KUALA LUMPUR – Former Batu Berendam MP Datuk Tamrin Abdul Ghafar has sent a notice of demand to Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin and Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi, among others, for linking him to the direct tender of a solid waste project.
“A notice of demand dated October 13, 2020 has been sent by my lawyer, Ramkarpal Singh, to Zuraida, and was accepted by her political secretary on October 14, 2020,” said Tamrin in a statement.
He said he sent similar notices to “bloggers" and others who have cast doubts on him, including Bersatu supreme council member Tan Sri Aziz Yassin.
“I will continue to pursue legal action against them if they fail to fulfil my demands. I am ready to cooperate with police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission if necessary.”
Zuraida has said Tamrin, as adviser to Bumi Segar Indah, approached former finance minister Lim Guan Eng to directly negotiate the solid waste transfer station project in Taman Beringin on November 26, 2018.
She said Lim advised Bumi Segar Indah to present her ministry with a formal proposal, and he eventually approved the project in a letter dated February 20 last year.
Tamrin denied this, saying the project was awarded through direct negotiations under Barisan Nasional in 2017, and that the minister in charge then was Tan Sri Noh Omar.
In August, the project was listed among 101 valued at RM6.61 billion said to have been granted through direct deals by the previous Pakatan Harapan government.
The list, released by the Finance Ministry under the Perikatan Nasional administration, showed that Zuraida’s ministry had awarded a RM170.3 million contract to Bumi Segar Indah to build, operate and maintain the solid waste transfer station.
Zuraida previously said she had no knowledge of the project and later blamed Lim, saying he agreed to reduce the project cost by 10% and advised Bumi Segar Indah to approach her ministry to formally propose it. – The Vibes, November 1, 2020
