The Penang lawmaker said he had already issued a legal notice and given them ample time to comply to his demands to publish a front-page apology, but the English daily had failed to do so.
“They failed to retract or apologise for publishing defamatory statements against the Penang state government, so I am proceeding with this legal suit against them,” he announced in a press conference at his office today.
He was referring to a report published on September 7 entitled “Zahid urges Penangites to reject patrol unit” where it reported that “Lim, at a function in Butterworth yesterday, denied that his administration spent RM1.5 million on PPS. It’s impossible for the state government to fork out such a big sum of money when Penang’s reserves stand at about RM1.5million”.
Lim, in his notice of demand issued to NST, said he had denied the state government spent RM1.5 billion on PPS and that the state’s reserve fund was RM1.2 billion and not the RM1.5 million reported.
He claimed the Barisan Nasional-owned newspaper published the article along with another article on September 8 titled “Guan Eng riled up over small matter” with the intention to project him in a negative light.
In his notice, he said the articles implied that he, in his capacity as chief minister, had sanctioned the utilisation of the state’s entire reserve for the benefit of PPS and that he had abused his position to channel state funds to PPS.
He added that despite the state government issuing a press statement on September 8 where it disclosed the actual amount spent on PPS for 2011 to 2013, NST refused to publish the actual amount the state spent on PPS and also refused to retract its article or apologise
He is demanding a front page apology from NST and a clarification on the actual amount of the state reserve fund.
-themalaymail
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