Penang's undersea tunnel megaproject linking the island from Gurney Drive to Butterworth on the mainland will proceed as it is a 'valid contract' based on an open tender process, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.
"Unless we get a court order to halt the project, it will proceed," he told reporters at a press conference in George Town.
Lim expressed surprise that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was re-investigating the project after it had carried out a similar probe in 2016.
His said the state administration was not aware of the MACC raid yesterday, during which two individuals with 'Datuk' titles were arrested.
The graft watchdog carried out a major swoop on four government agencies and three private companies and seized documents related to the RM6.3 billion tunnel project for which construction is slated to begin in 2023.
"In 2016, they (MACC) came to get the necessary documents from us. I wonder what else they need," Lim said when asked for updates on the raid that was carried out by MACC officers from Putrajaya.
"We were not contacted by any quarter, we have also not contacted anyone, so we will let the MACC carry out its job," added Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, at the state government's Komtar office.
"We will fully cooperate with the MACC and I have instructed all government departments to give their full cooperation to them. We have nothing to hide."
'Project award above board'
Lim said the project - awarded to Konsortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd - was above board and that the company won the bid through a proper open tender process.
There was also oversight by an international accounting firm, added Lim.
"We hope this is not part of an upcoming election cycle or an attack on us by pro-BN forces.
"We want to ask why there is no publicity or frontpage reports on the MACC's investigations into allegations that Perda (Penang Regional Development Authority) had sold land at below the market value, incurring losses of up to RM15 million for the federal agency," he said.
"We would also like to ask MACC to assist us by highlighting their probe on Perda so that the newspapers can also carry the reports. We know they have carried out investigations on the matter."
On claims by sources that MACC was probing land swap deals involving the undersea tunnel project, Lim said such details were all stated in the open tender documents.
He said the decision to award the tender was made collectively by the state executive council.
"The project does not only involve the tunnel, but also three highways that have obtained EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) approval.
"There is no rush for the feasibility study for the tunnel as the construction will only begin in 2023," Lim added- Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.