MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat should resign as Transport Minister if he cannot honour his pledge to “tell all” and immediately release the PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) Report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to explain whether and why it had ballooned from a RM1.8 billion scandal when Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik was the Transport Minister, to RM4.6 billion under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy and now the outrageous RM12 billion under Ong!
On Tuesday 28th April 2009, I called on the Cabinet at its meeting the next day to overrule Ong’s “passing-the-buck” game and direct the immediate and full publication of the PKFZ scandal in view of reports that the PKFZ scandal had escalated four-fold from the original cost of RM1.8 billion to RM8 billion.
The next day, Ong announced that the PwC audit report on the PKFZ scandal was ready and that the Port Klang Authority (PKA) had been given one week to make it public.
The one-week deadline expired two days ago, and the PwC report has still not seen the light of day!
I had eleven days ago asked the Cabinet to overrule and end Ong’s “passing-the-buck” game because of the MCA President’s long catalogue of broken promises to “tell all” about the PKFZ scandal since his elevation as Transport Minister after the March general election last year.
As far back as 13 months ago on April 8, 2008, the Star report headlined “Ong to tell all on Port Klang Free Zone” quoted Ong as saying:
“I wish to inform the rakyat about the true situation – whether it was actually squandered, not squandered, and whether it has gone to, as well as the breakdown of the budget.”
Ong has repeatedly broken his pledge and one deadline after another on the release of the PKFZ report, including his undertaking reported by the Star (November 17, 2008) “Ministry to release PKFZ report once it gets it” after the PKA Chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng said that “It will be up to the Transport Minister to decide if the report will be made public” – “Probe into PKFZ scandal under way” (Star October 30 2008) .
With his latest “one-week” deadline again broken, Ong is back playing the game of “passing the buck” to the PKA, whose chairman Lee Hwa Beng is giving the ridiculous explanation that the PwC report has been held back on “a technical issue” – to secure the consent PwC “subject to certain terms and conditions”.
Malaysians want Ong and Lee to know that they do not buy their latest excuses why the PwC report cannot be made public, and the Cabinet next Wednesday should just tell Ong to resign as Transport Minister if he cannot honour his pledge to “tell all” and immediately release the PwC report on the PKFZ scandal.
The Cabinet and the Malaysian public should brook no more delays or excuses as the PKFZ scandal is shaping up not only to be the biggest MCA scandal but also among the biggest Barisan Nasional financial scandals in the nation’s history.
Many were skeptical at the Edge weekly cover story on April 27 on “Total PKFZ bill – RM8 billion?”, but latest media reports indicate that the Edge expose at the time was a serious underestimate, and that the frightening figure of the final cost of the PKFZ scandal could be a whopping RM12 billion or 6.5 times the original cost of RM1.8 billion – although the Cabinet was told when it first approved the project that it would not involve a single sen of taxpayers’ monies!.
(Speech at the Sri Tanjung Bungah DAP Branch dinner at Tanjong Bungah Community Hall, Penang on Friday, 8th May 2009)
#1 by k1980 on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 7:37 am
I have the nasty feeling that those who question the PKFZ scandal are going to be arrested. Already people have been arrested for wearing black and holding funeral ceremonies for Altantuya. Meanwhile, mat rempits/rompaks are going to enjoy going about their crime spree as the police are more interested in nabbing candle light vigilers.
Activist Ng Eng Kiat was arrested by police in Penang last night, for illegal assembly, at a SUARAM organised vigil in Penang.
Meanwhile in KL, 14 people have been arrested in another round of police madness at the Brickfields police station. The 14 are vigilers who are holding a candle light vigil for detained social activist Wong Chin Huat, held for Sedition.
#2 by yhsiew on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 7:39 am
Many were skeptical at the Edge weekly cover story on April 27 on “Total PKFZ bill – RM8 billion?”
====================================================
Don’t be so optimistic, this week “theSun” reported that the PKFZ bill could balloon to RM12 billion!
Tun Dr. M. said he knew that while he was still in office, lands were sold to individuals and the state government had to buy back the lands from them later for development – where is the logic?
#3 by yhsiew on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 7:52 am
Remember folk, the RM12 billion were our “sweat money” – we toiled for it!
Unscrupulous government servants just dumped it in the drain like that!
#4 by trashed on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 8:07 am
Better remind Koh Tsu Koon to log this for OTK’s KPI.
If OTK was in a corporate environment …. he would be sacked as he has already been given many chances to perform.
#5 by Black Arrow on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 8:26 am
Ong is too scared that the PwC audit report will be revealed to the public. He is trying his utmost to delay it.
#6 by Bigjoe on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 9:15 am
You get the sense that Najib is leaning to have the report published. OTK has more to lose because Chan Kong Choy is still a major backer with his fight against Chua Soi Lek.
The ‘technical issue’ is how do OTK protect Chan Kong Choy when he releases the report.
The report will be released, the question is how severely will the culprits be hanged. It clear they all deserve to go to jail at least some dozen people. If there is not at least a dozen or two people who go to jail and their assets confiscated, then Najib has not done his job and is merely selling some people down the drain for his own interest…
#7 by Godfather on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 10:11 am
The “tell-all” must include the money trail – who got the money after Kuala Dimensi sold it to PKA at RM25 psf. Simple questions like “was capital gains tax imposed ?” on Kuala Dimensi or “Was corporate taxes paid by Kuala Dimensi”?
Then there are the construction contracts at vastly inflated prices – someone must have been invoiced and were these profits taxed ?
Another clue to the “conclusiveness” of the PwC report must also be that of any disclaimer of completeness of their report due to the insufficient sighting of documentation.
These thieves think they are smart, but they always leave behind a trail – whether it is a paper trail or electronic trail. It is a matter of our will to dig further. Believe me, this is worse than the BMFL scandal.
#8 by mendela on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 11:12 am
Swedish minister quit because not paying taxes when hiring nannies.
Bolehland politicians abusing billions of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars without any shames nor regrets!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6051220.stm
#9 by mendela on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 11:28 am
The PwC Report will certainly be released, but not after all the juicy findings are deleted or amended!
How can the world top auditing firm allow such abuses?
Where is the justice?
Who is funding PwC for the auditing report?
It is Malaysian taxpayers hard-earned money!
#10 by Sony boy on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 12:01 pm
Uncle Kit,
Seems like ministers in government have to listen to their boss before can act.
If you are the Transport Minister, please outline to people the steps you would do.
Tks
#11 by the reds on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 12:42 pm
It is very obvious, one week is not enough for them to fabricate the data to make it public!!!
OTK’s face is thicker than the coffin’s woods. He is stubborn not to step down, despite a number of cases showing he is not fit to be the transport minister!!
Ong Ta Kut, prove us that we are wrong!
#12 by ALLAN THAM on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 2:14 pm
Many of you have dutifully paid up your taxes on 30.04.2009. some of you who doing business in the form of sole prop and partnership are lining up to pay your dues before 30.06.2009. Now the painful fact has come to you and what you have just contributed and going to contribute are down to the suckers’ pockets in the name of profitable ventures. The government who collect the tax payers money have issue guaranteed to the billions and the suckers is to pocket fat.
The well structured products is classical but can most like only available to Malaysia.
A long the way lawyers, surveyors and all other related parties make huge sum from the deal. All from the well structured deal and the you and me as tax payers will end up footing the big.
Mamaktail say no thing wrong in legal term as this is a business deal that is profitable but acquired land at inflated price is morally wrong.
All these are nothing it has been happening all this while during the old man time and now he say nothing wrong and he hear about and people whipper to his ear before this and that but he sis not know exactly what happened. Hi, tax payer do you believe in him?
The sucker are from BN, and make up of all components parties, share share ma! You take and bit and I take a bit make every body happy.
So this life and life go on as usual. Make public or not what is the different ? For those who follow the Sun report must long ago have a clear picture on what PKFZ is all about.
All these BN suckers not even reserve a place in hell. They will be condemn to the HELL OF NO RETURN.
#13 by ringthetill on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 2:19 pm
I think we smell something very fishy with the PKFZ project. It may well have been a money spinner for some greedy and corrupt beings. OTK is in dilemma.
#14 by mumzie on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 3:22 pm
Uncle Lim, I don’t know how Najib, OTK, chan kong choy going to face this big ballon issue. The hole too big to cover now. Chan kong choy name should to ‘chan kun choy’ or ‘chan kerenda/coffin’? that is the only way to cover the hole issue.
#15 by Observer 2 on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 4:23 pm
Dear YB, today we saw him busy with all his devotion to the almighty Buddha. I wonder do he used Religion to tell Lies and also prevent his 2nd in Command coming up in his Party.
#16 by carboncopy on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 5:33 pm
At least Azalina released the PwC report (however narrow the terms of reference maybe) on Pampena.
Maybe OngTaKut kena sack like Azalina or Chan Kong Choy?
#17 by carboncopy on Saturday, 9 May 2009 - 5:56 pm
Sony Boy,
Don’t need Uncle Kit to tell you what he will do. Let me lay down some facts for you. And you think what is the right thing to do?
1. PKFZ is a PRIVATE project. That means, whatever profit (if ever) that is made by PKA will be PRIVATE. Govt got no share in the profit.
2. KDSB bought land from Selangor State Govt at RM2.50 psf (or is it 3) and sold to PKA at RM25 psf.
3. KDSB was appointed the contractor to develop the PKFZ.
and the list goes on.
Now, since fact number 1. This is a Private Initiative, why should govt bail it out? If you start a char keow teow business and go bust. Does the govt bail you out?
However, since the govt have been robbed twice, first time at selling the land, second time for dishing out 4.6 billion ringgit. Like it or not, govt is already involve.
I will set up Royal Commission of Inquiry into the whole fiasco.
With terms of references which must include the following :
1. Nabbed ALL that is involve that have abuse power and/or breach commercial or criminal laws.
2. The REAL feasibility of PKFZ. If feasible, with reasonable return. HAND the whole thing over to govt at NO COST. If not feasible, ask them go die.
#18 by boh-liao on Sunday, 10 May 2009 - 5:03 pm
“Ong Tee Keat should resign as Transport Minister.”
Should is not must.
OTK to LKS:
How to resign now lah?
Be reasonable, OK?
Baru warming the kaya raya minister post
Belum ciak pa pa
How to say bye bye?
Siow aaaah?
Lagi, these days need duit
to buy politicians to jump, jump, jump.
Tan lah, tan lah
Nanti ciak pa pa liao
Baru lah resign.
Promise. Scout’s honor.