Penang Watch

Penang urged to review RM1.2b Gurney project
By : Audrey Dermawan

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) has reiterated its call to the new state government to urgently review the controversial RM1.2 billion Gurney Paragon project at Gurney Drive.
Critics of the massive commercial development project believe that it will have a negative impact on the area, with PHT president Dr Choong Sim Poey claiming that Gurney Paragon had been approved by the Penang Island Municipal Council in bad faith.

Dr Choong claimed that the project managed to gain the council's approval in spite of satisfying only the minimal requirements of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976, and challenged the council to defend its actions.

He also slammed the previous administration's handling of the matter. He added that he wrote to chief minister Lim Guan Eng and state Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow on the matter last month, but has yet to receive any reply.

"I am left with no choice but to raise the matter in the court of public opinion. I want the people to judge for themselves the council's actions.
"It is PHT's hope that the new state government will urgently review the whole project in the interest of the people," he told reporters at PHT's office here yesterday.

Dr Choong said he had information on why the council granted the developer, Hunza Properties (Penang) Sdn Bhd, the approval in December 2006.

He said PHT had obtained private and confidential documents on the project when it assisted an affected resident who had wanted to bring the matter to the Appeals Board last year.

However, as the resident has since retracted his case, PHT was left with no choice but to make details of the approval public, he said.

"We are talking about a development which is two-and-a-half times the size of the Komtar complex."

When it granted the approval, the council had maintained that its objective in city planning was to improve the quality of life for islanders while ensuring sustainable development.

The council had also declared that it had never acted for the benefit of the developer only and maintained that it had met the requirement of the Act to conduct a public hearing.

As for concerns voiced by some quarters that the project will exacerbate the area's traffic situation, the council reasoned that traffic congestion in Gurney Drive can be overcome with the implementation of the Penang Outer Ring Road and the imposition of a mass transit system, presumably the light monorail transit system.

"But I want to stress here that the Finance Ministry had recently announced that neither of the projects has reached the approval stage. Can a major building development be given approval based on proposed traffic infrastructure which have not even reached approval stage?" he said.

In short, Dr Choong claimed that the massive development project would be an unmitigated disaster for George Town.

The Gurney Paragon project consists of two 43-storey service apartment towers, a 37-storey business tower and other commercial buildings.

Piling work started at the project site towards the end of last year.

Friday May 16, 2008(Star)
PHT: No logic in approval of project
By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG

THE Penang Municipal Council approved the billion-ringgit Gurney Paragon project without knowing if the traffic dispersal system in the area would be in place, according to Penang Heritage Trust (PHT).

PHT chairman Dr Choong Sim Poey who claimed this, added this was because the state’s Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) and the monorail projects were still pending.

“There is no logic at all in the approval,” he told a press conference in Penang yesterday.

The Gurney Paragon project is a mixed integrated development by Hunza Properties (Penang) Sdn Bhd that consists of two 43-storey ser-vice apartment towers, a 37-storey business tower and other commer-cial buildings.
Under scrutiny: Dr Choong showing a sketch of the Gurney Paragon project.

Dr Choong said that when the matter was brought to the state Planning Appeals Board earlier this year, the council responded that traffic congestion in the area could be overcome with the implementation of the PORR and a mass transit system as well as modification to the traffic system.

“The Ministry of Finance recently announced that the PORR and monorail projects have not reached the approval stage,” he said.

He claimed the modifications would need a massive restructuring of the road systems in the vicinity that would disrupt traffic.

Dr Choong also said that the council maintained that it was not required under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 to consider the views of NGOs, but only the views of those living within a 20m radius of the project’s boundary.

He said the Planning Appeals Board dismissed the case in March when the sole complainant representing 73 affected residents in the area pulled out.

Dr Choong said the Act was first implemented over 30 years ago when there was no development of this size affecting hundreds of people around the area.

“This project is 2.5 times the size of Komtar. Even when Komtar was built, a comprehensive study of the whole area was done and it was not limited to the 20m radius,” he added.

While he felt that the Act should be amended, he said the council was entitled to use its discretion.

Dr Choong said he wrote to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and state Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow seeking a review of the planning permis-sion.

On March 24, Lim said the state would get views from all quarters, and would review the project if there were “justifiable grounds”.

When contacted, council president Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman declined to comment, saying that the state government was aware of the situation and that the case had gone through the Planning Appeals Board.

Hunza Properties Bhd executive chairman Datuk Khor Teng Tong declined to comment, saying he would leave the matter to the authorities.