Penang has one week to explain tunnel consultancy fee: Rahman Dahlan

CYBERJAYA: Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan (pix) has threatened to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) if the Penang government fails to explain alleged over-payments of its Penang Tunnel project.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) strategic communication director said Penang had overpaid its consultancy fee for three main roads under the project by RM136.4 million, four times more than the allowed gazetted fee.
He pointed out that a breakdown of fees obtained from the Penang Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report showed that the cost of the detailed design fees for the three roads is RM177.5 million.
"We wrote a letter to the Board of Engineers, and they stated that the RM177.5 million paid by the Penang government to the concession holder is four times higher than the maximum allowed under the gazetted scale of fees, which is calculated to be RM41.1 million.
"Based on the board's reply, we believe the Penang government had overpaid consultancy fees by RM136.4 million," he told a press conference, here, today.
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department said if Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng fails to clarify the matter, it shows that there could be alleged corruption and abuse of power, and that he would the matter report to MACC.
"We'll give him a week, and if he fail to explain, we will submit the matter to MACC. We want to give Penang a chance to explain themselves first," he said.
Abdul Rahman also demanded that the Penang government explain why the total consultancy fees for one of the roads – from Tanjong Bungah to Teluk Bahang – cost RM120.4 million for a mere 10.53km.
"Why would these fees cost much more than the RM96 million consultancy fees to construct its more complicated, more expensive and risky RM3.5 billion undersea tunnel," he said.
In addition, the minister also questioned why construction for the three main roads has yet to kickstart despite the state government having already paid for the entire cost of the fees for feasibility and detailed design.