Penang is hoping to expand the Swettenham Pier International Cruise Terminal together with Penang Port Commission (PPC), despite refusing to sell the land to the port commission. Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government has rejected PPC’s application to buy the land and returned the premium paid for the land. “We didn’t want to sell the land because we want to protect the state government’s interest,” he told a press conference at his office today. However, the state government wants to grow the cruise industry and hopes to collaborate with PPC on expanding the terminal. PPC, a federal government regulatory body that manages and maintains all port facilities and services in Penang, applied to purchase the land and paid a premium of over RM10 million for it. Lim said the state government returned the premium and rejected the offer. Last year, PPC challenged the state government’s rejection in court but lost the case so the land, consisting of two sites, still belongs to the state government. PPC had filed an appeal against the decision but withdrew the appeal on November 20 this year. The sites, consisting of the main terminal building and the berths, were originally leased to PPC but the lease ended on January 1, 2013. “We want to have more berths to expand the cruise industry so we are willing to co-operate with PPC to expand it,” Lim said. He is also contacting the tourism ministry to see how it can help in the proposed expansion. The state government will also be discussing the rental of the land with PPC. The state executive councillor in charge of public works, utilities and transport Lim Hock Seng and the state secretary Datuk Farizab Darus, who both sit on the PPC board, will be representing the state in discussions with PPC on it paying rental for use of the land and the proposed expansion. Guan Eng said the state government will let PPC continue operations of the terminal as the cruise industry is big business. “They have not paid any rental for the land so we will need to come up with some sort of understanding on rental to generate revenue,” he said.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 08:10:07 +0000
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