PENANG, May 30 — The contents of the PwC investigative report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) has angered DAP leader Lim Kit Siang who says he is going to act on the prime minister's directive to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat that the MCA president answer all questions raised by any party pertaining to the report.
The federal lawmaker said in a statement to the press today that he felt "violated as a Malaysian citizen and parliamentarian" when he read the report and the thick appendices, and that the most vivid image in his mind was "rip-off".
The much-anticipated report has implicated several politicians from Barisan Nasional (BN) and says that the actual cost of the scandal-hit project could be more than six times its original RM2 billion price tag.
Lim said he was not going to limit himself when it comes to the directive from the top that Ong answer all questions.
"I have a series of questions and will today start with three," he said with a cheeky smile when speaking to reporters at a press conference at his house here.
The first question is why were the terms of reference of the PwC inquiry restricted to a review instead of an all-out investigation when Ong had promised a "tell all" in April last year, one month into his job as transport minister.
"Can Ong explain why he decided on such limited and restricted terms of reference deliberately excluding from the inquiry the conduct or misconduct of previous Transport Ministers Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy in the PKFZ scandal as well as not asking PwC to detect any wrongdoing or render advice?"
The second question is whether Ong also felt ""violated as a Malaysian citizen and parliamentarian" after reading the report.
"Does Ong agree that the PwC report has exposed not just a can of worms but a swamp of crocodiles snowballing from a RM1.8 billion scandal in 2002 under Datuk Seri Ling Liong Sik as transport minister to RM4.6 billion under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy and now mushrooming into the astronomical figure of RM12.5 billion under his watch?"
The third question is whether Ong agrees that the scandal must not be allowed to become a bigger version of the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance scandal which Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said 25 years ago was a "heinous crime but without criminals."
Lim said that RM12.5 billion was enough to build 1,250 schools at RM10 million each, 312,500 low-cost houses at RM40,000 each or enough to put RM338 cash in the pockets of every single Malaysian.
"What is Ong going to do to book all those responsible, whether politicians named like Deputy Finance Minister Chor Chee Heung or those unnamed like Liong Sik, Kong Choy, BN backbencher club chairman Tiong King Sing or Semanta state assemblyman Abdul Rahman Palil."
Lim concluded by saying: "The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has kicked the ball to Ong. I hope Ong will not kick the ball to somebody else and make the prime minister look foolish by not answering all queries."
The Port Klang Authority (PKA) has submitted the report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency which said it will study the report and see if it had any new leads compared with its own investigative report done last year.
Chor has said he will be meeting Najib and Ong to explain his position. He had denied any conflict of interest as to his role in the PKFZ project.
The main developer, Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, is considering legal action against either PKA, PwC or both.
PKA, however, has indemnified PwC of any legal liability arising from the report.
No comments:
Post a Comment