Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Penang government was caught unawares by Tan’s recent announcement.
Lim said the PPC had not made known its new plans to expand the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal.
“We will support whatever expansion plan that will take place at the pier, so long as we are joint-venture partners in the project.
“This is to ensure the Penang government has an active interest in any project it undertakes,” Lim said.
The DAP secretary-general was responding to news reports quoting Tan as saying the expansion plans at the pier could not go on becauses the Penang government refused to hand over land marked for expansion to them.
Tan, who is also Penang MCA chairman, said the two adjoining lots by the pier were on temporary occupation certificates from the state government, renewable every six months.
Yesterday, Tan said a RM200 million expansion plan for the terminal is in the works so it could receive larger cruise liners.
PPC, which is a statutory body under the transport ministry, is currently leasing the pier from the Penang government.
Both sides are in a dispute after the state rescinded its earlier approvals to lease the lots to PPC for 99 years in 2010, and returned more than RM14 million to PPC, being premium payments.
Without the approval, PPC currently has no land titles for the two lots measuring 8,093.713 sq m (2 acres) and 12,140.57 sq m (3 acres) respectively, thus hampering the expansion plan for the terminal.
When contacted, Tan said Lim’s suggestion would be brought up for discussion in the next PPC board meeting.