PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan said the recent concerted attacks on PAS may be an excuse to cover up issues surrounding the Penang undersea tunnel project. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 2 — The recent concerted attacks on PAS may be an excuse to cover up issues surrounding the Penang undersea tunnel project, PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan said today.

He said as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has since detained a corporate figure, frozen four company accounts and seized several assets connected to the project, he wondered if it involved the DAP leadership.

“In particular, the former Penang Chief Minister. Therefore PAS demands the DAP-led Penang state government to prepare a fully-detailed original plan of the undersea tunnel,” Nasrudin said in a statement, in reference to Lim Guan Eng who is currently the finance minister.

He said the plan must also include the actual cost of the project, whether it was openly tendered and if so the relevant details, and what are the exact terms its developers have agreed upon with Lim, including the agreement for strategic land swaps throughout the island.

“The Penang authorities should also openly disclose the background of the developers and their partners. Are the experienced and competent enough to undertake a project of this scale?” Nasrudin asked.

He said the people’s right to know the project’s status and the investigations behind it cannot be denied as it is a feasibility study costing RM305 billion that has yet to conclude.

“Where is the integrity they have supposedly struggled for all this while? The public’s interest is also at stake, following allegations the land swap methods negatively impact the environmental ecosystem,” Nasrudin said.

Recounting how Lim sued him several years ago for raising the project’s issues, Nasrudin said it appears what he spoke of then is seemingly coming to pass.

“The elephant carcass cannot be covered by a winnowing tray,” he said, using an old Malay metaphor to denote the impossibility of covering up major wrongdoings.