My three questions (No.76 to No. 78 on the 26th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:
Question No. 1: MCA-owned Star, under the headline “Lim knows the facts, say Ong” reported:
PETALING JAYA: DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang deliberately misled the Dewan Rakyat on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) issue despite knowing the facts of the project, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said. Ong said Lim knew about the RM25 per square foot land purchase as he was engaged in the debate in Parliament, in 2007. “He rudely interrupted my ministerial statement by accusing me of not referring to the Cabinet decision on Oct 23, 2002, that the land should be acquired at a lower price of RM10.16 per square foot. “What Kit Siang conveniently omitted to mention was that the decision on Oct 23, was subsequently superseded by the Cabinet in its meeting on Nov 6, 2002,” he said in his blog (www.teekeat.net) yesterday. Ong challenged Lim to admit that he had deliberately misled and confused the public by failing to disclose the full and proper account of Cabinet decisions on the PKFZ project. “The DAP leader may not be a Cabinet member but the Parliamentary Hansard, dated Sept 4, 2007, clearly recorded that the decision of the Cabinet on Oct 2, 2002 to purchase the land at RM25 per square foot continued to stand for the reasons mentioned in my parliamentary statement,” he said. Ong said Lim knew this and he was in fact engaged in a debate on this matter on Sept 4, 2007. “He even posted excerpts of the Hansard in his blog the very next day. “And yet he chose to suppress this important fact from the public for the sake of a political gimmick bent on rescuing his fading political career,” Ong said.
I am very surprised as this must be the first case not only in Malaysia but Commonwealth parliamentary history where a Cabinet Minister accuses an Opposition MP for not telling the whole truth about Cabinet decisions on a project, in this case the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal!
Ong claims to be incensed that I had not mentioned the Nov. 6, 2002 Cabinet meeting when he was presenting his Ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday.
How could I do so when even to mention the Oct. 23, 2002 Cabinet decision, there were so many protests and objections from the Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs, led by Ong himself and fully supported by the Deputy Speakers Ronald Kiandee and Wan Junaidi?
Did Ong allow me to talk and reveal more? Didn’t he take the position that with regard to his ministerial statement, no question or interruptions were allowed?
If Ong is claiming that I had misled Parliament, dare he move a motion to refer me to the Committee of Privileges?
This is my first question.
Second Question: Is Ong prepared to present a second Ministerial statement by Monday on all the Cabinet meetings and decisions on the PKFZ scandal right from the beginning, including the Cabinet meetings on the PKFZ on Oct. 2, Oct. 9, Oct. 16 and October 23 as well as on Nov. 6, 2002 as well as in July 2007 when the Cabinet decided on the RM4.6 billion bailout of the PKFZ scandal, which has turned out to be grossly inadequate as it has topped RM7.453 billion and heading towards the astronomical cost of RM12.453 billion?
Third Question: Does Ong agree that his two predecessors as Transport Minister, Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy had committed gross misuse of power in issuing four Letters of Support , i.e. on 28th May 2003, 23rd April 2004, 8th December 2005 and 23rd May 2006 to guarantee bonds up to RM4.6 billion when they had no power to do so and the four Letters of Support had to be given retrospective approval by the Cabinet in July 2007 and landed the country with the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.
Would Ong propose at the Cabinet tomorrow that Ling and Chan should be charged in court for gross abuses of power resulting in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?