GEORGE TOWN, July 2 — Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC) will start work on the first paired road project that is part of the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project by next year.

CZC senior executive director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli said they are targeting for the groundbreaking ceremony for the highway project to be held by the end of this year.

“The Air Itam Highway is the first project we will commence with before we move on to the second one, the paired road between Tanjung Tokong and Teluk Bahang,” he said in an interview with Malay Mail today.

He said they have already started the environmental management programme (EMP) for the project while the state must look into land acquisition for the highway.

He said land acquisition is a major issue as some of it is federal land.

“There are 10 plots of land which are both federal and privately owned,” he said, adding that most were along the Kampung Kastam area.

“We hope the land acquisitions and the EMP will be completed in the next three to six months for us to finally start the project,” he said.

He told a press conference later that they are targeting a first quarter or early second quarter commencement.

The highway will connect Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway to Air Itam.

Zarul said the next paired road to be built is the Northern Coast Paired Road (NCPR) that will connect Gurney Drive to Tanjung Bungah and from there to Teluk Bahang.

“We can’t start work on both paired roads simultaneously, otherwise the whole island will be a construction site,” he said.

He said main roads such as Air Itam were already congested usually, so closing one lane for construction will cause a gridlock.

“So, we may have to do this in the wee hours of the night and reopen the road during the day,” he said.

Zarul lamented the delays to the project due to previous complications.

“This whole project has been delayed six years due to the many issues, if you ask me, I want to start it tomorrow, I’ve been waiting to start since 2012,” he said.

He added that the company went through really hard times trying to implement the project.

Over the years, the RM6.3 million project comprising an undersea tunnel and three paired roads was repeatedly targeted by detractors including Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Several reports were lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against the project, and since 2016, the project has been under investigations for alleged corruption.

Early this year, more allegations surfaced and executives from CZC were detained over claims that CZC paid RM22 million to two individuals purportedly to stop investigations into the project.

Zarul admitted to paying the sum to the two individuals, but insisted that they were “conned” into it.

He also expressed his hope that MACC would conclude its investigations into the project soon.

Works on the undersea tunnel is only expected to start in 2023 after the three paired roads are completed.

“We need the paired roads to be ready first, otherwise, when we have a tunnel, there will not be any traffic dispersal system on the island,” he said.

The final paired road to be constructed will connect Gurney Drive to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.