‘Penang govt trying to wash its hands of scandal’
GEORGE TOWN: If RM22 million was paid in an attempt to stop the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from carrying out its investigation into the proposed RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel project, what was the total sum of corruption involved?
This is the latest poser raised by MCA deputy president and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
He said Malaysians had been rocked by the recent news report that the tunnel project’s special purpose vehicle (SPV) paid RM22 million in a failed attempt to stop MACC’s probe into the mega undersea tunnel and three-paired roads projects.
He said the payments had since been confirmed by the SPV.
“Given these new developments, the DAP-led Penang gov ernment can no longer hide from answering my questions about the project, as it has over the past two weeks.
“Despite fiercely defending the SPV and the project in the past, recent statements from the Penang government seem to suggest that it is trying to distance itself from the SPV in a desperate attempt to wash its hands of this scandal.
“This is a cowardly move by the state government.
“Instead, it must take full responsibility and admit that this single-biggest scandal in the history of Penang, which may cost current and future generations of Penangites tens of billions of ringgit, is of its own making,” he said yesterday.