MIRI: Miri City Council (MCC) lambasted the opposition for questioning the legality of a high street food and leisure corridor, which was done according to the book.
APPROVED: Lai (right) and Sim (left) hold the plan of the project which has been approved by the council.
About RM2.3 million has been spent on developing it.
It was approved by the local authority as well as the Land and Survey Department, said mayor Lawrence Lai yesterday.
“This is a legal project. The opposition should appreciate it and contribute ideas to further develop Miri as a resort city and not go against such local development,” Lai told the media at a press conference yesterday.
He regretted the allegations made by DAP against the city council for allowing the construction of a restaurant in the food and leisure corridor that was previously only a landscape and hawkers trading area.
DAP in a statement published in local newspapers yesterday, questioned the rental and legality of the restaurant in the corridor, saying it was not approved by the authority concerned.
According to Lai, the proposal for the high street food and leisure corridor was made by Miri Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) in Oct 2006 as some members of the public were engaging in unhealthy activities that turned the area into an eyesore.
The area was approved for the project with a 15-year lease by the Land and Survey Department in November of the same year.
MCCCI invested about RM800,000 for its initial implementation which included landscaping, hawkers’ trading area and public toilet.
But the initial phase was not good enough.
This year, an investor from Kuching rented the area to set up his chain of restaurants and spent RM1.5 million on developing it, making the total amount spent on the area, RM2.3 million.
“The plan for the restaurant was approved by the council last July and since it started operation a few months ago, the area has become a popular tourist attraction,” Lai said.
MCCCI chairman Datuk Sim Hock Guan praised the restaurant operator for making the area livelier and adding another tourist attraction to the city.
“He (the operator) spent RM1.5 million for a 12-year business, according to the lease period left. He also created job opportunities for locals, with over 50 employees engaged by the restaurant.
“The opposition speculated that we are benefiting a lot because we are charging high rental but the rental fee is only RM11,000 a month, and 10 per cent of rental is being channelled to the joint account of MCC and MCCCI for city activities,” Sim said.
Apart from that, the operator had agreed to donate RM11,000 at the end of every year to the annual Miri Gong Xi Fa Chai Bazaar which has taken over part of the bazaar area.