(Petaling Jaya, Saturday): A concerned citizen sent the DAP an email today, detailing how 100 units of Jet Ski bought by Ong Ka Ting's ministry were overpriced by more than RM4 million. And moreover, these Jet Skis were not fully utilized at many fire stations where they were kept because they did not have the facilities to lift them up and down according to the Audit Report 2005.

We want Ong Ka Ting to explain what has happened as the allegation made by the concerned citizen was very serious.

Here are the relevant info provided by this concerned citizen and readers can see for themselves why Ong Ka Ting ought to explain.

A:From Audit Report 2005:-

The Department had acquired 100 units of Jet Ski, valued at RM7.91 million and 21 Rapid Intervention Motorcycles valued at RM10.63 million. However, both these vehicles were not fully utilized due to lack of competent personnel to operate them. In the case of Jet Skis, it was not fully utilised at many fire stations where it was kept because they did not have the facilities to lift them up and down.

B:Original selling price for Sea-Doo GTX 4 TEC for 2002:

There were apparently two versions, the Blue and the Red.
According the the ABOS Marine Blue Book, the original MSRP's ("Approx. Retail Price New"), without trailer, were:

Blue version - $9,499.00

So, the US dealer suggested retail price for the GTX 4-Tec in 2002 was 9499$ or 9899$ depending on the model variation.

C:Foreign Exchange Rate in year 2002 was USD9899 x 3.8 = RM37,616.20 but Ong's ministry bought it for RM 79,100 per unit.

So, where is RM41,483.80 (per unit) went to? It's more than RM4 million if you add up for all the 100 units!

The concerned citizen argues that the above prices are retail prices at US, so it is impossible to reach RM 79,100 per unit even with the transportation costs.

There was a statement issued by the department on the issue but the explanations were far from satisfactory. That's why we need Ong to explain to all concerned citizens.

Please read the news reports by Sinchew, The China Press and Nanyang   at the following links listed below for a clearer picture:-

http://www.sinchew.com.my/content.phtml?sec=1&sdate=2006-10-05&artid=200610042957

http://www.chinapress.com.my/content_new.asp?dt=2006-10-05&sec=mas&art=1005mc56.txt

http://www.nanyang.com/index.php?ch=7&pg=10&ac=654829

(07/10/2006)