KUALA LUMPUR: The Penang state government has failed to adhere to the payment schedule guidelines as stipulated under the Registration of Engineers Act (REA) 1967.
Gerakan vice-president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau said the Act firmly stated that consultation fees must be paid according to five stages based on the process of the work.
"Firstly is the preliminary stage which is 20 per cent, the first design stage is 35 per cent while the second design stage is 20 per cent.
"Fourth is the tender stage which is five per cent and lastly is the construction stage which is 20 per cent.
"However, the consultation fees was paid in full when the construction work had yet to take place. This is why we want the Penang state government to explain to the public why they paid in full," he told a press conference at Gerakan headquarters here today.
He said this in regard to the latest revelation by the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications (BNSC) who claimed that the Penang state government had overpaid the consultancy fees for the proposed undersea tunnel and three paired roads.
Lau pointed out that the consultation fees for one of the three roads project, a 10.5km dual lane road, was 10 times higher than the fees for the undersea tunnel which he said was "a more complicated project".
"This is the people's money that they have overpaid and had paid so quickly.
"Despite at least three and a half years delay, none of the roads have started construction, yet full payment of the fees have already been paid," he added.
According to a document distributed to the press, it showed that the consultation fees for the first road project - a dual lane road from Tanjong Bungah to Teluk Bahang - was RM120 million while the fees for the third link tunnel was only RM96 million.
The issue cropped up after BNSC director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan said Penang had paid four times higher than the gazetted scale of fees for consultation set by the Board of Engineers (BEM).
Rahman also gave Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng one week to come out with an explanation, adding that if his answer was unjustifiable or if he remained silent on the issue, the matter would be escalated to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police after Hari Raya.
Recently, State Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said it had not overpaid the consultants in the project, but had merely paid “about 17 per cent” more, adding that it was within the REA Act.
The BNSC team however rejected the Penang government's explanation over the alleged overpayment of consultancy fees for the construction of three roads in the state.