Yesterday, Penang BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow claimed the Penang government might have overpaid for the feasibility and design studies (FSDD) by RM236 million. He said the FSDD was likely only RM69.3 million.
He said this was based on a report on a Chinese government website, where a company was given a US$22 million deal (RM69.3 million at 2013 exchange rate of RM3.15 per dollar) to conduct the studies for the tunnel and roads.
Today, Penang executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) had indeed gotten the US$22 million job from the state government, but CRCC was just one of 34 consultants involved in the project.
He said the state government had made this clear from the get-go and had even published this in the state Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report.
“Therefore, the RM236 million difference is a gross misinterpretation and wrong, conjured up intentionally by irresponsible parties to mislead the general public and the people of Penang,” Chow told reporters in Komtar today.
In the breakdown of costs revealed in the state PAC report, the total costs of the FSDD for the three major roads was RM208.754 million, which involved 19 consultants.
The FSDD for the undersea tunnel was RM96.248 million, which involved 15 consultants, including CRCC.
Chow said Teng was conjuring up “a scandal using his own imagination” by using unverified information from third-party websites when the state PAC report should have been the guide.
“What are his intentions? Looks like he wants to sabotage this project and we need to respond to these allegations so that the public do not get confused further.”
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