Penang Gerakan acting Youth chief Jason Loo has purchased “important documents” related to the state’s most-talked-about undersea bed tunnel which would link the island to Butterworth.

Loo applied for the four documents under the state’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and has to fork out a total of RM500 for the documents.

They include the agreement inked by the Penang government with Consortium Zenith-BUCG to build the undersea bed tunnel and three related expressways.

Other materials are tender documents from all the companies which bid for the undersea bed tunnel project; agreement or the working paper for the company awarded to carry out the feasibility study and detailed design which cost RM305 million; and itemised or breakdown of all the costs related to the feasibility study.

“Everyone is curious how would a report cost Penangites RM305 million.

“With that amount of money, we can have 6,700 low cost houses (after 2008), Penangites can enjoy free toll for Penang bridge for more than one year and we can buy many shelters for stray animals,” Loo said.

“If they cancel the undersea tunnel, the rakyat of Penang will bear the cost, not the state government, so this is very serious,” he added.

Loo was referring to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s recent remarks that he was willing to forgo the undersea tunnel if Putrajaya was willing to approve a third bridge for Penang.

Loo also complained about the “lack of efficiency and knowledge” of civil servants handling the FOI as he had to wait for about one hour to obtain the receipts for his application.

“Technically, they have to key in all the information and the software used by the state government to process FOI applications is very limited,” Loo said.

Loo is not alone in his criticisms of the tunnel as civil society groups have questioned the feasibility of the RM6.3 billion tunnel and expressways which is expected to be ready by 2025 to 2030.

Anti-tunnel groups say that the tunnel has great environmental impact, but the Penang government countered that it has no choice but to build the link as the federal government will not approve the third bridge.

Loo is expected to received the documents he requested in 14 working days.

So far, he has attempted to purchase about 10 documents related to various state government projects in Penang.

He has obtained only one document related to affordable housing in the state but says the material is “incomplete”.

Loo has failed to obtain other documents due to various reasons, including his refusal to sign a statutory declaration for the classified document related to reclamation in Bayan Mutiara.

Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said the statutory declaration was necessary to prevent the opposition from distributing and politicising the documents.