FORMERLY known as VOIR Holdings Bhd, Vertice is confident in the successful execution of a mega infrastructure project in Penang.

Three major roads and a third link within the Penang Master Transport Plan (PTMP), the project is valued at RM6.3 billion, and comprises the North Coast Paired Road from Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang (Package 1), Ayer Itam-Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Bypass (Package 2), Persiaran Gurney-Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Bypass (Package 3) and the Third Link, the undersea tunnel from Persiaran Gurney to Bagan Ajam (Package 4).

The Edge reports that Vertice and Vizione Holdings Bhd secured the contract for Package 2 of the project last month, the 5.7km bypass from Bandar Baru Ayer Itam to Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu worth RM815 million, from Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd, (CZC) the main contractor.

Having faced opposition from local groups, they have also come under the spotlight in January when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) raided CZC (Vertice's 13.21% associate) in connection with the investigation into the undersea tunnel plan.

The RM6.3 billion price tag, and the RM305 million cost for the feasibility studies are what has brought it into news.

However, now, Vertice executive director says that the company is ready to move on.

"We have big plans ahead. We intend to dispose of our women's fashion apparel business by the end of this year, and hope to raise our stake in CZC in the first half of next year.

"We may secure more jobs in Penang in the last quarter of 2019," he tells The Edge.

When asked about the controversy around the project, he says CZC won the contract via open tender, and has completed the feasibility study of Packages 1, 2, and 3, and gotten land from the state government in exchange.

"Hence we do not see any possibility of the project being cancelled. The project was politicised in the past because the state and federal governments were from two different political parties. In fact, the feasibility study itself is not that expensive.

"The detailed design is what is expensive because it involves a lot of technical aspects. However, people politicised it to make it look bad. After the outcry, the Public Works Department and independent engineers came in to verify and prove that our quote is within a fair range," Wong said to the publication, adding that a detailed environmental impact assessment has been reviewed and approved by the Department of Environment.

"We are very confident the project can be executed successfully."

Wong says that work on Package 1 is estimated to begin in early 2020, and the contract likely awarded in the 4th quarter of 2019.

Package 3 is estimated to come around 2023, he says.

"Naturally, given the fact that we have common shareholders in Vertice and CZC, our (Vertice's) chances of securing Packages 1 and 3 are very high," he says, adding that nothing is confirmed at present.

When asked if Vertice will work with Vizione again for the aforementioned packages, Wong says there is no commitment for that.