Consortium’s bid to justify high cost draws Fadillah’s ire

GEORGE TOWN: An attempt by the consortium leading the Penang Undersea Tunnel project to justify high payments for consultancy fees drew the ire of the Works Ministry when it claimed the ministry “had no problems” with the cost.

Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said in a statement that he had in several statements over the past year pointed out that the total feasibility and design fees were excessive.

“Our ministry believes the cost is beyond the usual cost guidelines,” he said.

Consortium Zenith Construction chairman Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli told reporters yesterday the consortium did a “full presentation” on April 6 to Fadillah and his team to clarify the total payment of RM305mil raised by the minister.

“There were no adverse statements, remarks or comments raised during the briefing,” Zarul Ahmad said.

Fadillah stressed that the April 6 presentation was a project overview and an explanation for the delays of the feasibility studies on the undersea tunnel portion of the project.

“I regret that the consortium attempted to use my ministry’s name and mine in its attempts to defend itself in the serious overpayment of consultant fees for the three roads,” he said.

On Wednesday, Barisan Nasional strategic communications director Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan announced that his team sought the professional opinion of the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) on the costing of three paired roads meant to be the traffic dispersal system of the proposed undersea tunnel.

BEM was said to have replied that the RM177mil in detailed design costs was four times higher than the maximum allowed under the gazetted scale of fees, which the board calculated to be RM41mil.

Fadillah said his ministry stood by the professional opinion of BEM as the sole statutory board governing the gazetted scale of fees for civil works.

He stressed that the RM177mil paid did not include any consultancy work on the undersea tunnel itself.

In countering the findings, Zarul Ahmad said BEM’s RM41mil estimation consisted of only fees for designing civil and structural works.

He said the cost included 11 divisions of work such as mechanical and electrical, detailed environmental impact assessment, social and traffic impact studies, and financial feasibility and funding management.

He said foreign specialists were called in over design aspects such as the doubledecked elevated highway, land and marine tunnels.

“We do not have local specialists for such tasks. Their fees had to be benchmarked against international standards,” he said.

When asked, Zarul Ahmad told reporters that he would not be suing Rahman Dahlan for claiming that the consortium overcharged Penang by four times because he was also an Umno member in the Sungai Besi branch in Kuala Lumpur.

“I will not sue another Umno member. I have my ethics. I don’t do that to people,” he said in a press conference at Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s office.

Also present were Guan Eng and state Works Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng.