The chief minister, Lim Guan Eng, said it was UDA Holdings who had effective control of Tropical Island Resort Sdn Bhd, which formerly operated a resort on Pulau Jerejak, off the south-east cost of Penang island.
Lim said UDA had 51 per cent majority control and was the effective owner of the resort company, with the state corporation as its partner. PDC could not do anything without UDA’s consent, he said, according to Bernama.
The state government has come under fire after PDC announced it had agreed to sell its 49 per cent stake in the resort company to Q Islands Development Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Ideal Property Development Sdn Bhd, a major property developer in Penang.
UDA and Ideal have announced plans to build four-star and five-star hotels, 1,200 residential units, a theme park, a marina and a cycling track on its 80-acre plot.
In 2008, the state government announced that the island, which covers 362 hectares (894 acres), was intended to be gazetted as a permanent forest reserve.
In a statement today, Lim, who is PDC chairman, said it was ridiculous for Barisan Nasional and Gerakan to claim that PDC could dictate terms to UDA with only 49 per cent control, Bernama reported.
On Friday, PDC general manager Rosli Jaafar said UDA had brought in Ideal to jointly develop a resort and property development project on the island and buy out PDC’s 49 per cent stake.
Penang Gerakan has criticised the state government’s plans for the massive future development on Pulau Jerejak.
Lim said PDC agreed to sell its 49 per cent stake because the resort company had incurred losses of RM40 million in 2015 and was no longer financially viable.
He said the state government had taken eight years to protect the rights of Penang residents over Pulau Jerejak before finally securing the transaction.
He said the sale would allow the state government to recoup RM4.4 million in loans and a RM15.44 million investment in the resort.