Lim: I've addressed tunnel issue but Najib remains coy on HK asset

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said he had repeatedly addressed criticism on the Penang tunnel project initiated when he was Penang chief minister.

However, Lim, who is also finance minister, said former premier Najib Abdul Razak was ignoring this so as to deflect his own controversy of selling a prized national asset in Hong Kong allegedly at lower than market price.

He said this in reference to Najib's insistence that Lim should address the tunnel issue before he is willing to talk about his attempted sale of the Malaysia Building in Hong Kong for RM1.1 billion through direct negotiation.

"I have repeatedly said that there are no problems with the undersea tunnel project as it was done through open tender.

"Furthermore, PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan who claimed the project did not go through open tender has also retracted his article in 2016, expressed regret and was ordered by the court to pay RM10,000 in a defamation case settlement with me," he said in a statement today.

The Penang government had called for a Request For Proposal (RPF) for the project but critics have disputed whether an RFP can be considered as open tender.

Putrajaya seeking higher bids

In contrast, Lim said Najib's attempted sale of the Malaysia Building in Hong Kong was done through direct negotiation which could have cost Malaysians RM500 million in potential profit.

Lim said the direct negotiation offer price of RM1.1 billion was significantly lower than the RM1.6 billion offer received when the new government terminated the initial offer and called for an open tender.

However, Lim said the government is now trying to get an even higher offer by conducting an international open tender.

"The international open tender is now underway with a reserve price of RM1.6 billion in order to court higher offers.

"The people await his explanation over why his government had sought to sell the Malaysia building through direct negotiation instead of open tender," he said. - Mkini