GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he is willing to meet Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof to discuss the infrastructure for the proposed third bridge linking Gurney Drive and Bagan Ajam.
He said the state government was willing to provide the ministry the initial plan of an earlier proposal of such a bridge which was made when Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu was the Works Minister.
He said the plan could be used as a guideline.
Lim also said the state was willing to provide the ministry with the feasibility study for its proposed undersea tunnel.
He, however, stressed that the state government would only fulfil the technical specification requirement needed by the Federal Government after the latter gives its approval in principle for the bridge.
“Let us get the approval in principle first and let the engineers do the work since both of us are not engineers,” Lim said after witnessing the handing over of a sponsored pallet truck to the Penang Science Cluster at Wisma Yeap Chor Ee here yesterday.
Fadillah had said on Saturday that the Works Ministry was committed to conducting a fair evaluation of the proposal for the bridge and sought the cooperation of the Penang government to share with it the relevant documentation so that the ministry could make an informed decision.
“It is against the standard practice of the Federal Government to approve a multi-billion ringgit project without documentation, even if it is to be paid for by other sources such as private financing or by the state government itself,” he said in a statement.
He also said the state government should include the almost-completed RM305mil feasibility study and detailed design studies com-missioned and paid for by the state government for the undersea tunnel project and associated linked roads to help the Federal Government arrive at a decision.
