By : Sharanjit Singh
Datuk Patrick Lim leaving the Penang Island Municipal Council building after a closed-door meeting with residents who had raised queries about the project.
Datuk Patrick Lim leaving the Penang Island Municipal Council building after a closed-door meeting with residents who had raised queries about the project.
GEORGE TOWN: The RM25 billion Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project will abide by all guidelines, requirements and by-laws.
Equine Capital Bhd executive chairman Datuk Patrick Lim, who gave the assurance, said whatever concerns raised about the project by residents would be dealt in a systematic and proper manner.
He said the company had been transparent about the project right from the time it bought the Penang Turf Club land in 2002.
“I know that the PGCC is one of the most scrutinised projects and we have gone through every step of due process and further.
“We have nothing to hide and everything is on show. It is not like we are building a waste treatment or a nuclear plant at the PGCC,” he said.
Lim also allayed fears about the density of the PGCC project and said the company had engaged consultants to address the issue.
“We hear, understand and respect the concerns that have been raised.
“We will address them and not take the easy way out … This is our commitment,” he said, adding that the infrastructure and public amenities at the PGCC would be put in place from the beginning to deal with the density issue.
On concerns that many old trees in Jalan Scotland would have to be felled, Lim said he was mindful of Penangites’ love for trees and everything would be done to preserve them.
“We have planned for the expansion of the road in such a way that it will cut into our land to avoid felling the trees,” he said.
Lim was speaking after attending a two-hour closed-door meeting with some 16 representatives from the Residents Association of Jesselton (RAJ) and Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) president Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman.
The meeting was arranged following concerns raised by the residents, who would be directly affected by the project which will be right at their doorsteps.
Representatives from several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) here, including those from the Consumers Association of Penang, Penang Heritage Trust and Malaysian Nature Society, had also turned up at the MPPP building but did not attend the meeting.
The NGO representatives claimed that the project was being steamrolled through and imposed on Penangites without an open public consultation.
RAJ secretary Datuk Kee Phaik Cheen said while residents did not object to development, questions were being raised about the scale of the PGCC development.
The PGCC project will be carried out by Equine’s associate company, Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd.
It is being marketed as one of the world’s first zero-carbon cities where pollution will be kept to a minimum. The site will contain two iconic towers.
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