Hafarizam: Highway contract won on merit, not a reward

Umno legal advisor Mohd Hafarizam Harun has denied claims that two companies in which he has interests were awarded a RM2.2 billion highway concession as a reward for his role in the BN takeover of Perak.

Hafarizam said the two companies had faced “stiff competition” during the tender process and that their experience with a 179km double-tracking project had been taken into consideration.

“We have a proven track record (in the double-tracking project) from Rawang to Ipoh. The (notion) of a ‘reward’ for Perak, I think that is too much and hitting (under) the belt,” he said in text-message to Malaysiakini.

“It has no relation at all. We won on merit! We are amongst the few bumiputera companies awarded. Why attack us when there are others... I am sure you’ll know who else got it. I mean I (the company) won on merit not because I've been promised or of some sort.”

Hafarizam was asked to comment on allegations by self-exiled blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin who accused the federal government of cronyism in the award of the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway project.

Raja Petra (left) pointed out that Hafarizam sits on the board of the two companies - Emrail Sdn Bhd and Zabima Engineering Sdn Bhd.

He also said that another director of Emrail is Nik Sazlina Mohd Zain, the wife of former chief justice Zaki Azmi.

He hinted that Hafarizam and Zaki may have been “rewarded” for their respective roles in the court battles that ensued after the BN takeover of the Perak government in February 2009.

Hafarizam was one of the lawyers representing BN’s Zambry Abd Kadir, the current Perak menteri besar, while Zaki was the chief justice at that time. Zaki did not sit on any of the panels which heard the cases.

Zaki declines comment

When contacted, Zaki declined to comment on record, but made several off-the-record comments on Raja Petra that cannot be published for legal reasons.

Zaki (right) had previously denied any role in hearing cases connected to the Perak constitutional crisis case.

The Edge Financial Daily had on Friday named seven companies that bid for the highway project, naming Bina Puri Holdings Bhd, Mudajaya Group Bhd, and privately owned Pesona Metro Sdn Bhd among them.

The report claimed that Plus Expressway Bhd was to have been awarded the project, which will divert traffic from the congested Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong highway.

Pesona was said to have been the front-runner for the project.