Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is ready to face legal action for allegedly implicating family members of Zahrain Mohamed Hashim in the RM40 million tender to manage Bukit Jambul Golf Resort.

He said Zahrain was unhappy for losing the tender put in by a company formed two months before tender was called in Sept 2008.

NONE "It is up to Zahrain ( right ) to sue or not. We have enough proof and are willing to take the risk for the sake of a clean government," he was reported as saying by Bernama when commenting on Zahrain's legal threat for implicating his family members in the tender.

Lim said their ties soured after a company supported by Zahrain failed to get the tender to manage Bukit Jambul Golf Resort.

"I am willing to lose a friend rather than award the tender to an unproven company that lacked credibility," he said at a Penang DAP Chinese New Year open house here today.

Zahrain, the former Penang PKR chief, could not be reached for comments on his threat to sue Lim.

'False and misleading'

Later this afternoon, Lim’s press secretary issued a statement describing Bernama report as “false and misleading”.

“The Penang chief minister had never mentioned any family members of Zahrain when rebutting personal attacks made by Zahrain. The chief minister believes in replying with facts and not stoop so low with personal attacks involving family members,” said Cheong Yin Fan, press secretary to the Penang CM.

“If Zahrain wants to sue, he can do so. Zahrain cannot run away from the fact that he recommended a RM2 company for the RM40 million tender.

“The Penang CM rejected the recommendation and was supported by the PDC (Penang Development Corporation) board that to give a RM2 company a RM40 million tender would make a complete mockery of the concept of open tender. Further, the RM2 company has no track record as it was formed only two months before the tender was called.”

The statement said that Lim had reminded Zahrain that his Pakatan Rakyat coalition cannot “follow the bad habits of BN in awarding tens of millions of ringgit worth of contracts to a RM2 company”.

“Even a corrupt BN dare not now practice granting a contract to a RM2, what more Pakatan Rakyat.”

'Demand to reveal minutes'

Meanwhile, Lim when commenting on the suggestion by state opposition chief Azhar Ibrahim that minutes of the 'Maulidur Rasul' celebration meetings be revealed, said it was a trap adding he was not responsible for religious affairs.

Azhar who is also Penang Umno secretary challenged Lim to reveal minutes of the 'Maulidur Rasul' meetings on Jan 19 and Feb 3 so that the truth would be known.

Bernama reported Lim as saying that the 'Maulidur Rasul' (Prophet Muhammad) procession and other religious programmes would proceed as planned.