‘Penang folk stand to lose RM20bil’

People will incur huge financial losses from tunnel project, says Wee

PETALING JAYA: Penang people will suffer a financial loss of RM20.54bil due to the controversial undersea tunnel and the three paired roads project, said Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

Providing a breakdown of the total in a video on his Facebook, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said the RM6.34bil construction cost of the tunnel and the paired roads would be fully funded by the Penang government, yet the special purpose vehicle (SPV) in charge of the project was given a 30-year concession.

He added that a conservative average of RM100mil of toll collection a year meant the concessionaire would rake in RM3bil throughout the 30 years.

“Would you pay a contractor the full cost to build a house on your own land and allow the same contractor to collect rental on the house for another 30 years? No one in their right mind would!” Dr Wee said.

Despite the project being awarded in 2013, Dr Wee said the SPV was allowed to start construction 10 years later in 2023.

Construction cost of the tunnel – RM3.6bil – was to be paid with a land-swapping funding model at RM1,300 per sq ft as valued in 2013, he added.

“Although the Penang government will claim that the official land cost is just RM475 psf, no one should be fooled that such desirable seaside land along Gurney Drive only costs so little.

“In 10 years, when construction of the tunnel will actually begin, the value of this prime land will inevitably appreciate greatly as can be seen based on history.

“Therefore, the RM3.6bil worth of land will be worth RM5.8bil in 2023 if based on a mere 5% yearly appre- ciation. This means that the Penang people would have forgone another RM2.2bil in land value,” said Dr Wee.

He added that the Penang government would be forking out RM9bil in state funds and assets to build infrastructure that would chiefly benefit a planned private development of the SPV.

The RM9bil infrastructure included the RM7.5bil Pan-Island Link, Gurney Wharf and the planned RM400mil eight-lane Gurney Drive road.

“If you add up RM6.34bil, RM3bil, RM2.2bil and RM9bil, you will get RM20.54bil of financial impact to the Penang people,” Dr Wee said.

He reiterated that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should accept his challenge to debate publicly.

Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications deputy director Datuk Eric See-To hit out at Lim for asking Dr Wee to shut up if the latter could not name corrupt individuals in the project.

“Naming who is corrupted is not Dr Wee’s job. It is the job of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC),” he said in a statement.