Don't blame others, ex-MP tells Zuraida after linked to ministry's project
The son of late former deputy prime minister Ghafar Baba has rejected attempts by Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin to link him to the controversy surrounding projects under her ministry that were awarded without tender.
Tamrin Abdul Ghafar urged Zuraida to not shift the blame towards others, after an outcry which followed Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz's revelation in Parliament that Pakatan Harapan had awarded 101 projects worth RM6.61 billion without going through an open tender process...
The son of late former deputy prime minister Ghafar Baba has rejected attempts by Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin to link him to the controversy surrounding projects under her ministry that were awarded without tender.
Tamrin Abdul Ghafar urged Zuraida to not shift the blame towards others, after an outcry which followed Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz's revelation in Parliament that Pakatan Harapan had awarded 101 projects worth RM6.61 billion without going through an open tender process.
"It is impossible for the minister not to know about the matter at all when the Finance Ministry only acts according to the recommendations of the Housing and Local Government Ministry.
"As a minister, Zuraida should not have involved others or blame them over her failure," he said in a statement today.
"I will leave it to my lawyers to decide on the next course of action," the former two-term Umno Batu Berendam MP added.
Yesterday, Zuraida had described Tamrin as an "ardent Harapan supporter" and linked him to one of two projects under her ministry that were directly awarded.
She claimed that Tamrin, as an adviser to Bumi Segar Indah, had approached then finance minister Lim Guan Eng to directly negotiate the solid waste transfer station project in Taman Beringin, Jinjang Utara, on Nov 26, 2018.
The Ampang MP claimed Lim had advised Bumi Segar Indah to present her ministry with a formal proposal, and that he eventually approved the project through a letter dated Feb 20, 2019.
Responding to Zuraida's statement, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil questioned whether the minister had alluded to possible misconduct by the ministry's secretary-general in writing to Lim for approval of the RM170 million project without her knowledge.
"Or is she claiming that Lim had approved of a project formally presented to the Housing and Local Government Ministry, without the knowledge of its minister?" the Lembah Pantai MP tweeted.
Meanwhile, Lim said it would be impossible for him to have approved the solid waste transfer project's application for Bumi Segar Indah without Zuraida's knowledge as the relevant minister, unless there was misconduct on part of the ministry's secretary-general.
"If it was indeed true that an application was made without Zuraida's knowledge, the secretary-general could be subjected to disciplinary action.
"I don't believe that the ministry's secretary-general is someone who would act in such a 'traitorous' manner, even towards a 'traitorous' Harapan minister," Lim said in a statement.
"Either that or Zuraida is ignorant of her ministry's affairs to the point of being unaware that the secretary-general had submitted an application to the Finance Ministry.
"If this is true, then Zuraida is not fit and proper to hold the minister's post," he added.
Zuraida had previously insisted that she was not involved in offering any direct tender contracts when she headed the ministry under Harapan which took over Putrajaya in 2018.
Separately, DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua (photo), in a statement dated Aug 30, referred to an accounting system maintenance contract awarded to Century Software (M) Sdn Bhd, another project under KPKT that was awarded through direct negotiations for RM501,206.
"I would like to stress that Lim had never held any discussions with Century Software, as alleged by the KPKT minister.
"He also never questioned or stated that any parties had erred in awarding this contract," said the Damansara MP who previously served as Lim's aide in the Finance Ministry.
Pua further said that had Zuraida conducted a thorough check, she would have found government circulars from as early as 2011 instructing all agencies to use accounting applications that met certain standards.
"For that reason, I would like to advise Zuraida to not throw slander all over the place and try to link former finance minister Lim Guan Eng with any direct negotiations in her ministry.
"I feel that Zuraida's irresponsible attitude to blame others for her ministry's mismanagement is a sign of someone who feels guilty," Pua said.
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