Lim: No money or land given to contractor

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has maintained that no money was paid, nor any land given, to the contractor of the undersea tunnel project.

“Not a single sen was paid and not a single square inch (of land) was given to the contractor for the tunnel project,” he said at a press conference after attending the PDC Teleco­mmunication Services appreciation luncheon in Komtar here yesterday.

Lim was responding to a statement by MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, who said that despite Lim reiterating that not a single sen was paid for the feasibility study for the project, the fact remained that it was paid for in kind.

Lim clarified that the tunnel project was different from the three paired road projects.

“We had paid for the paired roads project, but we also had an independent checking engineer who was appointed via open tender to vet the claims and make sure the payment was valid.

“The engineer will then make recommendations to the state government, and only then will payment be made after the engineer’s approval,” he said.