Former Kota Melaka MP Lim Guan Eng today scoffed at the Melaka government's insinuation that he had acted improperly in the handling of compensation awarded to the fishing community at the Portuguese settlement in Melaka.

He said it was ironic for Melaka Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam to now claim that it should be the rightful body to handle the compensation, when it had in fact refused to help the community in the first place.

According to a Berita Harian report today, Mohd Ali had asked: "How was the compensation paid out to Guan Eng - it should have been paid out to the fishermen through the state government since Talam Corporation won the contract through the state government."

When contacted, Lim said because of his capacity as an MP and advisor to the Portuguese Settlement Fishermen Action Committee, he was requested by the Talam subsidiary to be the main person accountable for the RM100,000 compensation.

Seven years ago, the fishing community had complained that a reclamation project had affected their fishing ground and sought compensation for their losses. An action committee was then formed and Lim became their advisor, successfully negotiating the compensation with a condition from the developer that the money was handed over to him.

"In any case, I only acted as legal custodian to the money. In fact, I had initially turned down the suggestion...but the company insisted as they wanted someone to account for the pay-out," said Lim

"I was perfectly aware that I should not receive the money in my personal capacity - that would be political suicide," he said.

Money held in trust

"The compensation money (collected in 1996) was placed in trust with my lawyer (DAP politician) Karpal Singh, who also worked pro bono on the case," he added.

He added that a number of issues had also cropped up in between 1996 and now - including his subsequent sedition conviction for 'causing disaffection to the government' - which resulted in the disbursement of the money to be delayed until now. In the meantime, part of the project was also abandoned, raising the question if the developer will demand back the money.

As a result, the money, held in trust under Karpal Singh & Co, had grown to RM134,999.88.

"How could the state government now claim (that the compensation should have gone through them) when they never fought for the fishermen?" said Lim.

"The fishermen had first gone to them, but (the state government) had refused to help. That was why they came to me."

Questions over the integrity of Lim's mediating role first cropped up when Berita Harian on Wednesday reported unhappiness among some sectors of the fishing community over the handling of compensation money.

The newspaper quoted Patrick Felix, said to be vice-chairperson of the committee, claiming that Lim had refused to reply to queries on the status of the RM100,000.

Disbursed by Christmas

In a statement to the press, Gerard Danker, chairperson of the Portuguese Settlement Fishermen Action Committee said he "deeply regrets the suggestions made by irresponsible quarters within the Portuguese Settlement against Lim".

According to Danker, Felix is not the vice-chairperson of the committee, and any attempt by him or others to claim to represent the fishermen "is dishonest (as) these people were not present when we fought for our rights, but once we succeeded, they want to come in."

"We wish to state our deepest appreciation and gratitude to Lim who had spent time, effort and at much personal risk to himself (in order) to support and fight for us," he said.

Danker added that the committee was agreeable to Lim's suggestion of having the fund disbursed to fishermen by this Christmas.

Over 40 individuals make up the list of those who were involved in peaceful protests to demand compensation, while a 'splinter' group, involving Felix and four others had refused to attend a meeting on Sept 12, in which the decision to disburse the money was eventually trashed out, said Lim.

"For someone who had never touched a single sen of the compensation, of course I am upset by (Felix's) charges," said Lim

"Any decent human being would erupt in a rage for having worked so hard and being made to look like he is not clean."