Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has filed a defamation suit against Penang Chinese Chambers of Commerce (PCCC) life honorary president Tan Kok Ping.
In a Facebook posting carrying his media statement today, Chow said the civil action is over Tan’s remarks - regarding a land deal - which was allegedly made during a press conference by the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce on Oct 18, last year.
“Using his capacity as the chamber’s life honorary president, Tan convened the press conference in respect of a joint development agreement dated Sept 27, 2023, for a proposed development project between Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and Umech Land Sdn. Bhd.
“Even though the termination of the agreement was already announced by PDC to the media and the public on Oct 16, 2023, Tan deliberately made a slanderous statement in Mandarin during the press conference calculated to attack my character, credibility, competency, and capability as the Penang chief minister and as PDC chairperson.
“The slanderous statement was eventually printed and published in, among others, several prominent Chinese language newspapers. Given that there was no attempt by Tan to apologise or to retract the slanderous statement made, I am compelled to pursue legal action against Tan,” Chow said.
In the same social media posting, Chow said his lawyers have extracted sealed copies of the suit’s writ of summons and statement of claim from the Penang High Court and that the documents would be served on Tan.
The plaintiff added that the civil court has also set Jan 24 for case management of the matter.
When reached by the media, the defendant said he has yet to be served with the court documents and would leave it to his lawyers to deal with the suit.
Seeking several reliefs
According to the suit’s cause papers, Chow is seeking several reliefs, among them a court order for Tan to publish an apology in several newspapers and news portals that carried the allegedly defamatory statement, as well as a retraction of the words complained of.
The plaintiff also seeks unspecified general, aggravated and exemplary damages, interests on compensatory damages, costs, and any other relief deemed fit by the court.
Tan’s alleged remarks were in response to PDC’s public announcement on Oct 16 last year about the cancellation of the controversial sale of state-owned land in Byram, South Seberang Perai.
According to PDC’s statement on that date, this occurred after a substantive change in the equity structure of Umech Land Sdn Bhd.
“This is to the extent that there is a change in the party controlling and leading the project without notifying and obtaining the PDC’s official approval.
“Therefore, the PDC Board decided to terminate the joint venture agreement with Umech Land Sdn Bhd by giving three months’ notice based on clause 19 of the PDC - Umech Land Sdn Bhd Enterprise Agreement,” it said.
It also announced that following the termination of the contract, it will be advertised widely by using various mass media channels through a Request For Proposal (RFP) for a proposed collaboration with PDC to develop the Byram Industrial Park Project.
Chow is represented by the law firm Simon Murali & Co. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.