DAP Air Putih assemblyman Lim Guan Eng has publicly pressed the Penang state government over the absence of an open tender for a 70 to 72-acre land reclamation project off Karpal Singh Drive in Penang as of June 1, 2026 [1, 2, 3]. Lim raised the issue following his written question in the state assembly on May 8, 2026, where the government’s response only referred to an 84-acre Jelutong Dumpsite landfill rehabilitation project awarded via a Request for Proposal (RFP) process [1, 2, 3].
A Joint Development Agreement for RM1 billion was signed in February 2020 between Penang state and PLB Engineering Bhd for the landfill rehabilitation project, but no public records or open tender exist for the land reclamation project itself [1, 2, 3]. Lim estimated the reclaimed land’s market value at around RM1.8 billion based on RM600 per square foot, emphasizing the project’s significant financial scale [1, 2, 3].
Since 2008, Penang’s governance under Pakatan Harapan has prioritized Competency, Accountability, and Transparency (CAT), making open tenders a key principle for public contracts [1, 2, 3]. Lim stated that bypassing open tender can only be justified by "national security, the urgency of the subject matter or unique expertise possessed by the other contracting party"; he questioned what reasons the government deemed sufficient to forgo this process [2].
He urged Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) to "come clean as to why there was no open tender for such a major reclamation project". Lim called for a full public accounting due to the project’s wide implications for residents in the affected areas [2, 3].
The government’s response to Lim’s inquiry acknowledged only the landfill rehabilitation handled through an RFP, not the reclamation project itself [1, 2, 3]. There remain no announcements or records indicating any tendering process for the reclamation contract.
Lim’s public call for transparency was made today, June 1, 2026 [1, 2, 3].
