THE Penang Development Corporation (PDC) has commence the construction of a building to cater to the current demand for office and work spaces after the proposed RM1.3 billion Business Process Outsourcing Prime (BPO Prime) project has been shelved.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the smaller project would be located beside the current PDC headquarters in Bayan Baru.
“The initial BPO Prime project was supposed to be sited at the current PDC headquarters. The plan was to tear down the PDC headquarters for the BPO Prime project.
However, the BPO Prime project has been shelved.
“Nevertheless, we are still seeing interest from relevant parties with regard to office and work spaces. Hence, we are working on a smaller scale project to cater to the business needs.
“The Mayang Mall in Bayan Baru has already run out of office space,” Chow told a press conference at his office today.
It was reported that PDC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd on May 23, 2014, to undertake the development of BPO Prime in Bayan Baru and the Penang International Technology Park (PITP) in Batu Kawan. The BPO Prime was to be managed by the Economic Development Innovations Singapore Pte Ltd (EDIS) once its completed.
It was also reported that the BPO Prime project was shelved due to the soft market.
Chow said that there was no earthwork done for the BPO Prime project.
“There was no holding cost assumed by PDC for the BPO Prime project and there was no exit fee which had to be paid to EDIS.
“The abortive cost for PDC was RM8 million, which includes the engagement of consultants and other works done,” Chow said.
He added that there were no losses incurred by PDC in relation to the aborted deal.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis
Video by Ahmad Adil Muhamad