DPP quizzes key witness on City of Dreams project, land swap deal

KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution in Lim Guan Eng’s corruption trial yesterday zoomed in on the multibillion-ringgit City of Dreams project on state land given to a private developer.

The prime land was handed over to the company after it conducted a feasibility study for the Penang undersea tunnel project.

Deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) going after the former Penang chief minister and finance minister went on the offensive by questioning a key witness about the project, causing howls of protest from the defence lawyers.

Guan Eng’s lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo, wanted the prosecution to explain how the City of Dreams project was connected to charges his client faced, accusing the prosecution of “casting a wide net while hoping to land a catch”.

However, DPPs Mohd Akram Abdul Gharib and Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin stood their ground, saying the prosecution would prove the charges against Guan Eng as the case progressed.

The events unfolded as the third prosecution witness, former Penang exco member Datuk Lim Hock Seng, continued with his testimony yesterday.

Hock Seng told the court how the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel and three main roads project were awarded to Consortium Zenith BUCG (CZBUCG), the processes involved, mode of payments and the roles of private consultants engaged to conduct feasibility studies.

He related how agreements involving the project had been farmed out to private law firms instead of being handled by the State Legal Adviser’s (LA) office.

The LA, he said, was left out as the state government wanted the agreements to be drafted as quickly as possible.

“That is why the state government decided to get a private firm to draft the preliminary agreement for the project. It cost the state government RM75,000 to do it.”

Shaharuddin then questioned Hock Seng about the 2011 trip to China, where Guan Eng had taken a 10-member delegation for a meeting with CZBUCG representatives. Hock Seng said the (cost of the trip) was fully borne by the state government before also confirming that a private engineering consultancy firm was hired at a cost of about RM20 million to oversee the project.

The former Bagan Jermal assemblyman was asked these questions in response to Guan Eng’s claims that the tunnel project would not cost Penang taxpayers anything as the developer would be bearing the full cost of the development.

Shaharuddin then zoomed in on the land swap deal, which saw two plots of state land — Lot 702 and Lot 713 —given to the developer to offset the cost of the feasibility study.

Hock Seng said the Ewein Zenith group, headed by Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng, had undertaken the billion-ringgit City of Dreams project on the plot of reclaimed land in Bandar Tanjong Pinang, Penang. Ewein Zenith is a joint-venture vehicle between Ewein Land Sdn Bhd and CZBUCG.

The freehold 1.49ha City of Dreams is located opposite Gurney

Drive. The luxury seafront serviced apartment project houses 572 units in 39-storey twin towers with prices of units ranging upwards of RM1,500 psf.

It was reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had detained top officials from the company as part of its probe into the tunnel project.

On the City of Dreams issue, Shaharuddin questioned Hock Seng if he knew the details of the project:

Shahruddin: Do you know Ewe? Hock Seng: I know of him, but I don’t know his full name.

Shahruddin: Have you heard of City of Dreams?

Hock Seng: Yes, it was built on Lot 702.

Shahruddin: Do you know how big is the project?

Hock Seng: I don’t know how high it is, but there are two blocks. I don’t know how many storeys, though.

Shahruddin: Do you know what was the plot ratio in the preliminary agreement signed by the state government?

Hock Seng: It was 1 to 5.

Shahruddin: Lot 702 is (located) on reclaimed land, right?

Hock Seng: Yes.

Shahruddin: If you check your witness statement, you can see what the density of the project is. Hock Seng: 87 units per acre. Shahruddin: Do you know that the City of Dreams does not follow this density requirement? Hock Seng: I don’t know. Shahruddin: Let me tell you... it has two blocks of multistorey luxury condominium units.

At this point, Gobind stood up and objected to the prosecution touching on the City Of Dreams project in their questions to the witness.

“They are casting their net far and wide... asking about everything that happened from 2011 to 2018.

“I need to know what exactly they are charging my client with so that I can focus our defence on that.”

Judge Azura Alwi later told Gobind to hand in case authorities on his objection before fixing Aug 16 to 20 for continuation of trial.