Penang govt demolishes heritage building at Peel Avenue

GEORGE TOWN: Gerakan continued to question the Penang DAP-led government why it demolished a heritage building located on Peel Avenue land before the Ministry of Health (MOH) granted approval for the expansion project of the Island Hospital.
Penang Gerakan acting Youth Chief Jason Loo said only two days ago he noticed that the heritage building which used to be a state civil servant hostel, was demolished by the state authority.
He questioned why the heritage building was torn down when the hospital expansion project had yet to be approved by the Health Ministry and asked whether any Heritage Impact Assessment was conducted before the Penang government decided to demolish the heritage building.
"So now a heritage building has been torn down, when is the next building on this Peel Avenue land going to be demolished?" he told reporters on the site here today.
Loo also wanted to know why the state government was rushing to approve the conversion of the land to commercial when no approval had yet been received from MOH for the hospital expansion project.
"Why had the state government given so much leeway to a particular company when the Chief Minister Incorporated had sold the prime land without an open tender," he said.
Loo was also puzzled why the Penang government and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng continued to keep mum on the matters as various questions had been raised.
He also said that Lim had served him three legal letters on the Peel Avenue land deal.
It was reported earlier that Island Hospital plans to build the Island Medical City on an estimated 2.6ha land at Peel Avenue.
It comprises an initial 600-bed hospital, and increasing the capacity to 1,000 beds in the future while a hotel would also be built in the later stages. — Bernama