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PETALING JAYA: Former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says it is impossible for the Secretary General of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to send a letter on two negotiated projects directly to the Ministry of Finance without the knowledge of his Minister, Zuraida Kamaruddin.
This follows Zuraida’s claim that Lim and his former ministry had played a key role in the two projects related to his ministry.
Zuraida said yesterday that the projects were negotiated without his knowledge and promised to investigate the matter.
He said the RM 170.3 million Taman Beringin solid waste project was approved by Lim’s finance ministry through a letter dated February 20, 2019 addressed to his ministry’s general secretary.
The other project was for a RM501,000 software accounting system.
In a statement, Lim said it was common practice for the responsible ministry to submit a request letter to the finance ministry for approval of direct negotiation projects.
“Therefore, there will definitely be a letter from the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to the Ministry of Finance,” he said.
He said the letter should be written by the secretary general of the ministry, as the project involved a large amount of RM170.3 million.
“Zuraida must not deny the existence of the request letter and challenge her to reveal it so that people can learn the true story,” he said.
He said that it was impossible that the letter had been sent without the permission of the minister.
“If it were true that the request was made without Zuraida’s knowledge, the secretary general could be subject to disciplinary action.”
Lim said that if Zuraida was really in the dark about running her own ministry, she was not “fit and proper” to fill the ministerial position.
He also urged Zuraida to reveal the letter addressed to his ministry by the finance ministry or by him, if such a letter existed.
