Oceanus Mall Management Sdn Bhd (OMM), an entity incorporated by the owners of units in the mall to safeguard their interests, will take over the Oceanus Mall management from Jan 1 next year.

OMM Chairman Datuk CK Tan, who announced this Thursday, said they will aggressively promote the mall by focusing on catering for tourists staying in hotels and also tenants of apartments located close by.

OMM's plan is to convert this mall into positive news, he said, adding they planned to make some positive improvements to boost its attractiveness.

"We want to target tourists staying in hotels in close proximity as well as tenants of the adjacent apartments by having more food outlets, groceries and so on.

"We thank the Mayor and also DBKK for agreeing, in a meeting on Oct 18, to allow OMM to utilise and manage the perimeter road and VIP platform outside the mall, together with the jetty and boardwalk behind Oceanus Mall," he said in a press conference at the mall. Some of the 181 owners under OMM were also present.

The Oceanus Mall was a joint venture project between Sunsea Development Sdn Bhd and City Hall (DBKK). Sunsea Development, the developer of the mall, has been wound up on April 19 this year, and the same as the management company engaged by it, Sunsea Pavilion Sdn Bhd.

All purchasers of the units in the mall were affected because the units were purchased with a guaranteed rental scheme which not only did not go on as planned but rentals were in fact not paid for many months.

At the same time, Tan said OMM will continue to challenge the application made by the developer for termination of the winding-up proceedings against them (developer) through their appointed lawyer.

"Presently, we were informed that the developer had made an application under Section 493 of the Companies Act 2016 for termination of the winding-up proceedings against them although none of our debts has been paid thus far.

"We were also informed that up until today there is no statement of affairs filed. The basis for their application is allegedly for public interest as they said they wish to have the skybridge completed and that the termination application is necessary in order for UKAS (Unit Kerjasama Awam Swasta) to reinstate the developer's position and they wish to claim for the money now held in UKAS.

"We are of course appalled and puzzled because the skybridge can be completed by any other contractor as has to be by the wound-up developer. We have therefore engaged a lawyer to oppose their application for termination," said Tan.

Further, he said, from the quarterly report prepared by the liquidator, they noticed that a sum of RM3 million plus is owed to DBKK Holdings Sdn Bhd so "we hope that DBKK Holdings will join hands with us to oppose the termination application."

"From an analysis of the liquidator's quarterly report, it appears that some questionable and suspicious transactions were carried out after the presentation of the winding-up application itself.

"In the developer's affidavit, they have stated that our Mayor has made a statement that DBKK is willing to facilitate the current position of the skybridge. So we hope our Mayor will clarify this issue," he said