Reveal direct tenders under BN and PN - Guan Eng tells Zafrul

Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng today challenged his successor to reveal all government projects which were dished out through a direct negotiation process during the BN era and the current Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration.

This came after Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz released a list of 101 direct tender projects worth RM6.61 billion, which he alleged were approved by the Pakatan Harapan government when Lim was the minister in charge of finance.

While the Bagan MP had refuted the list issued by Zafrul, he urged the senator not to practise double standard by only revealing projects during Harapan's time.

Lim also took a swipe at MACC, which he alleged only wanted to look into Harapan-approved projects but had turned away from others. 

"Zafrul should reveal the direct negotiation projects awarded during the BN era, and most importantly, those which he himself had approved in the PN government.

"Let the people be the judge. Do not be like MACC who only wants to study direct negotiation projects under Harapan, but leave out BN and PN.

"Let the facts speak for themselves," Lim told a press conference held at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

On Monday, Zafrul said in Parliament that a total of 101 direct negotiations projects were approved during the 22 months when Harapan was in power, before releasing the list of the projects worth RM6.6 billion including the name of companies who received them.

Lim had since refuted this, saying that Harapan was only responsible for 5.3 percent of the directly awarded contracts mentioned by Zafrul, while most of the RM6.61 billion went to legacy projects (67.7 percent) and contracts for supplies or services (26.5 percent) taken on during the BN administration.

MACC had on Monday issued a statement saying that they would do a thorough study on the projects on the list, to determine whether there exist elements of corruption, irregularities, or abuse of power related to the matter.

On this, Lim said the MACC should not only study the direct negotiation tenders under Harapan.

"Don't study only Harapan (projects). Study also those during BN and PN. Otherwise, it is a double standard," he said.

According to Lim, when Harapan was in power, direct negotiation projects were only 0.07 percent from the total amount of tenders, but sceptical if this would be the case with BN and PN.

'Take out two projects from the list'

Among the projects listed by Zafrul was an RM29.9 million contract to a company known as Sports Media & Distributor Sdn Bhd, the sole owner of the World Cup 2018's broadcasting rights in Malaysia; and RM5.3 billion worth contracts for the Klang Valley Double Tracking (KVDT) Phase 2.

Lim said these two projects should be taken out from the list, saying that the broadcasting contract was sponsored by private companies; while the KVDT Phase 2 was a project inherited from BN administration.

"This company that has sole rights was not appointed by the government, but by Fifa (the Federation Internationale de Football Association) in Zurich. They got a monopoly right, and we had to do direct negotiation.

"The cost is sponsored by AirAsia and Maxis. They paid RTM, which then paid the distributor," he said.

Lim told the presser that the government had even made RM3.3 million profit from the project.

"But even when the government benefits, still Lim Guan Eng gets blamed," he said in jest.

KVDT Phase 2, on the other hand, was signed by BN a day before the parliament was dissolved in 2018.

Harapan had to continue the project to avoid any legal repercussions, Lim said, adding that they managed to renegotiate the contract and brought down its cost down by RM790 million.

"The finance minister did not mention that RM790 million was saved (by Harapan) and that this direct negotiations project was from the BN era.

"This shows that he intended to politicise this issue with an ill intention."

Lim: 'Zuraida should go after Zafrul, not me'

Meanwhile, Lim was asked on the claim by Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, who said that two direct negotiation projects worth RM170 million awarded by her ministry during Harapan era were done without her knowledge.

For the record, Zuraida held the same portfolio when she was in Harapan cabinet under Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister. She then defected from the party and became part of the PN government under Muhyiddin Yassin.

Zuraida's political aide Nor Hizwan Ahmad had also weighed in on the claim, alleging that it was Lim's ministry who handled the projects directly.

However, Lim sidestepped the question, saying that Zuraida should deal with Zafrul instead.

According to him, Zuraida should be going after Zafrul as the latter was the one who came out with the list, which placed the projects under her ministry.

"It was not me who revealed this. It was her own colleague in the cabinet. So, she should direct this to the finance minister instead of me.

"From how I see it, she wants to fight this against the minister but using me as her bridge so that it would not look obvious.

"If she wants to make a correction, then she should deal with the finance minister. That is their problem, not mine," he said. - Mkini