GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has maintained that it never paid anything to Consortium Zenith Construction (CZC) Sdn Bhd, whether by cash or land, for the feasibility study of the Penang Undersea Tunnel project.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said it was indicated in the appointment letter that the state government need not pay anything to the company until the completion of the feasibility study.
He said the company had only submitted the draft copy of the feasibility study to the state government in September last year. The state government as well as the various stakeholders and agencies, he said, are going through the feasibility study now.
"According to the agreement, we (the state government) will only pay when everything is completed. Since it has yet to be completed, how are we supposed to pay? We only expect the feasibility study to be submitted to the state government in the last quarter of this year.
"What we have been paying is only for the feasibility study of the three paired roads project, another component of the project. We have not paid anything for the Penang Undersea Tunnel project," he told newsman at his office in Komtar this afternoon.
Chow had called for the press conference to brief the media on the status of the various infrastructure projects in the state.
Chow said there were two crucial issues which needed to be addressed in the feasibility study, namely the Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) and the Penang Port expansion plan.
"We will have to see how to disperse traffic over in Butterworth when the tunnel ends in Bagan Jermal. I believe the Seberang Prai City Council is working closely with the consultant to iron this out.
"Also, the issue of the Penang Port expansion plan. We have to coordinate and work together with the port authority to fine tune the alignment and also for future reclamation works there.
"So, these are two important target areas the team is working on. However, we expect the final feasibility study to be presented to the state executive councillors by the fourth quarter of this year. Hopefully, the two major issues can be addressed over the next two to three months so that the feasibility study can be finalised," he added.
The proposed undersea tunnel, between Bagan Ajam in Seberang Prai and Gurney Drive, is part of the state government's RM6.3 billion integrated infrastructure project.
It also involves three paired roads project namely a 12km paired-road from Jalan Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang, a 4.6km bypass between Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu and Bandar Baru Air Itam and a 4.2km bypass from Gurney Drive to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.
The controversial undersea tunnel project is now a subject of investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The New Straits Times recently reported that the MACC had relaunched its investigation into the undersea tunnel project following new evidence which it received on the matter.
The latest round of investigation saw the arrest of a high-ranking official from Penang Port Commission. He has since been released.
The project had courted controversy in the past, especially over its RM305 million feasibility studies, as well as the nearly two-year delay in its completion.
Last March, blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin had named several Penang DAP leaders and state government officials, who he alleged were involved in corrupt practices involving the project.
He claimed that he was given a 200-page document by an individual at the MACC, and that he would produce extracts of its contents in several installments online to expose the matter.
In April last year, a businessman who was implicated in a scandal related to the tunnel project was slapped with 68 money-laundering charges involving RM11.4 million.
MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki recently said that they were in the final stages of investigation into the undersea tunnel project, and that investigators were expected to wrap up the investigation papers within the next two to three weeks.
He had said that investigation into the controversial project was never closed but slowed down since March due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked if the MACC investigation would scare aware investors or derail sentiment towards the project, Chow said:
"MACC has not announced anything on what they are investigating.
"The people will be watching, of course. I hope investors' interest in this project will still be determined by the viability of the project and not otherwise," he added.
To another question if the state government would proceed with the undersea tunnel project if the feasibility study is approved, Chow said a decision on the matter would be made in due time.
Meanwhile, Chow also announced the setting up of the special purpose vehicle, Penang Infrastructure Coporation Sdn Bhd, to lead the implementation of the RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).