Undersea tunnel probe goes all the way up

GEORGE TOWN: Almost every member of the Penang state executive council under previous chief minister Lim Guan Eng has been questioned over alleged irregularities in the proposed undersea tunnel project.

The latest to face Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) investigators was current Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who served as state executive councillor when the project was mooted between 2008 and 2013.

The only person who has yet to be questioned is Lim himself, although he was the man in charge at the time.

The issue at hand is the awarding of the tender for the RM6.3 billion project.

Chow later told journalists most of the questions asked were about the undersea tunnel, which is part of the Penang Transport Master Plan.

He said during the questioning session, that began at 9am, he was also asked to confirm decisions made at the exco meetings to discuss the project.

Apart from Chow, current state executive councillors Jagdeep Singh Deo and Phee Boon Poh, as well as their former exco colleagues Datuk Lim Hock Seng and Datuk Abdul Malik Abdul Kassim were also questioned.

Former state secretary Datuk Seri Farizan Darus, and former executive councillors Danny Law Heng Kiang and Lydia Ong Kok Fooi were also seen making their way to the MACC office yesterday morning.

The only person to have been held overnight for questioning was Jeffery Chew Gim Eam, who served as special officer to Lim when he was chief minister.

The case is believed to revolve around the alleged high costs incurred for the feasibility study of the project, and the mechanism behind the land swap transactions which involved the state and two developers, including the delivery partner Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd. – by Ian McIntyre