MACC RELAUNCHES PROBE INTO PENANG UNDERSEA TUNNEL PROJECT
More may be quizzed after arrest of Penang Port Commission chief, reveals source
THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has relaunched the probe into the Penang undersea tunnel project following new evidence which it received on the matter.
Sources close to the investigation told the New Straits Times that this time, more witnesses from the Penang government would be called in to assist in the investigation.
The source confirmed that former Penang Port Commission chairman Jeffrey Chew was the first to be arrested yesterday as investigators intensified their probe into the matter.
“More people from the state government will definitely be summoned to assist the probe into the tunnel project. If need be, more arrests will be made.
“This time around, we hope to wrap up the investigation as soon as possible.”
The source remained tightlipped on the new evidence it had received. Another source said there were several technical issues they needed to tie up from their previous investigation into the tunnel project.
Last year, the graftbuster had said it had opened six investigation papers on the tunnel project since allegations of corruption surrounding the development were raised in 2017.
The graftbuster also said that the first investigation paper was opened in July 2017, while the remaining five were opened in January 2018.
The project, which costs RM6.3 billion and consists of four components, includes three road projects measuring 30km.
The development has long courted controversy, especially over the high cost of its RM305 million feasibility studies, as well as the nearly two year-long delay in its completion.
In an entry on his portal www.malaysia-today.net in March last year, blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin named several Penang DAP leaders and state government officials who he alleged were involved in corrupt practices involving the project.
He had claimed to have been given a 200-page document by an individual at the MACC, and that he would produce extracts of its contents in several online instalments to expose the matter.
The MACC had lodged a police report over claims made by Raja Petra in relation to the Penang undersea tunnel project.
In April last year, a businessman who was implicated in the tunnel scandal was slapped with 68 money laundering charges involving RM11.4 million.