KUALA LUMPUR: The Works Ministry is committed to a fair evaluation of the third Penang bridge proposal and seeks the cooperation of the state government to share relevant documentation.
Its minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the documents were important to make an informed decision in the best interest of the people as well as to assist the ministry in the decision making.
“One major document would be the almost-completed RM305 million feasibility and detailed design studies commissioned and paid for by the Penang government for the undersea tunnel project and associated linked roads.
“The Penang government had recently said that these studies are already completed or almost completed and that much of the study can be re-used if the tunnel is changed to a bridge,” he said in a statement here, yesterday.
Fadillah said the ministry also welcomed any other documentation relating to the proposed project.
He reiterated that it was against the standard practise of the Federal government to approve a multi-billion ringgit project without as much as a single piece of documentation accompanying the application.
“This applies for approvals in principle – even if it is to be paid for by other sources such as private financing or by the state government itself.
“I’m quite sure even planning permission applications to the Penang local councils require supporting documentation and that approvals in principles are not given based on only a letter,” he said.
Fadillah also said any application for infrastructure should be addressed to the Works Ministry directly, in the future.
“We would also appreciate that such application letters be free of political rhetoric. For example, terms like “anasir-anasir jahat” (negative elements) are not helpful and are not typically found in an application
letter for major infrastructure,” he said.
He was responding to a letter from Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on May 26 seeking approval for a third bridge linking Penang to the mainland in response to the many queries to the earlier-proposed underwater tunnel project. — Bernama