Story by Chan Lilian
TWO legal experts have consented to assist the state government when the judicial review is argued in the High Court in what is expected to be the case of the century for planning law in Malaysia.
“Prof. Gurdial Singh Nijar and Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan will assist the Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang (MBPP) to avoid paying huge compensation for rejecting development for land above 76m ( 250 ft) or special projects that were approved by the previous government,” Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced on Feb 26.
Ambiga was former Bar Council chairman while Gurdial is Universiti Malaya Law Professor.
This follows the latest decision in Jan made by Datuk Yeo Yang Poh, the chairman of the Appeals Board, established under the Town & Country Planning Act, on the Sunway Bhd case.
The Appeals Board indicated that MBPP did not need to approve the development order sought by Sunway Bhd for their land above 76 metres that was allowed development of either six units per acre or 15 units per acre by the previous government. And that compensation need not be paid by MBPP for rejecting such special projects from landowners.
However, the Appeals Board decision can be subject to judicial review by the High Court.
Sunway Bhd and other landowners affected by this decision have 90 days to do so.
“Sunway Bhd has communicated to me of their intention to do so and may seek compensation, should the Appeals Board decision be affirmed by the High Court.,” Lim said.
This gives MBPP an opportunity to overturn the special projects approved by the previous state government without paying financial compensation.
Lim also highlighted two recent High Court cases which revealed the potentially huge compensation payout faced by the present Penang state government involving hundreds of millions of ringgit due to failures of the previous BN state government.
“The two recent cases involve one in Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai (MPSP) in 1994 known as the NEG Engineering Sdn Bhd case involving a huge RM243 million claim whilst the second one is against the state government on a land acquisition matter in 1992 known as the Bagan Serai Housing Estate Sdn Bhd case on the present Megamall complex site in Prai, Seberang Perai.
“MPSP was fortunate to win the NEG Engineering Sdn Bhd case which involved an active politician who was a leader in the previous government, but there is a possibility that they may appeal. Reports have also been filed by MPSP to the police and Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC),” Lim said.
“Unfortunately the Penang state government lost the second case, the Megamall case, and is appealing to the Court of Appeal involving potential compensation that could be similar to NEG Engineering Sdn Bhd. This Megamall case is similar to the state government losing another land matter in Bukit Mertajam due to an error by the previous state government, resulting in compensation of RM29.4 million to Tang Hak Ju. The state government was forced to pay RM14.7 million and is still trying to reclaim back the sum in court,” Lim added.
MBPP also had to pay RM20 million compensation to Boustead Holdings Bhd to reduce the height of its hotel from 12 storeys approved by the previous government to five storeys.
This RM20 million payment was made in exchange for reducing the height of the building by seven storeys to comply with the promise made to Unesco, but not fulfilled by the previous government, that all buildings in the George Town heritage area would not exceed five storeys or 18 meters.
“The present Penang state government lives in daily fear and nightmare of facing huge compensation payouts due to the failures of the previous BN state government that can bankrupt the state. When compensation was paid by the state government, no one offered or raised a single sen to assist us despite sweet promises made by some NGOs. The threat of bankruptcy is real. For this reason, the Penang state government has unwillingly acceded to all previous rulings made by the BN state government to avoid huge compensation payout that can bankrupt Penang,” Lim said.
“One of the potential threats is compensation claims by landowners for development above 76 metres which were approved as special projects by the previous state government, which may run up to billions of ringgit.,” Lim said.
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