Police report against RPK was over leak, not false documents, says MACC source

PETALING JAYA: A police report lodged by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last year against blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin was over leaked evidence concerning the Penang undersea tunnel project, a well-placed source has told FMT.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the report was not lodged over false documents but because of a “leakage of evidence”.

This comes after Penang DAP today claimed that MACC lodged the report against Raja Petra in March last year after the blogger posted “fake documents with unfounded allegations” related to the project.

It added that the project had been politicised by its foes to discredit the party and the state government it leads.

Raja Petra had written an expose he claimed was based on documents leaked from the project, implicating DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who was Penang chief minister at the time the project was initiated, and several state executive councillors, including current chief minister Chow Kon Yeow, Abdul Malik Abul Kassim and Lim Hock Seng

The MACC recently renewed its probe into the tunnel project, with anti-graft officers raiding three companies yesterday following the arrest of a former Penang Port Commission top official.

The RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel and three main roads project was mooted by the Penang government to alleviate the traffic on the first bridge.

The 7.2km undersea tunnel will connect Pulau Tikus’ Pangkor Road and Bagan Ajam in Butterworth. If its feasibility study’s result is positive, construction will begin in 2023.

The “three main roads” component are roads from Air Itam to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway (5.7km), Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang (10.53km) and Jalan Pangkor-Gurney Drive junction to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway (4.1km).

FMT