Daat Island, which is roughly 237.55 hectares in size and located halfway between Menumbok and Labuan in Sabah, malaysia will be auctioned.
This is following the liquidation of the island's owner Potensi Bernas Sdn Bhd.
The island will be auctioned off in public on May 27 at 11 a.m. on the first floor of Bornion Centre, off Jalan Kolam in Luyang. The reserve price is RM121.5 million (RM4.80 per square ft), and the island will be sold "as is, where is."
Daat Island was originally scheduled for auction on June 30, 2021, but was rescheduled for September 10, 2021. The reserve price was RM135 million at the time.
Daat Island has a 999-year lease (expiring on 31 December 2853). The island's title deed was first issued to John Gavaron Treacher and Clarence Cooper in 1856 by George Warren Edwardes, the then Governor of Labuan (1856-1861), on behalf of Queen Victoria.
A development plan for an RM3 billion integrated petroleum complex for gas storage, fabrication farm, container yard, refinery, commercial, housing, and a hotel was approved in 2011, off Daat Island.
The Federal Territories Ministry, through its agency, Labuan Corp, was looking into turning Daat Island into an oil and gas hub in order to boost the island's economy. The Daat Island project, a collaboration between Sabah-based RG Gas and Chemical and China-owned Zhuhai Winbase International Chemical Tank Terminal Co Ltd, was expected to support 3,000 construction jobs.
The plan was scrapped, however, because Daat Island is said to be surrounded by shallow and muddy water, rendering it unsuitable for the oil and gas industry. In 2019, it was reported that a neighbouring country's sovereign wealth fund had presented Labuan Corp with a RM12 billion proposal, a prospect that will single-handedly boost Labuan's economy.
Back then, the proposal included plans to build a new multi-cargo port and a bridge connecting Labuan and Sabah, both of which would cost between RM4 billion and RM5 billion, as well as to develop Daat Island for tourism. The RM12 billion is a long-term investment and the sovereign fund is a serious investor.
