The charge preferred against former MCA President and Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik, in connection with the RM12.5 million Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal has mystified many.
The charge against Ling reads:
“That you, between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002, at Level 4 of the Prime Minister’s Office in Bangunan Perdana Putra, cheated the Govern ment by deceiving the Cabinet into approving a land purchase in Pulau Indah for a Mega Distribution Hub project in Port Klang according to the terms agreed between Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd and Port Klang Authority which, among others, are: And as such, you purposely induced the Cabinet to give its consent to the purchase, whereas the Cabinet would not have given its consent if the fact had been told to the Cabinet, and the fraud was committed with the knowledge that you could cause a loss to the Government, where you have an interest in the transaction pertaining to the fraud and you are bound under the law to protect it and, as such, you have committed an offence punishable under Section 418 of the Penal Code.”
The Prime Minister at the time was Tun Dr. Mahathir. Will Mahathir or any of his Ministers in 2002 Cabinet testify in court of being misled by Ling to approve Port Klang Authority’s purchase of PKFZ land with 15-year repayment with compound interest instead of 10 years?
Who were the Ministers in the 2002 Cabinet? The Deputy Prime Minister was Tun Abdullah. Other Ministers in the 2002 Cabinet who are still Ministers include Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was Defence Minister; Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who was Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs; Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who was then Minister for Youth and Sports; Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who was then Entrepreneur Development Minister; Datuk Seri Rais Yatim and Tan Sri Bernard Dompok who were then Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department.
Other Ministers of the 2002 Cabinet no more in Cabinet include Rafidah Aziz (International Trade and Industry); present Public Account Committee Chairman Azmi Khalid (Rural Development); three MCA Ministers at the time, Chua Jui Meng (Health), Fong Chan Onn (Human Resources), Ong Ka Ting (Housing and Local Government), Lim Keng Yaik (Primary Industries), S. Samy Vellu (Works) and Law Hieng Ding (Science, Technology, Environment).
Will Mahathir or any of his Ministers in 2002 Cabinet testify in court of being misled by Ling to approve Port Klang Authority’s purchase of PKFZ land with 15-year repayment with compound interest instead of 10 years?
As far back as three years ago in Parliament, during the budget debate in September 2007, I had focused on the main issues of the PKFZ scandal, viz:
These issues have not been adequately dealt with despite the promise by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail last December and the country is still waiting for the Attorney-General to fulfil his pledge to leave no stone unturned to haul in the “big fishes” implicated in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.