Rafizi Ramli furnished “proof” related to his allegation that the caretaker government is awarding tenders and to counter outgoing environment and water minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man’s denial.
“Up until now, the reaction of the PAS deputy president (Tuan Ibrahim) is just an easy denial that his ministry had not awarded the Langat flood mitigation project through a direct negotiation,” the PKR deputy president told a press conference in Petaling Jaya this afternoon.
However, he noted that the projects highlighted have not yet been awarded to the said companies.
“The reason why I am highlighting this issue is that the discussions and process are still ongoing and there is an effort by the caretaker government to award projects, which is against the law,” he added.
To back his allegation, Rafizi shared a purported letter of acceptance on a flood mitigation project in Krubong, Malacca.
Previously, Rafizi claimed the company, which he described as an “Umno crony” firm, was due to receive the RM2 billion Sungai Langat flood mitigation project contract via a direct tender.
Not lodging MACC report
At the same press conference, Rafizi brushed off Tuan Ibrahim’s urging for him to lodge an MACC report if he has evidence of the caretaker government inappropriately awarding tenders.
Rafizi claimed that the authorities often classify such cases as “no further action” (NFA) until it is exposed to the public.
“It is not necessary for me to lodge reports with the MACC.
“I have been doing that all my life but nothing is done.
“The MACC will just classify it as NFA until the scandals are exposed this way and it invokes public anger,” he said, adding that the public would be the “best judge” on expediting the issue.
Rafizi likened Tuan Ibrahim’s response to “the kind of replies Umno would give.”
Tense moment between PKR man and journalist
The press conference also saw a tense moment between Rafizi and a male reporter from MalaysiaNow – who attempted to ask the PKR deputy president three questions predominantly related to Rafizi’s asset declarations.
While Rafizi had answered two questions on such matters, the PKR man asked who the journalist worked for.
Upon finding out that the journalist works for the said news portal, Rafizi initially labelled the journalist as an “Azmin Ali mouthpiece”.
“It intrigues me that we are talking about RM2 billion (on the flood mitigation project) and you are interested in becoming a mouthpiece for (Abdul) Latiff Ahmad,” he said.
This comes after Bersatu’s Abdul Latiff Ahmad fired a salvo against Rafizi, alleging that the latter had broken promises to share his research company Invoke’s wealth.
“Since he did not keep to his promise made five years ago, why should anyone believe (Rafizi’s) new promise?” Latiff was quoted as saying by MalaysiaNow earlier today. – Malaysiakini