Works minister refutes Penang project contractor, says no prior talks detailing cost

GEORGE TOWN, June 23 — Detailed costs of Penang’s undersea tunnel and paired roads project have never been discussed, Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof asserted today.

He clarified that the briefing in April was a project overview including an explanation on why the feasibility studies on the tunnel portion of the project have been delayed, in response to the project concession company’s insistence yesterday that the minister had never objected to the cost previously.

“The detailed cost of the projects was not part of this discussion,” Fadillah said in a statement.

Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd chairman Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli that they made a “full-fledged presentation” on the issue to the Works Ministry on April 6.

Zarul claimed that “no adverse statements, remarks or comments” were raised by the minister during the briefing.

Fadillah stressed that the ministry stands by the professional opinion of the Board of Engineers which had calculated the maximum allowable fees based on the scale of rates to be RM41 million for the three main roads portion of the project.

“The RM177.5 million fees already paid by the Penang State Government for this is more than four times the maximum fees as per the gazetted scale of rates,” he said.

He added that this RM177.5 million in fees do not include any fees for the actual tunnel itself as the studies for this has yet to be completed nor has it been paid for.

Fadillah said only the Board of Engineers is the sole statutory board that governs the gazetted scale of fees for civil works in the country which is provided for under the Registration of Engineers Act 1967 (Act 138).

He echoed fellow Cabinet colleague Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan and maintained that the M6.34 billion overall project was excessive.

“I regret that the concession company awarded the Penang Tunnel and three main roads project costing RM6.34 billion has attempted to use my ministry’s name and my name in its attempt to defend itself in the serious over-payment of consultant fees for the three main roads portion of the project,” he said.

Fadillah also asserted that he had issued several statements over the past year stating that the total feasibility and design fees for the project is excessive.

“This included point 8 of my statement issued on 30 March 2017 that reads:

“Although the Penang Govt had defended the RM305 million cost of the studies to be reasonable, our Ministry believes the cost is excessive and is beyond the usual cost guidelines for construction projects of this nature,” he said.