Chow: Penang government did not overpay on consultancy fees

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government remains adamant it did not overpay on consultancy fees for a project to construct of three roads and a proposed underseabed tunnel.

State Local Government, Traffic Management and Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow (pix) said the the allegation it paid more that four times allowed under the Registration of Engineers Act 1967 was "not true at all".

He said the civil and structural (C&S) consultancy fee was RM64.3million and not RM177.5million as alleged by Economic Planning Unit (EPU) Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan earlier this week.

He said the higher amount would include 10 other elements including land survey, detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA), land tunnel design, social impact study and traffic impact study among others.

"The fee for C&S is RM64.3million only," he said in a press conference today with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Chow also pointed out the C&S fee for the three roads and tunnel only comprised 1.86% of the entire project which costs RM5.49 billion to build.

He said this is lower than the "Gazetted Scale of Fees for Basic Professional Services" of a maximum of 2.54% for projects over RM1billion as imposed by the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM).

He said Penang Works, Transportation and Utilities Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng has written to BEM to arrange for a meeting with the body to explain the issue.

Asked for further clarification, Hock Seng said the total fee for consultancy services for the roads and tunnel was RM305million.

He pointed out this constituted some 5.5% of the entire construction cost which was still within the range of between 10% to 15%.

The roads are a 10.7km dual carriageway paired road with bicycle land from Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang, a 5.2km dual carriageway bypass from Bandar Baru Air ITam to Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu with fiver interchanges and a 4.2km dual
carriageway to connect the northern fringes of George Town to the eastern corridor of Penang island.

The tunnel is a 7.2km dual carriageway to link Pesiaran Gurney on the island to Bagan Ajam on the mainland.