It has not been wet lately but today’s shower left Penangites abit cool and yearn for some hot stuff to fill our hungry stomach. But for the Committee members of the Penang Turf Club, hot soup will certainly be off their menu as the entire committee was sued by its own PTC members over the deal made with developer Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd to develop the controversial Penang Global City Centre (PGCC).
The legal action - commenced by Tan Kok Ping and Lee Choon Hoe in their own capacity and on behalf of all club members - was filed today at the Penang High Court.
In 2003, PTC and Abad Naluri, signed a preliminary agreement for the sale of some 260 acres of the club’s land for RM488 million in order to develop the PGCC. Abad Naluri was expected to raise that sum and manage the financing for several years before the PGCC project starts contributing back.
From the RM488 million, RM375 million was designated to build a new racecourse in Batu Kawan in the mainland, relocating PTC’s existing racecourse on the island’s prime Batu Gantung Road while the remaining RM113 million would be paid to PTC in cash. However, this agreement had allegedly lapse and Abad has paid only RM10 million in advances to PTC so far.
Earlier, Tan Kok Ping and 12 other ordinary members of the turf club previously lodged a police report on May 8 alleging that the PTC committee had abused its powers in its dealings with Abad Naluri while the Wiz published the Myths & Facts of PGCC here.
