GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government will gazette hundreds of acres of land at Pulau Jerejak here as a forest reserve, while allowing redevelopment of only 80 acres land.
State investment arm Penang Development Corporation (PDC)’s general manager Datuk Rosli Jaafar said the land will be developed by a joint-venture (JV) company in which UDA Holdings Berhad owns a 51 per cent stake.
He said the company has submitted it development plans to the state government.
"The state government intends to gazette the remaining few hundred acres on the island as a forest reserve.
“It has approved our proposals on condition that environmental safeguards are in place and comply with the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) requirement.
"A bridge linking Penang island to Pulau Jerejak will be built, but vehicles will not be allowed to cross over to the small offshore island," he said today.
The redevelopment will comprise 1,200 units of residential developments over 80 acres, a marina, four- and five-star hotels, a theme park, an 11.5km round island cycling track and related infrastructure to promote tourism in the state.
Rosli said PDC had previously held a 49 per cent stake in the JV company, Tropical Island Resort Sdn Bhd (TIRSB), but due to heavy losses incurred from operating costs since it commenced operations of Jerejak Rainforest Resort & Spa (JRRS) in 2004, it closed operations in May 2016, with losses amounting to RM40 million.
He said PDC accepted an offer by UDA’s Ideal Property Development Sdn Bhd (Ideal) to buy its 49 per cent shares for RM156 million, which generated a profit of RM140.6 million for PDC. UDA had brought in Ideal to jointly-develop their project and also buy out PDC’s 49 per cent stake in accordance with PDC’s conditions.
At a press conference earlier, Penang Gerakan Youth’s acting chief Jason Loo had questioned the sale of PDC's 49 per cent shares to Ideal Property and demanded that the state government provide details on the deal.
Loo said the people have been left in the dark about the sale of PDC's stake since earlier this year.
