The RM250 million contract to build an eight-lane road linking the old and new Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complexes in Johor Baru was awarded to Gerbang Perdana Sdn Bhd on the basis of cost-effectiveness, said Works Minister S Samy Vellu.

In the Dewan Rakyat today, he said it would have taken longer for the project to start if the government had called an open tender.

"We could have called a new tender but this would have taken about six months and it would have taken another three months to award the project to a contractor. The price of construction materials could have gone up by then and would be higher than the price quoted in the contract," he said when winding up on points related to his ministry under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

"The government awarded the contract to this contractor (Gerbang Perdana) because it can carry out the work at a much lower cost."

He said the contractor has completed 30 percent of the work and that telling them to move out of the construction site would have involved additional compensation.

A fortnight ago, the cabinet decided to scrap the construction of the half -bridge across the Causeway which Gerbang Perdana was to have built.

Dissatisfied with Samy's answer, Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) said work done by the contractor to date was for the half-bridge and that this should not be used as an excuse to award the highway project to the same company.

He asked if the proposed RM100 million compensation to Gerbang Perdana would be withdrawn, since the company will be allowed to build the highway now.

'Reveal the contract'

Responding, Samy said the government has yet to decide the amount of the compensation, but that the quantum and the new project were separate issues.

"The government has stopped the company from working for 712 days from Feb 5, 2004 to Jan 18 (this year). This was to allow the government to continue negotiating with Singapore (over the half-bridge)," he said.

Of the cost of building the highway, RM80 million will be used to build a new link road and RM75 million will be spent on replacing a viaduct at Tanjung Puteri.

"This will cost about RM150 million in all. In addition, part of the CIQ will have to be demolished and rebuilt. We also have to clean up the sea around the area. All of this will involve money," he said.

Lim challenged the minister to reveal details of the contract to the House. Samy claimed that, although this was "no big secret", it was not a practice to reveal the document in the Dewan Rakyat.

When Lim pressed him for a personal copy, the minister declined saying that the works ministry only acts an agent on behalf of the Finance Ministry.