GEORGE TOWN, Jan 18 — The back and forth accusations on the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project comes to a head today as Penang Barisan Nasional chairman Teng Chang Yeow and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng decided to sue each other.

Teng told a press conference today that he will consult his lawyers on Lim’s accusations against him.

“I will take him to court for calling me a liar when I raised issues on the undersea tunnel project based on statements he issued and what was revealed at the legislative assembly,” the Penang Gerakan chairman said.

Teng said this is the first time in his political career he is considering to take another politician to court for defamation.

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“He accused me of lying in revealing discrepancies in the project when my statements were based on information obtained from the legislative assembly and his own statements.  

“I shall repeat what I’ve said, the Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng, lied in his reply to questions on the three highways which formed part of the undersea tunnel project unless he proves that all the documents I produced in support of my arguments are fake and fabricated,” he said.

Teng then reiterated several points on the undersea tunnel and three highways project.

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He insisted that the state paid RM11.2 million in cash to a technical consultant, HSSI Sdn Bhd, appointed by the state government to review and certify the claims submitted by the undersea tunnel contractor Consortium Zenith which meant Lim had lied about not paying a single sen for the undersea tunnel project.

He then furnished copies of Lim’s statements and extracts from replies submitted at the legislative assembly to prove his point.

Last week, Lim said the state did not pay a single sen for the undersea tunnel component of the massive project that also included the construction of three highways.

He said the state only paid RM208 million by way of land swap for work done on the three highways and not the undersea tunnel.

In an immediate response today, Lim said he will take Teng to court for accusing him of lying about the undersea tunnel project.

“He accused me of lying when I said the state did not pay a single sen for the undersea tunnel so I will take him to court and prove this,” he said.

He had instructed his lawyers to draft a legal notice to Teng on this.

This will be the second time that Lim took legal action against Teng as he had sued Teng in 2016 over the latter’s allegations into the Pulau Jerejak land sale. The case is still pending in court.