GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Undersea Tunnel feasibility study report has finally reached 92.9 per cent completion, some 30 months after it started.
Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (Zenith) senior executive director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli said they had been concentrating on the Lebuhraya Air Itam - Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu and North Coastal Paired Road projects so far.
He said they would focus on completing the undersea tunnel project feasibility study only after the two road projects start.
“We are now focusing all our resources on implementing the two road projects, namely the Lebuhraya Air Itam - Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu and North Coastal Paired Road that connects Tanjung Bunga to Teluk Bahang.
“In fact, we are still waiting for approval from the Department of Environment on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the road projects.
“We expect to start the undersea tunnel project only in 2023,” he told newmen here today.
He was responding to Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof’s statement on Monday, questioning the delay in submitting the feasibility study report to him.
Fadillah had said that he found the delay in submitting the feasibility report and the detailed design studies, which were reported to cost RM305 million, "very unusual" as the project was awarded in April 2013 and RM220 million had been paid by the Penang government to the consortium via land swap.
He had said that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had written to him in April last year, asking for the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project to be changed to a third bridge project.
He had also said that after some initial hesitancy, Lim then gave the excuse that the studies were 83 per cent completed and promised that it would be completed by the end of last year and sent to the ministry.
Fadillah said that did not happen and when asked about the delay in March this year, Lim had said it was still only 87 per cent completed and promised that they would submit the report in six months, a deadline which had passed.
Zarul said they had presented to the state executive councillor that they did not want to “waste their time” with the studies at this moment as their focus was on the road projects which would be implemented soon.
“For us, we feel this (undersea tunnel) is not urgent and have stressed it to state government and presented it to the state executive councillor.
“We don’t want to waste our efforts on undersea tunnel when it is not going to happen any time soon.
“There is a long way to go for the undersea tunnel project and there is no urgency to complete the studies, which will incur cost, and the state government will not pay us until we get the whole milestone completed for that portion of the work.
“What is going to happen soon are the road projects, for which we have been awaiting the EIA approval for a long time,” he said.
Zarul added that there had been no delay on the consortium’s part in carrying out the project and that any delay was due to factors outside their control.
Meanwhile, state Public Works Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said that the Penang government had listened to the consortium’s concerns and had advised them to focus on the road projects.
“We hope that the EIA approval will be given soon so that we can start the highway projects, which is our priority.
“In fact, in the request for proposal (RFP), the schedule completion for the undersea tunnel is 2027. So we still have a lot of time. The project will be completed in four years once is starts in 2023,” he added.