MINISTRY STANDS FIRM ON PENANG FEES ISSUE

Stop being in denial over consultant fees, urges minister

THE Works Ministry continues to maintain that the pre-construction consulting fees paid by the Penang government are excessive and above long-established guidelines.

Yesterday, its minister, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, urged the Penang government to stop denying that the consultant fees paid by the state for three paired roads were excessive.

“It is astounding to see the DAP-led Penang government’s continued insistence that the total RM220 million in consulting fees paid to date for three roads is not excessive.

“This is despite our explanation relating to the inaccuracies that (state Local Government Committee chairman) Chow Kon Yeow had made in his earlier attempt to justify the excessive fees,” Fadillah said.

He cited an example of a project in Johor in which the Public Works Department had paid about RM19 million in total pre-construction consulting fees for a paired road highway project.

He said the fees comprised all the required services, which included fees for all surveys.

“Twenty-five per cent of the fees were withheld for tendering and construction stages in accordance to Board of Engineers’ guidelines.

“Compare this with the RM220 million pre-construction fees that is already paid by the Penang government which represent 11.06 per cent of the RM1.99 billion construction cost for the three roads,” he said

Meanwhile, the Penang government was told not to start any reclamation works for its Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) project before getting the green light from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.