Housing plans at landslide area underwent many changes, assembly told

 Penang executive councillor H’ng Mooi Lye says the original development was approved under the Gerakan-led government, with several alterations to the plans and developers over the years.

On Oct 25, a landslide struck a house at Taman Seri Rambai in Paya Terubong, Penang, killing a doctor. (JBPM pic)

GEORGE TOWN:

Plans for a housing development near the site of last month’s fatal Paya Terubong landslide underwent several changes since the original project was approved in 2006, the Penang state assembly was told today.

Local government committee chairman H’ng Mooi Lye said the first application was submitted in 1996 by MBSB Development Sdn Bhd, which proposed building two 16-storey apartment blocks, a 13-storey apartment block and 72 six-storey townhouses.

H’ng said the state planning committee allowed the then Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) to process the application on Dec 5, 2000, subject to planning conditions.

Planning permission was subsequently granted on April 20, 2006, when Penang was under the Gerakan-led state government.

He said MPPP received an application in June 2014 to transfer planning permission from MBSB Development to Geo Valley Sdn Bhd.

In June 2015, Geo Valley applied to build four 47-storey apartment blocks comprising 1,628 residential units.

The company submitted another proposal in 2022 for a building comprising two 35-storey affordable housing towers with eight lower-ground levels.

In 2023, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) received an application to transfer planning permission for the housing development from Geo Valley to Sunrich Conquest Sdn Bhd.

H’ng said Geo Valley also applied in 2025 to transfer planning permission for the Bukit Kukus Paired Road project to Sunrich Conquest.

He said development approvals were collective decisions by the state government and local authorities, rather than the responsibility of any individual chief minister.

“These decisions were made collectively by the state and local authorities, not by the chief minister alone,” he said when winding up the debate on the state’s 2027 budget.

His explanation followed a denial by Lim Guan Eng (PH-Air Putih) that he had approved the present development during his tenure as chief minister from 2008 to 2018.

Lim told the assembly on Monday that planning permission for the current development was approved in 2023, while its earthwork and building plans were approved in 2024, several years after he left office.

On Oct 25, a landslide struck a house in Taman Seri Rambai, Paya Terubong, killing a doctor, Wong Kar Lin, 73.

MBPP subsequently ordered work to stop on the nearby road and condominium projects. - FMT