Gerakan unconvinced by Lim's denial of graft in tunnel project

Gerakan has continued to pile pressure on Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to sue Raja Petra Kamaruddin if the blogger's allegations of graft in the Penang undersea tunnel project are indeed false.

Party deputy president Oh Tong Keong said Lim should also demand an apology from the fugitive blogger – not just for himself, but also on behalf of the Penang and federal governments.

Oh added that he was unconvinced by the former Penang chief minister branding the accusations on Raja Petra's blog "ridiculous lies" yesterday.

"Lim must explain more transparently. If there is no such thing (graft), he should lodge a police report or sue Raja Petra," he said in a statement today.

The Gerakan leader was similarly sceptical of Lim pointing out that corruption could not be involved in the RM6.3 billion project, as it was awarded to contractor Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC) via open tender.

"Whether the project is open tender or not, it is not directly related to whether it involves kickbacks," he said, adding that the MACC should conduct an investigation into the allegations.

"If anyone violates the law, no matter who he is, he must be charged in the court. The MACC must be independent, free from political interference and fearless.

"RM6.3 billion is a big amount and the government must be transparent, and conduct the project without any black-box operations."

Read more: Raja Petra's graft claims 'pure fiction', says tunnel boss

Last Thursday, the MACC filed a police report over Raja Petra's blog post, which contained documents the blogger claimed were the agency's investigation papers.

He alleged that these documents implicate several DAP leaders, including Lim, as having received kickbacks from the tunnel project contractor.

In a statement today, CZC senior executive Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli dubbed Raja Petra's allegations "pure fiction," and reminded critics of the project that he was hauled up by the MACC for 11 days when BN was in power.

According to Zarul, works for the project – which consists of three highways and an undersea tunnel in its entirety – will commence on Aug 31.

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