PAP CHALLENGES DAP TO DECLARE EXCO MEMBERS NEVER RECEIVED MONEY

GEORGE TOWN: China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), the main contractor for the controversial undersea tunnel project, has refuted claims that it is one of the shareholders in the special-purpose vehicle (SPV) set up for the project.

Online portal laksou.com reported that CRCC general manager Sun Ming denied the portal’s claims of the company’s involvement in the project as a joint shareholder with Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd holding 70 per cent of the SPV.

Three other companies, Beijing Urban Construction Group, Juteras Sdn Bhd and Sri Tinggi Sdn Bhd, each hold 10 per cent of the project.

However, the report claiming that CRCC was a shareholder was inconsistent with the statement by State Secretary Datuk Seri Farizan Darus on March 4, 2013.

CRCC told the portal that it was responsible only for the construction of the project.

“We are not participating (in any matter other than construction). We are only in charge of the construction, but until now, (the project) has not begun,” Sun was quoted as saying.

Since the matter was reported, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong had urged the state government to come clean and explain the function of the company in connection with the multi-billion ringgit project.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng uploaded a video to his Facebook page on Friday to answer questions raised by Wee on investors.

In the video, he said the composition of shareholders would not affect the project as they were not the main contractor, which was CRCC.

This was based on the contract signed between the state government and CRCC on Oct 6, 2013.

Lim said: “CRCC gave (their) commitment... that they shall render all their expertise to ensure the project’s success.”