Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (Zenith) chairman Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli said it was unethical for an Umno member to sue another, and he would refrain from doing so.
“I have ethics. Besides, I am an Umno member and I don’t want to sue another Umno member.
“For Rahman to do this, I am very hurt.
“It’s unbecoming for him to carry on with this relentless onslaught against me. I wonder what wrong I have done against him,” Zarul said in a press conference at Komtar today.
Zarul was responding to a reporter’s query on whether he would sue Rahman who, as Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications director, has been attacking his company.
“Also, I am a genuine Bumiputera businessman. I think everyone knows that I am a self-made man, and not ‘Ali Baba’,” Zarul said, referring to the name given for projects where a Bumiputera businessman sub-contracts his work to a non-Bumiputera company.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was also present at the press conference, said there was nothing defamatory in Rahman’s statement, hence a suit was not necessary.
Lim said Zarul’s company winning the open tender for the RM6.3 billion project involving an undersea tunnel and three major roads showed that the Penang government was not bothered about political links.
“I hate to say this, it shows that even though Zarul is an Umno member, we chose his company because it offered the lowest price.
“If I only knew that, I would not have (approved). But regardless we have to follow the rules,” Lim said in jest to Zarul, before asking the Zenith chairman to use his Umno channels to meet with Rahman.
Zarul said he and Rahman had exchanged contact numbers before, and there was no reason for Rahman not to call him for more details.
“Rahman can check with Rauf, he is a good friend,” Zarul said, referring to Umno’s executive secretary Ab Rauf Yusoh.
Meanwhile, Lim poured scorn on Rahman after a reporter asked further questions regarding the Umno minister’s “Penang tunnel expose” on Monday.
Lim said he would not bother to answer to a “chicken minister” who had refused to debate with him.
In March this year, Rahman had challenged Lim to a debate on a piece of Penang land slated for housing. Lim accepted, but Rahman called the debate off upon the advice of Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.
“Rahman thinks we are building a Lego set, is it? Not one person can do all. An undersea tunnel is not something where one person can do it all,” Lim said.
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