GEORGE TOWN, June 10 — Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) vice-president Datuk Huan Cheng Guan announced today he will sue the Penang government and Consortium Zenith BUCG (CZBUCG) for defamation over the state’s controversial undersea tunnel project.

Huan’s lawsuit threat comes two days after CZBUCG chairman Datuk Zarul Zulkifli vowed to take legal action against the politician over the latter’s allegations on the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel and three paired roads project.

“I have (been) instructed by lawyers to initiate legal suit against Zenith BUCG and the Penang government for defamation. Their press conference implies that I have lied when I had quoted known sources — including from the SSM and the various press statements from the DAP Penang state government,” Huan told reporters here.

He accused the Pakatan Harapan state government of not only refusing to answer questions on the undersea tunnel project but attempting to silence him with the lawsuit threat.

“Instead of answering why the current share holdings of the awarded company differs so significantly from what was publicly announced in a statement by the Penang government just three years ago, they want to shut me up,” he claimed.

Huan claimed he had a right as a politician and a Penangite to pose questions to the government on projects that involved public funds and resources.

“By saying that they will sue me, [they] have given a perception that I have not been truthful in this issue,” he said.

He insisted that he had fought for the interest of the public and that he had forwarded all his evidence to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“If my evidence is based on falsehood, let the MACC punish me with their laws,” he said.

He said he had to take CZBUCG and the Penang state government to court to protect his integrity.

“By bringing this matter to court, I will be able to force the Penang government to reveal the documents they refuse to declassify and to get the answers to the many questions that are currently being asked,” he said.

Two days ago, Zarul said he will sue Huan for defamation over his latest report to the MACC on the alleged change in his company’s shareholders.

Huan has claimed that China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd used to be a shareholder of CZBUCG in 2012 but the record at the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) in May showed that it was no longer a shareholder of CZBUCG.

Zarul pointed out that China Railway was never a shareholder of CZBUCG but that his company had only entered into a joint venture agreement with China Railway in January 2013.

Last week, Huan also lodged a MACC report alleging that the cost for the feasibility and detailed design fees for the three paired roads totalled RM208.8 million which is up to 11 per cent of the construction cost and he claimed is up to five times the maximum gazetted scale of rates.