It’s public lynching of state govt: Lim

> CM refutes reports on alleged kickbacks to state politicians

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has refuted reports by mainstream media on alleged kickbacks received by several politicians who are on the tender approval panel of the proposed RM6.3 billion crosschannel undersea tunnel project.

Lim described the reports as Barisan Nasional (BN) media trying to conduct a systematic public lynching of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state government, with anonymous sources from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) leaking false information, alleging that kickbacks were given to “key politicians” in the Penang undersea tunnel project, who received between tens of thousands and several million ringgit for their cooperation.

He said such malicious claims in press reports are dishonest not only because they are false and violate the very basis of fairness, but also an abuse of the powers of the press to vilify the Opposition, in the run-up to the coming general election.

“The BN media reports of kickbacks to Penang state government politicians are clearly a lie because firstly, how can there be kickbacks when not a single sen had been paid for the tunnel project?

“Secondly, there was no mention that the Independent Checking Engineer (ICE) is part of this conspiracy. It would be impossible for any payment, whether by cash or land swap by the state government, to the contractor unless the ICE verifies and supports such claims,” he said yesterday.

He also challenged the media to print the names of the so-called key politicians involved so that the Penang government can take legal action to protect its reputation.

Lim also expressed concerns that MACC passively allows such leaks of false information to occur without any punitive action and described it as disturbing and worrying.

He said details of investigations are not supposed to be disclosed and published in the press so as not to jeopardise investigations.

In BUKIT MERTAJAM, Umno Permatang Pauh division chief Datuk Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said said the Penang government should not blame the media over the extensive coverage surrounding the proposed cross-channel undersea tunnel project.

Mohd Zaidi said the media only reported what had been said by state government excos, including Guan Eng, in the latest scandal of the mega project.

“They should not put the blame on others and the media.

The media only reported what has been said by government officials and exco. The media is not responsible for what has happened,” he said.