GEORGE TOWN: Penang Barisan Nasional today claimed that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had lied on at least four issues in relation to the proposed undersea tunnel project.
The four issues included Lim’s admission that not a single sen was paid for the tunnel project; the cost of preparing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the three paired roads project, which is another component of the tunnel project; the land swap deal; and the 20ha of land given to the contractor.
State BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow claimed that the answers given by Lim on the issues had shown that he lied to the people of Penang, unless he manages to prove that all the documents furnished by BN were fake and fabricated.
“I am prepared to face the chief minister in court to seek the truth. I will continue to speak out for the interest of the people.
“I have instructed my lawyers to study the chief minister’s accusation that I lied on this issue. I reserve my legal rights to take him to court.
“Let the people of Penang judge who is indeed lying,” he told a press conference at the state Gerakan headquarters here today,” he said.
Teng first addressed Lim’s claim that the state government did not pay a ‘single sen’ for the tunnel project. He said answers provided to the state legislative assembly on Nov 2 last year showed that the Penang government had paid RM11.2 million in cash to HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd, as the technical consultant of the project.
On the cost for preparing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the three paired roads project, Teng said Lim had claimed that the only payment the state had made so far was RM208 million for the completed EIA for the project.
“However, in the state Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report dated Oct 19,2015 and tabled to the state legislative assembly, it was clearly stated that the cost of conducting the EIA report for the three paired roads project would be borne by the contractor.
“When I spoke in my press conference on Tuesday, Lim issued a statement yesterday saying that the cost of preparing the EIA report will finally be borne by the contractor.
“So, again...who is the one lying?” Teng asked.
Teng said, as for the land swap deal, Lim had reiterated that the RM208 million payment was made to the contractor in the form of a land swap, involving one 1.48ha piece of undeveloped land at an above market price of RM1,300 per sq ft.
“Again, in a reply to a question in the state assembly on May 19, last year, the state government had made public that Lot 702 and partial Lot 713 in Bandar Tanjung Tokong had been given to the contractor on Feb 17, 2015 and March 22, last year respectively.
He noted that the reply in the state assembly involved two plots of land, and not one.
“The value of 1.48ha of land under lot 702 was valued at RM135 million, while 0.8ha under partial Lot 713 was valued at RM73 million. This makes the total value RM208 million,” he added.
Lastly, on the 20ha of land given to the contractor, Teng said Lim had claimed that the state government did not grant the land to the contractor.
“Lim had said that neither was the state government responsible for any business transactions entered into by the contractor with other private companies which the state government was not privy to or had approved.
“However, it was clear that Lim had attended the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the contractor and a private company for the development of a wellness residential project spread over a 20ha of land in Bandar Tanjung Pinang.
“In a report available in Lim’s official Facebook page, CM Lim Guan Eng, which was shared from Buletin Mutiara, it was said that the wellness residential project was part of a land swap deal given to the contractor by the state government for constructing the undersea tunnel and three paired roads projects worth RM6.3 billion,” Teng said.
Teng said, as the chief minister, Lim was answerable to the people on all the decisions he had made.
He also stressed that he would not be intimidated by Lim’s legal threat.
“His purpose is to shut my mouth from exposing more scandals of the DAP-led Penang government.
“I am doing it for the interest of the people of Penang.
“I stand by what I had said in the previous press conference. Lim had lied in his reply to questions on the three paired roads unless he proves that all the documents I produced in supporting my arguments are fake and fabricated,” he added.