GEORGE TOWN, July 1 — The Penang Chief Minister’s official residence, Seri Teratai, will be fully restored and ready for the chief minister Chow Kon Yeow to move in by the end of July.
Public works, utilities and flood management committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the restoration and renovation works on the colonial building will be completed and the handover will be on July 15.
“The chief minister can move in by the end of July,” he said during a media site visit of the building along Macalister Road.
He said works on the 8,000sq ft building started on January 14 and it took about 26 weeks to complete.
“The restoration and repair costs totalled to about RM1.05 million, the scope of repairs included termite treatments, upgrading all the bathrooms, removing and replacing all the carpets and wallpaper, replacing rotten wood finishings, replacing all electrical wiring and piping, putting in new lights, air conditioner, water heater and kitchen counters and repainting works,” he said.
He said two termite nests were found in the building and were removed while timber affected by the termites were removed and replaced.
Zairil said the house was left vacant for many years as the previous chief minister, Lim Guan Eng, only lived in it for a while before moving out due to its dilapidated conditions.
Lim’s predecessor, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, also did not live in the official residence as he lived in his own home.
Lim moved out of the official residence in July 2009 citing serious termite infestations.
When asked why the house was not repaired and the termites infestations resolved 10 years ago, Zairil said it could be due to the high costs of repairs that the previous chief minister did not want to spend on.
“Perhaps it was not a priority to repair this building at that time but we felt that we had to do this now before it got worse, we can’t let it fall apart,” he said.
He said the building, built in the early 20th century, has to be saved so that its condition does not deteriorate.
“When a building was left vacant for so many years, it falls apart so we thought, we must fix it up now,” he said.
The grand building, located on 115,000sq ft of grounds, is a category II heritage building.
Only two previous chief ministers, the late Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee and the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu had lived in the official residence.
