Undersea tunnel probe not politically aimed at Guan Eng, court hears

 Lim Guan Eng is charged with using his position as then Penang chief minister to ask businessman Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli for a 10% cut of the profits from the undersea tunnel project and accepting RM3.3 million in kickbacks. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The investigating officer who probed the proposed undersea tunnel project in Penang told the sessions court here today that the investigation was not politically motivated against former chief minister Lim Guan Eng.

Zulhilmi Halim, from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), said he had thoroughly examined all witness statements, including those provided by Guan Eng.

“Our investigation was not motivated by ‘external parties’,” he said.

Other than recording statements from witnesses, Zulhilmi said he also reviewed minutes of state executive council meetings since 2011.

He told the court that plans for the undersea tunnel were discussed in these meetings since Jan 26, 2011.

“The chief minister told the meeting that a company was keen to build an undersea tunnel in Penang, and that Lim Hock Seng was tasked with handling the related matters while Faiza Zulkifli needed to look into the National Land Code and draft a memorandum of understanding (between Penang and a company),” he said.

Hock Seng was the executive councillor for public works, public utilities and transportation affairs while Faiza was the state legal adviser.

Former exco was ‘cautious’ over project, court hears

Zulhilmi said that in the subsequent exco meetings between February 2011 and April 2011, there were no discussions on how the undersea tunnel project should be awarded or whether the proposal should be revoked.

“(Only) during the meeting on May 4, one of the exco members, Abdul Malik Abul Kassim, said the state government needed to be cautious if they wanted to proceed,” he added.

Malik was the exco in charge of state Islamic, domestic trade and consumer affairs.

Zulhilmi said businessman Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli and several individuals met Hock Seng and state government representatives that same month.

He said Zarul informed them that the tunnel “would be difficult to build”.

The hearing continues before judge Azura Alwi from Jan 8 to 9, and on Feb 27 next year.

Guan Eng is charged with using his position as then Penang chief minister to ask Zarul for a 10% cut of the profits from the undersea tunnel project and accepting RM3.3 million in kickbacks from the businessman.

He is also accused of two counts of dishonestly misappropriating RM208.7 million worth of state land.