Penang exco Lim Hock Seng has insisted that federal minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan meets him after the latter said he was dissatisfied with the Penang government's explanation about the undersea tunnel mega project.

"I have repeatedly invited Abdul Rahman Dahlan to come to my office to scrutinise the relevant documents himself, but he has refused to do so.

"Maybe he is afraid to face the truth. I will be overseas starting tomorrow and I am prepared to meet him at my office next Thursday," he said in a statement today.

In the statement, Lim also clarified several issues raised about the project, stating that the cost for three main roads as well as the undersea tunnel is RM3.7 billion and not RM6.341 billion as claimed.

He added that the tunnel will only be completed in 2027 when the two other Penang bridges linking the island and mainland hit its capacity.

"The toll imposed on the tunnel also does not have a traffic volume guarantee, unlike the toll concession by BN which makes it compulsory for the federal government to pay compensation if the number of vehicles paying toll is insufficient," he said.

Furthermore, he said the feasibility study for the undersea tunnel, which will be the third link between Penang island and the mainland, is RM20 million and not RM305 million as claimed and payment had yet to be made.

Lim added that the valuation of RM475 per square foot for the land, that was swapped with Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG) in exchange for developing the project, was done by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), a federal agency.

He said the price of RM1,300 per square foot is contained within the agreement between the state government and CZBUCG and the JPPH valuation was used as a basis to determine the land's future price.

Lim also denied Rahman's (photo) accusation that he had claimed CZBUCG's deal with a third party company Ewein Berhad was "secret".

"I have never said the transaction between the two private entities was a confidential transaction.

"This is a malicious slander by Abdul Rahman Dahlan," he said.

Lim stressed that the contract granted to CZBUCG was done through open tender and it was chosen for offering the lowest price and being capable of fulfilling the technical specifications.

"Why does open tender by a Harapan state is said to be in the wrong but the crony tender by the BN government isn't wrong?" he asked.

Lim also denied Rahman's claim that the Penang government paid 11 percent of the project price for civil and structural consultation fee.

"He was lying as the civil and structural fee paid to CZBUCG was only 2.5 percent, lower than the 2.54 percent rate set by the Board of Engineers Malaysia," he said.

Lim also said the state government's deal is unaffected even with a reduction in shareholding by China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC) in CZBUCG.

He also stressed the project is subjected to a detailed environmental impact assessment and the Department of Environment's approval while the feasibility study is still pending.

He noted that a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) report had been made over the project and the state government is prepared to give its full cooperation.