He said he was surprised that after nearly two years of investigations, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had decided to act now.
“I am astonished because the tender (for the undersea tunnel project) was given openly, through an open tender. The tunnel’s tender process was overseen and monitored by an international accounting firm, KPMG.
“And I am also astonished why this investigation never ended since it began in 2016. We wonder what you (MACC) are investigating.
“We have given full cooperation to MACC, then and now. We hope this (latest investigation) is not because of the election cycle.
“We hope this is not because of elections, and we hope this is not an attack by pro-Barisan Nasional forces against the state government,” he said at a press conference in Komtar.
Yesterday, MACC officers descended on government and private companies involved in the Penang undersea tunnel project.
It was also learnt that two “Datuks” from two construction companies will be remanded by MACC today.
Lim said MACC should give some publicity to the Perda land deal as well, since the agency had also been investigating that case.
“It is a very serious issue as there are big losses there,” he added.
Last year, Lim revealed that a 3.4ha plot of land belonging to Perda, valued at RM16.6 million, was sold to a private company for RM1.42 million.
Perda is the acronym for the Penang Regional Development Authority, which comes directly under the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department.
Citing figures from the finance ministry’s Valuation and Property Services Department, Lim said the land had been valued at RM16.6 million.
He said the land was acquired by Perda in 1986 to build low-cost homes.
At the time, Perda replied by saying the land was sold off cheaply as it had experienced “soil erosion issues”.