JUDGMENT

Jeffrey Tan J:

[1] This is an action by the plaintiff for specific performance of the agreement dated 17 March 1991 (said agreement) and entered into between the defendant as lessor of the one part and the plaintiff as lessee of the other part, in which the defendant had allegedly agreed to grant to the plaintiff a renewable 30-year lease of the piece of land (later identified as Lot 8117) opposite the plaintiff's Hotel Anita and situated at Jalan Sultanah, Kluang, Johor (said land) for a multi-storey car park complex, or damages in lieu of specific performance.

[2] Trial proceeded without any consensus on the agreed issues and or agreed documents. Nevertheless, there were areas of accord. Both parties agreed to the dispensation of formal proof of the documents in their respective bundles, which were PBA(1-61) and PBB(1-31) filed by the plaintiff, and DB(1-16) filed by the defendant. And both parties agreed to the following facts stated in encls. 90 and 90A.

1. The Defendant ("Kluang Council") is a local authority within the meaning of the Local Government Act, 1976.

2. By letter dated 1st November 1989, the Plaintiff applied to the Kluang Council for a lease of land situa