S P Setia awarded RM300m PICC job

 Accountability, Development issues, People's Park/PGCC, Sustainable development  93 Responses »
Jan 152011
 

Latest: It has been announced late this morning that the PICC project has been awarded to Eco Meridean Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of S P Setia Bhd, and the project will now be dubbed ‘Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition (sPICE) Centre’. The work, which involves upgrading the existing Pisa facilities as well, will reportedly cost “at least” RM300 million (or more?) using a Build-Operate-Transfer model. According to my source, the tender proposal had expected the state to provide RM50 million in funding. But we now hear that that the burden of coughing up these funds will fall on MPPP (i.e. Penang rate-payers), which is already hard-pressed for funds to upgrade basic public amenities such as public markets and pavements. Has the RM50 million expenditure been approved in a full council meeting of the MPPP? Was it even on the agenda of the last full council meeting of the MPPP? [Read more]

Starving Fox put to pasture

 People's Park/PGCC  17 Responses »
Jan 062011
 

Public relations firm Fox Communications Sdn Bhd is pulling down its shutters for good, according to BFM Radio this morning, a development confirmed by another press report. The company, whose prime movers were former NST group editor Brendan Pereira and former Star group chief editor Wong Sulong, flourished under the Abdullah Badawi administration. The firm landed plum jobs such as the Northern Corridor project launch. Its portfolio of high-profile clients included Sime Darby, Realmild and Patrick ‘Badawi’ Lim’s ill-fated Penang Global City Centre project. In the case of the PGCC, the firm audaciously tried to convince Penangites that the mammoth project on the Penang Turf Club land was ‘green’ and right for Penang: Abdullah Badawi, Koh Tsu Koon and Patrick Lim even appeared together at the PGCC launch. But a concerted anti-PGCC civil society campaign torpedoed Fox’s slick public relations blitz in the media.

From ‘Stop PGCC’ to ‘Stop PICC’

 Accountability, Development issues, People's Park/PGCC  20 Responses »
Dec 172010
 

The state government is pushing ahead with the controversial Penang International Convention Centre. Now who is going to be the lucky developer and main contractor? See a Sin Chew report here. In the interest of transparency, FOI etc and as public money is involved, the state government must provide us with the full details of the project, the full cost, the cost to the state/public, and the tender details. The full project value under the Build-Operate-Transfer scheme (see my earlier blog post – PICC and the risks of BOT) may end up much more than the RM50 million subsidy figure mentioned earlier (although the state had budgeted RM50 million for its share of the cost). And if the BOT financial projections fail to materialise, guess who could end up subsidising the PICC even further? Politicians just love these big projects whose worth to the ordinary person on the street is, [Read more]

RFPs to benefit moneyed class?

 Development issues, Malaysian finance/business, People's Park/PGCC  8 Responses »
Nov 022010
 
RFPs to benefit moneyed class?

The state government has issued a flurry of requests for proposals to develop certain sites – but would this mean surrendering to the whims of high-end developers and pandering to the life-style of the moneyed class? View Larger Map Requests for proposals have been issued for the following: 62-acre reclaimed site (with another 35 acres in the future) in Bayan Mutiara, comprising prestigious offices, specialist medical facilities (private hospitals?), commercial blocks, residential enclaves, retail and public spaces. This was supposed to be Gerakan’s mini-Putrajaya site in the days when it was dreaming and had illusions of grandeur. Is medical tourism really a priority for the people? Who benefits? Don’t we have enough private hospitals? What about decent low-income housing here? We always claim there is not enough land for affordable housing. What about this space? What about a large public park and more green spaces? the controversial Penang International Convention [Read more]

Penang Turf Club: After PGCC, this…

 Arts, culture and sports, Development issues, Environment, Malaysian finance/business, People's Park/PGCC  29 Responses »
Oct 082010
 

Reports have surfaced that the Penang Turf Club has called for bids to buy or develop 23ha of its 104ha plot of land. The Edge reported that E & O Bhd said it had submitted a bid. The NST said speculation has it the call had attracted proposals from major developers such as E & O, SP Setia Bhd, IJM Land Bhd and Mah Sing Group Bhd. Last October, another report said the Turf Club was going ahead with a RM30 million project to build 25 bungalows  which it hoped would generate close to RM2 million annually in rental income. The bungalows were to be built on 5.6 acres of land on the fringe of the racecourse close to Jesselton. The latest news about the 23ha suggests that the Turf Club is increasing looking at property development. Over the years, horse-racing has been losing its appeal as a spectator sport. [Read more]

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