Media Conference Statement (2) by Lim Kit Siang Perak DAP Hqrs in Ipoh on Friday, 12^th June 2009 at 12.45 pm: 

Will OTK clip the wings and tie the hands and feet of Paul Low and his corporate governance committee to prevent them from conducting a full probe into past PKFZ misdeeds, corrupt practices and abuses of power?

My three questions (No.40 to No. 42 on the 14th 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:

No. 1. Does Ong agree that Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid should disqualify himself and step aside in the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal because of conflict of interest as Azmi was Minister in the Cabinet which decided on the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout in July 2007 and that the entire PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal should be conducted under the leadership of the PAC Deputy Chairman, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw?

No. 2. I have given notice to the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin to move an urgent motion of definite public importance when Parliament reconvenes on Monday on the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the PKFZ scandal.

Does Ong agree that Parliament should have a special urgent debate on the PKFZ scandal on Monday?

No. 3. Speaking at the DAP Public Forum “The RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – Will Heads Roll?” in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and commenting on the special task force and two committees which Ong had set up as a follow-up to the PwC report on the PKFZ, I had described the PKFZ scandal not just “a can of worms” but “a swamp of crocodiles”. I added:

“What happens when you throw eminent and credible Malaysians in their respective professional fields into a ‘swamp of crocodiles’? Will they be able to discipline the crocodiles or will they end up eaten up by the crocodiles?

“I worry and fear for the reputation of these eminent and credible Malaysians as it will be a great pity if their standing and credibility are soiled and sullied by their inability to straighten out the PKFZ ‘scandal of scandals’!”

My reservations and concerns have been proved right in a matter of 36 hours.

In the Sun today, in the report “Probe on political links – ALL PKA’S DEALINGS REGARDING PKFZ TO COME UNDER SCRUTINY”, the newly-appointed chairman of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) ad hoc corporate governance committee, Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan announced that his committee was committed to probe all the past “misdeeds” resulting in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, and ‘the areas to be covered include possible conflict of interest and the authority’s limits”.

Low, who is Transparency International Malaysia president, said his committee would probe “all dealings” of the PKA and PKFZ “to detect political interference that could have allowed questionable decisions to be made”.

But this is what Ong would not allow, making it crystal clear in a Star report under the headline: “Ong: it’s not a probe”.

Ong said yesterday that the task force and committees which were formed in connection with the PKFZ issue are to recommend “cures” for the project and not conduct probes.

He stressed: “We have had enough of investigations and that is why we came up with the PKFZ reports.”

The third question today I want to ask Ong is whether he would bar and ban Low from probing into past misdeeds, misuse of powers, conflict of interests, corrupt practices or all forms of malpractices which landed the country with a RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal though it started off as a RM1.1 billion project in 2002 under Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik before quadrupling more than four times to RM4.6 billion in 2007 under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister.

Will Ong clip the wings and tie the hands of Low and the committee on corporate governance to prevent them from conducting a full probe into the past PKFZ misdeeds?

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor