GEORGE TOWN (June 13): Penang Development Corp’s (PDC) decided to rescind the RM10 billion Eco Marina project awarded to Eco World Development Group Bhd to be fair to all parties that had participated in the request for proposal (RFP), said an aide to the Penang chief minister.

“In order to be fair to the other party that participated in the RFP, we have to call off the RFP, because they [Eco World] had asked for more than what was in original specifications,” said Datuk Lee Kah Choon, who oversees the state development agency.

“If we were to change the specifications in the original RFP, it would not be fair to the other party who had submitted their bid [when the open competitive tender was carried out],” he told reporters today.

Lee, who is also the director of Invest-in-Penang Bhd, said PDC will now be gathering feedback on the technical conditions to make the project viable.

“We will take into account factors, for example land price and construction costs, and we will call for another RFP.

“The market conditions may have changed by then also, so bidders for the new RFP, be it Eco World or another party, may have decided then that the land would be better suited for affordable housing, rather than a golf course, for example,” said Lee.

On June 8, Eco World said the company and PDC have agreed to rescind a letter of award for the Eco Marina project to build a 60.7ha golf course and 121.26ha mixed development in Batu Kawan, Seberang Perai.

The property developer said extensive studies undertaken as part of the detailed planning process have revealed that the acreage required for the golf course development would be significantly higher than originally contemplated, which adversely impacts the viability of the project.