GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has refuted claims that the Bayan Bay reclamation project was approved in 2013.
He said the approval was only given in April this year while all the documentations were finalised in October.
“We approved it on April 20, 2015. The documentation process was finalised on Oct 7.
“Is it wrong to announce it in November? How is it late? And it was approved in 2015, not 2013,” he told a press conference in Komtar yesterday.
Lim was responding to a statement recently by state Barisan Nasional chairman Teng Chang Yeow who alleged that the reclamation rights had actually been granted a few years ago.
Teng had said that the reclamation was approved by the State Planning Committee on Aug 29, 2013 and the minutes of the meeting were confirmed on Oct 3, 2013, adding that the details of the approval in the minutes match those in paragraph 26 of the Chief Minister’s 2016 Budget speech.
Penang Gerakan secretary Oh Tong Keong was also quoted as saying that the state had already approved the reclamation project in May but Lim only announced it on Nov 6.
