She said the then-ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration could absorb the project into its plans as the coalition’s 2018 election manifesto had pledged that one million affordable homes would be built nationwide within five years.
Zuraida said the Bestari Jaya project, although initially approved by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government, could still proceed despite BN’s ouster in the May 9, 2018, general election.
“My predecessor Noh Omar (from BN) had also clarified that the government had approved a budget for the project,” she said when re-examined by lawyer Nizamuddin Hamid.
Zuraida was testifying in her defence to a defamation suit brought by Lim who also named MalaysiaNow’s publisher MNow Media Sdn Bhd, and editor Abdar Rahman Koya as defendants, alleging the report was published “to get cheap publicity”.
Lim and Zuraida were Cabinet colleagues between May 2018 and February 2020 when PH was in power under then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
On May 6, 2024, during the Kuala Kubu Bharu by-election campaign, the PH-led unity government, which took office in 2022, announced plans to build 200 flats for former plantation workers in Bestari Jaya.
PH’s candidate, Pang Sock Tao of DAP, who eventually won the seat, faced a four-cornered contest in the by-election.
Lim testified yesterday that Zuraida’s allegation had damaged his reputation, particularly among the sizeable Indian electorate in the constituency.
The Bagan MP and former DAP secretary-general is seeking RM5 million in damages.
He said his former political secretary, Tony Pua, had issued a statement denying Zuraida’s claims, adding that she should have been more “careful before making any statements and spinning facts”.
Zuraida and her co-defendants are relying on the defence of justification, fair comment and qualified privilege to defeat the suit.
She said she made the statement on May 10, 2024, in response to the government’s announcement four days earlier.
“I want to make it clear that I met Lim twice in 2018 and 2019 but he rejected the continuation of the project,” she said.
Zuraida said that as the minister at the time, she wanted to take responsibility to ensure that PH fulfilled its election pledge.
She said national housing department director-general KN Jayaselan had accompanied her to the meeting with Lim as she wanted the project to be given priority.
“Under the previous government, it was to be implemented by direct negotiation but the new government wanted it to be carried out through open tender,” she said.
Zuraida said she had carried out the groundwork, including meeting the property owner to facilitate the land’s handover to the government, so that the project could proceed for the benefit of the former estate workers.
“It was a matter of execution. However, it was met with a negative response from Lim,” she said.
Cross-examined by lawyer SN Nair, appearing for Lim, Zuraida agreed that the statement she had made about housing for plantation workers during the by-election was sensitive.
Zuraida said she did not tender any document when she met Lim to request that the project proceed, as it was already “on the table”.
Nair: Is there anything to show that the project was rejected?
Zuraida: No, only through discussion.
Nair: For this project, you should have put in a paper.
Zuraida: Generally yes, but not for this project as the previous government had approved it.
Zuraida said she did not have any record in the form of a letter or e-mail of her meeting with Lim, but said they had two discussions. However, she also said she did not know the exact dates she met Lim in 2018 and 2019.
Zuraida also dismissed a suggestion by Nair that the meetings never took place and was a mere concoction.
She said she did not file a libel suit against Pua who had published a post on Facebook after she made the statement about Lim.
“There is no necessity for it. Anyway, Pua is a small fry,” she said.
The hearing before Judicial Commissioner D Shoba Rajah continues tomorrow with Jayaselan expected to testify before the defence closes its case.