Hiccup in hotel project

The row of shophouses along Burmah Road next to the Pulau Tikus police station could soon be demolished to make wayfor a five-storey hotel.

A PROPERTY developer has applied for planning permission to build a five-storey hotel in Pulau Tikus town, near the police station and Wat Chayamangkalaram Thai Buddhist temple.

The developer, Five Star Heritage Sdn Bhd, submitted its plans to Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) on April 17 to develop a 97-room hotel and three shop/office units on Lot 10029, Section 4, which stretches from Burmah Road to Burmah Lane.

According to records in Town and Country Planning Department’s online portal, the company also applied for permission to demolish seven shops on Burma Road, on the same row as the police station, and 10 wooden houses on a site of about 0.64ha (1.56 acres).

A land valuer who declined to be named said the area was a prime commercial site with a pre-development value of between RM800 and RM1,300 per sq ft.

This puts the estimated current land value at between RM55 and RM89 million.

The company is also taking six individuals to court and the civil hearing in the George Town Sessions Court is scheduled for today.

At present, the affected shops include barbers, florists and motorcycle repair shops on Burmah Road, while mainly Chinese, Burmese and Siamese residents occupy wooden houses behind the shops.

“We were offered a compensation of RM30,000 each, but we have asked to be compensated based on current valuation.

“Valuers came last week to inspect our properties and, instead of nego-tiating with us, we are being taken to court,” said one of the shop owners who wished to be known only as Lee.

Lee claimed that they were not squatters because the properties were registered addresses and that they have each been paying quit rent of about RM500 every six months to MPPP.

Motorcycle repairman Yeoh Chin See, 61, said he and his father-in-law had been operating their shop on Burma Road for over 40 years.

“We used to pay a rental of RM150 a month to the trustees of the land, but they stopped accepting our payments seven years ago,” he said.

A 58-year-old resident who declined to be named said he had lived there all his life and his father used to pay RM2 a month to the trustees.

“Many years ago, the trustees stopped accepting our payments without reason.”

Residents put up placards since yesterday morning, calling for their homes to be saved.

However, they promptly put down the displays after The Star arrived to take photographs.

Pulau Tikus assemblyman Yap Soo Huey said the developer has a joint-venture agreement with Penang Burmese Society, which is the land’s trustee-owner.

It is learnt that the joint-venture with the society had been raised in an annual general meeting of the society in 2010.

Yap said her service centre was in the process of discussing with the developer to negotiate with existing residents.

“We are planning a series of events to raise awareness of the heritage value of the land.

“This land was originally gifted by Queen Victoria in 1845 to the Siamese and Burmese community and any development of the land must take the community’s cultural value into consideration,” she said.

When contacted, Penang Burmese Society patron Datuk Mary J. Ritchie said only the management committee knew details on the land.

The last known society chairman, Moung Ban Chowi, could not be reached for comment. - The Star