ALOR STAR: MENTERI Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak has admitted the state government's failure to deliver the proposed RM36 billion Sungai Limau Hydrocarbon Hub (Sulihh) in Yan, near here.

Azizan, however, was quick to pass the blame onto the project's developer, Merapoh Resources Corp Sdn Bhd.

He said the Selangor-based construction firm was facing technical difficulties that led to the delay of the oil refinery project, which the Pas state government had claimed as its biggest economic project in 2008.

"The developer is in the midst of resolving a few issues, including funds for the project.

"I've also learned that the developer has yet to receive approval from the National Physical Planning Council for the project.

"On our part (state government), we have made the necessary arrangements, including land acquisition for Merapoh," he said after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting at Wisma Darulaman, here, yesterday.

Azizan was asked to comment on the progress of the hydrocarbon hub, which involved the construction of a man-made island for a refinery and storage facilities.

On whether the state government had scrapped Sulihh, Azizan, who is also state assemblyman for Sungai Limau, said the project was still viable.

Earlier, at a separate press conference, state Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang urged Azizan to explain the project's delay. He claimed that the project had yet to get off the ground.

"I want to know what is happening since Azizan had bragged about it after Kedah Pakatan Rakyat won the state in the 2008 general election.

"What is wrong and why did they brag about it if they can't do it?"

The hydrocarbon hub project, mooted by the previous Barisan Nasional state government, was known as Yan Petroleum Industrial Zone. Under the Pas state government, the project was renamed Sulihh.

Yan would be the main port of call for tankers and crude oil would be processed on the man-made island before it is transported by smaller tankers to the Far East via the Straits of Malacca.

Crude oil will be transported via a 310km pipeline that runs across Yan in Pendang, Baling, Kedah, and Grik, Perak, to a refinery in Bachok, Kelantan, before petroleum and other petrochemical products are shipped to the Far East.

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