Is Koh Tsu Koon lying again?

On 21st of January, 2008, I accompanied Danny Law, DAP Penang State Secretary and others to visit the construction site of second Penang Bridge, where the groundbreaking ceremony had taken place on 12th of November, 2006.

We found that nothing much has been done at the construction site so far although China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd. (CHEC) expected to start work on the second Penang Bridge in November 2007 for completion in 2011.

According to the Star news report on 10 December 2007, actual construction work on the RM3 billion second Penang Bridge has started after completion of initial works.

China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) said in a statement that soil investigation work will end in December 2007 while topography surveys and underwater works were completed in September and October 2007 respectively.

CHEC also said test piling began in November 2007 and to date, it has completed three clusters of seven piles each.

However, the latest news report quoted Penang Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon as saying that commencement of the second Penang Bridge project is delayed as the state government wants to resolve several matters involving fishermen as well as fish and cockle breeders who will be affected by the project.

He said the implementation of the project could affect the livelihood of 1,500 fishermen and the breeders, who claimed the project could threaten the area's ecosystem.

Apart from that, he said, it would also take time to settle matters involving land acquisition and environmental studies for the project.

So, is Koh Tsu Koon lying, again?