Feasibility study cost just doesn’t add up, says Wee

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong is questioning the cost of the feasibility study, said to be RM120mil, for the 10.53km North Coastal Paired Road from Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang that is part of the Penang undersea tunnel project.

Dr Wee said he had just received information about the fee for the proposed four-lane, dual carriageway, which will cost RM378mil.

“Any construction firm would say this is overpriced. How do you approve this RM378mil project and pay out RM120mil straight away? What road in Malaysia costs this much?” asked Dr Wee, a trained civil engineer himself.

Speaking to reporters after attending a healthcare industry dialogue yesterday, Dr Wee, who is also MCA deputy president, noted that the undersea tunnel itself cost RM3.6bil, with the feasibility study, detailed design and environmental impact assessment report costing RM96mil.

“How can the cost for the feasibility study of the North Coastal Paired Road be higher than that of the undersea tunnel, a project that costs 10 times more?” he asked.

The tunnel, together with the North Coastal Paired Road, is part of a RM6.3bil mega project connecting Gurney Drive on the island to Bagan Ajam in north Butterworth.

The project includes two other paired roads – the Air Itam-Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass and the Gurney Drive-Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway bypass.

Dr Wee also urged Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to explain the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) Malaysia’s role in the project.

This followed statements by CRCC Malaysia general manager Sun Ming on the news portal laksou.com that his company was solely responsible for “construction work” and was neither a developer or shareholder of the special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up for the project.

Dr Wee questioned the Penang government’s previous statement, through its fortnightly publication Buletin Mutiara, that CRCC and Zenith Construction jointly owned 70% of the project.

He asked if the state government could show a letter stating that CRCC was part of the SPV and jointly held the 70% stake with Zenith.