The local member of parliament has a set of hard questions for Works Minister S Samy Vellu regarding the sudden closure of the two-year-old Middle Ring Road II flyover in Kepong as a result of cracks on its pillars and beams.

"On what ground has Samy Vellu based his RM20 million repair bill?" asked Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw, who is also vice-chairman of the opposition DAP.

"On what criteria did the government award the RM238.8 million MRR II project to the consortium of Sukmin Sdn Bhd, Bumihiway (M) Sdn Bhd and Konsortium Kontraktor Melayu?

"And if the flyover has no design fault, why have all the 33 pillars cracked? Should there be a construction flaw, why must it affect all the pillars?"

The government has ordered the three-month closure of the 1.7km flyover between the Taman Bukit Maluri and Forest Research Institute of Malaysia interchanges in the interests of public safety.

According to Samy Vellu, the flyover project's contractors had engaged a consultant from Australia's Monash University, while his ministry had appointed a German consultant.

However, the recommendations of the two consultants differed, so a third independent consultant will now be appointed to determine the next course of action.

Yesterday, Samy Vellu insisted there was no flaw in the flyover's design as the Monash University's consultants had certified that the design was safe.

But he added that the government is awaiting the final confirmation from an independent consultant, who will be appointed within days.

Samy Vellu also said that the government has yet to decide on who should foot the hefty repair bill.

"I have told the cabinet that the RM20 million repair bill is not easy an amount to be spent by the contractor. This is no time to sit down to quarrel over who is to pay for the repairs but it is the time to do it to safeguard the people's interests," he said.

The minister also disclosed that space-age carbon-fibre pre-stressed trusses would be used to repair the pillars, the beams and the girders of the damaged flyover.

Open to scrutiny

Meanwhile Bernama today quoted Samy Vellu as saying that the doors of his ministry are always open to the Anti-Corruption Agency should they want to investigate possible irregularities involving the multi-million ringgit project.

"Our office is always open to the ACA - come in and take the relevant files if you want to investigate the MRR II. We have nothing to hide," he said.

He was responding to a statement by Kuala Lumpur ACA director Chuah Chang Man yesterday that the agency would investigate whether there were any wrongdoings in the construction of the project, provided a report was lodged with the agency on the matter.

Chuah had said that to date the agency had not received any report on the matter but "if there are any reports, we will conduct investigations into the matter immediately."

However, Samy Vellu's statement came with a caveat - while the ministry was ever willing to assist the ACA in its investigations, the Kepong stretch of the MRR II would nevertheless remain closed until investigations were completed.

"Let the ACA investigate... but until then we will stop work. We will not be opening the road in three months.

"Whoever wants to report, please report to the ACA. Want to report to the police, please go ahead and report to the police. We will not stop anyone," he added.