THE Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) officials wanted to verify Penang exco board meeting minutes, according to state Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy.

He said as he was not involved in the tunnel project which MACC was investigating, the commission only called him up to explain meeting minutes.

“Basically they wanted to verify on exco meetings of road and tunnel projects.

“Only the meetings I attended, I know. (As for) other technical details, I’m not involved in the tunnel project (so) I do not know,” he told reporters outside MACC headquarters.

The Prai assemblyman also said the anti-graft agency questioned him about some individuals.

“They asked me about certain individuals. Some I met, some I didn’t.”

Ramasamy is the second Penang government leader to be called up by MACC, after state public works, transport and utilities exco Lim Hock Seng, who was questioned by MACC yesterday for 13 hours before he was released last night.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he was surprised MACC had called up Ramasamy as he has nothing to do with the state’s undersea tunnel project.

He also said MACC was investigating the matter “based on wrong information” put out by Barisan Nasional.

He said the investigation was a form of political persecution aimed at tarnishing the DAP-led state government’s image.

The RM6.3 billion tunnel and highways project was mooted by the state government before the 2013 general election to alleviate the traffic congestion problem in the state.

The three highways have obtained an environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval to proceed while the undersea tunnel is still at feasibility study stage. – February 14, 2018.