Guan Eng: If Wee were my student, he would fail

MCA minister Wee Ka Siong's recent video conference questioning the Penang government over the undersea tunnel project has irked its chief minister.

"If I am a lecturer and Wee is my student, he would fail. He does not seem to understand my lectures properly. He would surely fail in his exams," Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng told Malaysiakini today.

"How petty he can be? So just to make him happy I will say that we did not pay a single sen nor did we pay by a square inch to the contractor for the undersea tunnel," Lim quipped.

Saying he does not want to waste time responding to Wee, Lim said the MCA vice-president was merely trying to divert public attention from his own 'failures'.

"He is rehashing the same stuff over and over again like a broken record, stuck in nowhere," Lim added.

Wee was featured in a video clip where he questioned Lim over payment made for the 7.3km tunnel mega-project which is slated to link the island to Butterworth.

Today, Wee also questioned Lim on the 'Acknowledgment of commitment' agreement signed between the Penang government and Chinese firm China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd.

Wee did not mention, though, that the contents of the 'Acknowledgment of commitment' also appeared in the actual agreement signed between the Penang government and Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd, the contractor for the RM6.3 billion project, in 2013.

The tunnel project, slated for construction from 2023 till 2027, is currently subject of a major probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Lim insisted that the project was above board as it was awarded via an open tender process headed by state secretary Farizan Darus.

He maintained that only RM208 million was paid to Zenith for work done to obtain EAI approvals for the three major roads linked to the tunnel.

Last week, mainstream media reports quoted MACC sources as claiming there were kickbacks paid to state political leaders in the awarding of the project.

Lim then accused the MACC of practising double standards but the graftbusters denied this saying they were professional in carrying out their probe on the tunnel project.

At a press conference in Penang today, Lim said MACC deputy commissioner (operations) Azam Baki (above) had yet to answer why projects which were awarded without an open tender were not probed.

"Why is the tunnel project perceived as a project with elements of corruption while projects like the RM55 billion East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) with no open tender was not probed by the MACC?" Lim asked.

Lim also said MACC had failed to act quickly against those its staff who leaked the 'false news' to the newspapers that alleged kickback were paid to state officials for the award of the undersea tunnel project.

He recalled that the MACC acted swiftly when there was a leak of information involving the Johor menteri besar which was allegedly related to a housing scandal.

"In our case, the leak or false information was allowed to go on daily in the BN media although I said there is no element of corruption. It is clearly double standards," Lim said.

"We hope the MACC can maintain their integrity and not be tarnished by the negative impression of abusing their powers or carrying out a political witch-hunt in the run up to the 14th national polls," he said.- Mkini