Lim refutes Petronas claim of not being in major infrastructure projects

GEORGE TOWN, Fri:

The Penang Government has refuted Petronas’ claims that the oil company does not fund major infrastructure projects like the second Penang Bridge.

Chief minister Lim Guan Eng said Petronas had previously been actively involved in many infrastructure projects with heavy investments, citing Petronas' subsidiary companies KLCC Property Holdings Bhd and Putrajaya Holdings Bhd as examples.

Lim cited the following Petronas projects to back his claim that the oil company should fund the second Penang Bridge project:

• Petronas invested RM2.1 billion in KLCC Property and has a 51 per cent stake in the company;


• KLCC in turn is involved in the Twin Towers project, Menara ExxonMobil and also Mandarin Oriental Hotel;


• Petronas was also the key funder of the Putrajaya township and invested RM1.5 billion in Putrajaya Holdings.

“This clearly showed Petronas was involved in infrastructure projects,” he said, disputing what corporate planning/development division vice-president Datuk Nasarudin Mohd Idris said.

Nasarudin was reported to have said that Petronas only financed infrastructure as far as oil and gas projects are concerned, citing the petrochemical complex in Kertih as example and declared that Petronas do not finance buildings and bridges. His statement was made in response to Lim's proposal that Petronas fund the RM3.5 billion second Penang Bridge project.

In another development, Lim said he is seeking a meeting with prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi next Thursday to discuss relations with the federal government. Also on the agenda is how both sides can work on federal-funded infrastructure projects that had been planned for Penang.

"I also hope to discuss the federal allocation for Penang under the Ninth Malaysia Plan which had been reduced by 50 per cent last year," he said. “The state government would also invite the prime minister to make an official visit to Penang.”

--NST