No Turf Club in Batu Kawan

The Edge newspaper reported the following on 6 October 2009 :-

Lim: No new turf club in Penang

Written by Regina William
Tuesday, 06 October 2009 15:22

GEORGE TOWN: There will not be any equestrian centre and turf club in Batu Kawan as the existing turf club along Jalan Batu Gantong is still in operation, says Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Lim said there will only be one turf club in Penang and since the agreement between the Penang Turf Club (PTC) and Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, which had proposed to build the new turf club in Batu Kawan had failed to take off, it was the end of the matter.

"Due to the dispute between both parties and since there was no new turf club built, the present turf club will remain where it is and there will not be another site in Batu Kawan for the same purpose," Lim said at a press conference.

He said negotiations were currently underway between the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and Abad Naluri on the fate of its 750 acres of land in Batu Kawan, with 300 acres slated for the equestrian and turf club.

Abad Naluri signed an agreement with the PTC in 2004 and paid an advance of RM10 million to acquire the land in Batu Gantong for RM488 million.As part of the deal, the company was supposed to build a race course in Batu Kawan for RM375 million and hand it over to PTC by 2007. The balance would be paid in cash to the club.

Abad Naluri was even given an extension of two years to complete the project after the initial deadline was not met.

However, following the new state government taking over after the March 8, 2008 general election, the proposed RM25 billion Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project failed to take off and suffered a natural death.

Following a change in the management of Abad Naluri last year, Lim said new negotiations have commenced between the state government and the PDC.

It is learnt that while the sales and purchase agreement for the equestrian and turf club had been signed between the PDC and Abad Naluri a few years ago, no money has changed hands.

Since the new management takeover of Abad Naluri, even though the time frame offered to the company to pay have ended, it has been reopened again for renegotiation.

The pre-condition for the use of land, located next to the Penang Second Crossing, was solely for an equestrian centre and turf club. The fate of the proposed turf club land was also being renegotiated.

"The agreement for the land was signed by the previous state administration but we are now renegotiating with Abad Naluri including the pricing and location of the land."

The state government has plans to redesign and integrate the Batu Kawan township so there will be some changes and it may not necessarily be the same site that had earlier been agreed upon," he added.

Checks at the site in Batu Kawan also revealed that Phase One of the housing development project undertaken by Abad Naluri had also stopped despite being 80% to 90% completed

Second Penang Bridge Delay

The following article appeared in Bernama website on 11 October 2009 :-

October 11, 2009 17:08 PM
Penang CM Disappointed Over Second Bridge DelayBy: Ramjit-->
PENANG, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is disappointed with the delay in completion of the Second Penang Bridge by a year.

Lim said the delay was not in line with the "1 Malaysia, People First, Performance Now" concept espoused by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and also against the interest of the people of Penang.

Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, was speaking to reporters after opening the party state convention, here, on Sunday.

It was reported that factors such as the re-designing of the bridge had caused the completion of the RM4.3 billion bridge which was expected to be completed by 2012, to be delayed by a year to 2013.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop was quoted as saying that the scheduled progress of the bridge should be 20 per cent now but was only seven per cent.

However, Lim said action should be taken against any party that had caused the delay of the bridge construction.

The 26km Second Penang Bridge will link Batu Maung on the island to Batu Kawan on the mainland.

The completion of the project is expected to boost the state's economy and improve the transportation service.The project is being jointly built by UEM Builders and China Harbour Engineering.-- BERNAMA

Well, I am sure purchasers of Dedaun bungalow plots and bungalows aren't happy either.

This is going to be opposite Dedaun ?

From PDC' Property's website, they have launched Desa Seroja right opposite Dedaun. It is a low medium cost terrace house project. Take a look at it.

What do you think ?