (JDA) signed on 21 February 2020 between the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and PLB Engineering Bhd.
The JDA covered the Jelutong landfill rehabilitation and reclamation project, valued at around RM1 billion. But the state executive council later approved the expanded 70-acre component on 25 August 2021, 18 months after the original deal was inked.
“The failure to mention the additional 70 acres of sea reclamation in the JDA clearly exposes the fact that this reclamation project was not awarded through the open-tender RFP process,” Lim said.
He challenged Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and PDC to point to any clause in the JDA that references the extra land.
“If they cannot, because no such clause exists, then it is clear that the additional 70 acres were not awarded through an open tender but were instead directly awarded by the Penang state exco on August 25, 2021,” he said.
Lim estimated the reclaimed land could be worth up to RM1.8 billion, based on a minimum of RM600 per square foot.
He also questioned a state exco amendment to the payment terms for a RM20 million project management fee owed by PLB Engineering to PDC. The original terms complied with the open-tender process. The amended terms allow repayment in annual RM5 million instalments.
The project has hit repeated regulatory hurdles. The Department of Environment (DOE) has rejected the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) application five times, with the latest rejection coming in March 2026.
Critics have raised concerns about the project’s proximity to the Middle Bank marine sanctuary, which houses the only known seagrass bed in the Straits of Malacca and hundreds of marine species.
Chief Minister Chow said the state government is still considering an extension of time request for the project and is awaiting a presentation from PDC.
Source: Malay Mail
