CONSORTIUM Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd, the company building the controversial Penang undersea tunnel and three major highways, will brief the Penang government on the status of the project after the new executive council is sworn in, its chairman Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli said.

“We are committed. It has been five years. We are eager to move forward.

“We will update the state on the two roads that we have obtained EIA (environmental impact assessment) approvals for and the feasibility study for the tunnel, which is 97% completed,” he said when met at the Esplanade.

Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) held a farewell ceramah for outgoing chief minister Lim Guan Eng there. The event was also to welcome his successor Chow Kon Yeow.

Zarul was among the thousands at the event tonight, where supporters waved DAP flags instead of the PKR flag that all PH parties, including DAP, had contested under during GE14.

Zenith’s troubles with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and criticism of the project by Barisan Nasional (BN) before the election had cast doubt on whether the mega project would proceed.

The tunnel and highways were mooted five years ago before the 2013 general election. Consortium Zenith won an open tender called by the state government to undertake the project, with China Railway Construction Corporation as the contractor.

The ambitious multi-billion ringgit project quickly became controversial and unpopular with BN, which pledged to cancel it in its 2018 election manifesto.

In 2016, complaints were lodged with the MACC, leading to investigations by the anti-graft agency. Nothing so far has come out of the investigations.

In January this year, another probe was launched by MACC with the offices of Zenith, its developer partner Ewein, government departments and others raided.

The allegations involved kickbacks of millions of ringgit to politicians.

Zarul was among several people who were remanded to assist investigations. Numerous businessmen, consultants, civil servants and state government exco members were also hauled up for questioning.

New chief minister Chow earlier today said the project would proceed. – May 14, 2018.