KUALA LUMPUR: The signing of two memoranda for the Penang undersea tunnel project in front of then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in 2011 was an occasion which Lim Guan Eng claimed had made others envious of him, says a witness.
Businessman Datuk Zarul Ahmad Zulkefli, the director of Consortium Zenith BUCG (CZBUCG) Sdn Bhd who had made the signing ceremony on April 28 that year successful, said Lim, who was then Penang chief minister, was very pleased.
When asked what was Lim’s reaction, Zarul Ahmad said he did not recall the exact words.
“But I’m certain he was happy. He said that many others were ‘mata merah’ (envious) that he got to sign it in front of the two top leaders,” he said.
Zarul Ahmad is the 23rd prosecution witness in Lim’s corruption trial and was recalled to the stand by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharudin Wan Ladin yesterday.
Two MOUs were inked between the Penang state government and CZBUCG’s holding company, Beijing Urban Construction Group.
When reading parts of his statement in court, Zarul Ahmad said he was “touched and thankful” when his company was awarded the RM6.3bil undersea tunnel project in 2013.
“But such feelings were short-lived because the next day, my company was criticised by Barisan Nasional parties, saying Penang has awarded the project to a ‘RM2 company’,” he said.
Although his company had the head-start through his meetings with a former state leader and his involvement in the request for proposal preparation meetings before that, Zarul Ahmad said it did not mean his company was certain to get the project, knowing that other companies were also shortlisted for pre-qualification.
“I was still worried that YB Lim Guan Eng might influence any upcoming decision,” he said.
To a question, Zarul Ahmad said there was “nothing wrong” if the undersea tunnel project was done through direct negotiations.
“This undersea tunnel is needed to resolve Penang’s traffic jam, so awarding it through direct negotiation would be justifiable,” he added.
The court also heard the cross-examination involving Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) recording officer Asst Supt Muhammad Nazree Mansor, the 15th prosecution witness.
On Wednesday, Muhammad Nazree had read out statements recorded from Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng, the founder and executive chairman of Ewein Bhd who claimed he was somewhat worried for his safety after making revelations that he had met with Lim over suitable land for development in Penang.Ewe made the disclosure in a statement recorded at the MACC’s Penang headquarters on Aug 14, 2021, which Muhammad Nazree said was “recorded by hand”.
He had earlier testified that he recorded Ewe’s statement four times – on July 3, 8 and 9 in 2020, and on Aug 14 last year – but admitted that he did not record the statement in full the last time.
According to the statement he read out on Wednesday, he had prodded Ewe on his statement being different from what he told the MACC previously, upon which Ewe replied that he felt compelled to tell the truth as he “had kept too many secrets about this” and there would come a time “when things get uncovered” and affect his business.Ewe, who was supposed to be a prosecution witness in the trial, fell from his condominium’s balcony at Jalan Kelawei in Penang on Oct 5 last year.
When asked yesterday, Muhammad Nazree said he decided to record the statement by hand as he did not have a laptop at hand when Ewe suddenly said he wanted to make an additional statement to the MACC
He added that Ewe’s statement was taken in the auditorium, which had no recording facilities.
Although there were rooms with recording facilities in the building, he said there were many formalities involved when an officer wanted to use them, including approval by superiors and setting up the video recording equipment.
Lim’s counsel, Gobind Singh, then raised questions over the last page of the handwritten statement, which also contained some typed text.
Gobind: If this is handwritten, how would you know where exactly would Ewe’s statement end, for you to add in the typewritten parts right below?
Muhammad Nazree: I have no answer.
Gobind: Was this statement fabricated by you?
Muhammad Nazree: I do not agree.
During a re-examination by Wan Shaharudin, Muhammad Nazree said he was aware of the contradictions in Ewe’s statements when he was taking them down, and reminded Ewe about it.
Gobind later asked the court to allow Muhammad Nazree to be subject to recall for further proceedings, arguing he had “clearly contradicted himself during re-examination”, a request allowed by Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi.
The trial resumes on April 1.