Phoong
KOTA KINABALU (Feb 21): Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe made it clear on Wednesday that his ministry welcomes anyone to give their ideas or proposals on the redevelopment of Sabah Trade Centre (STC).
Commenting on the recent statement by Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Special Envoy for Sabah, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia who questioned the sudden interest of the ministry towards STC, Phoong said it was not a sudden interest, in fact, it was decided in the Cabinet in 2023.
“It’s not the ministry’s sudden interest because the planning of redevelopment of STC had gone through the Cabinet last year. Why no activities for so many years …10 years.
“I don’t want to prolong this discussion because the government of the day need to make decision on how do we move forward, and that is clear that the building is run down, many complaints on the building conditions and also car park not well-maintained.
“So, the Cabinet last year made decision to take back the land, that was initially supposed to be sold to somebody but the buyer did not want to pursue with the purchase.
“I think many people know about this, so that is why government did not do anything. So, we made decision to take the land and start planning again. Do we want to give it to somebody without planning?” he asked.
Despite receiving a number of proposals and suggestions, Phoong said the ministry did not have plans to rush and hurriedly give the land to anyone.
“Let the government regulate and manage the land.
“I don’t want to make this into a political argument because this is straight forward. The government wants to take back the land, and it is not a wrong thing,” he said.
According to Phoong, it is important to recreate the trade centre where the affordable price can be controlled by the government because the current Sabah International Convention Centre has international standard with international tariff and rate.
Commenting on why STC never obtained the Occupancy Certificate (OC) since it was completed, Phoong said there are many government old buildings never had OC, including STC.
“So now we are taking back the land, but the condition is quite bad. If we give STC to somebody we also need to spend money to refurbish it.
“Why not let the government do the planning and continue redevelop the land?” he further asked.
Pandikar recently questioned the sudden interest of the ministry towards STC, after the interim management was given a short notice to vacate the building, which affected 16 local companies in various capacities and over 20 food stall hawkers.
Pandikar, who is also the Tanjung Aru Eco Development Sdn Bhd (TAED) chairman expressed his interest to develop STC if there is any plan to redevelop since TAED belongs to the government, and purposely set up by the previous government.