Media Statement by Lau Weng San in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, 2^ndJuly 2009:

Motion to Selangor State Legislative to debate RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal

I have submitted a motion to the Selangor State Legislative Assembly to debate on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal by urging the federal government to setup a Royal Commission of Enquiry to get to the bottom of the scandal.

Setting up the Royal Commission of Enquiry is the most urgent task now as there are several individuals and companies who are involved or mentioned in the report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have openly claimed that they will consider to bring Port Klang Authority (PKA) and PwC to court for defamation charges.

It seems like the whole scandalous PKFZ deal could be ending up into nowhere in the court room. As such, the federal government must act immediately to form a Royal Commission of Enquiry to get to the bottom of the scandal to further investigate the matter. Defamation suits are certainly not necessary at this juncture.

PKFZ occupies an area of 1000 acres on Pulau Lumut (now named Pulau Indah). The original land owner, Koperasi Pembangunan Pulau Lumut Berhad (KPPLB) (or Pulau Lumut Development Cooperation Limited), sold the land in stages to Kuala Dimensi Sendirian Berhad (KDSB) at RM1.37/ft2 and RM2.98/ft2, totaling RM94 million. PKA bought the land from KDSB at a price of RM25/ft2, including infrastructure cost. Jabatan Penilaian Dan Perkhidmatan Harta (JPPH) or Valuation and Property Services Department evaluate the price at RM10.16/ft2 excluding infrastructure cost.

So, we are talking about the state government losing from RM8.79/ft2 to RM23.63/ft2 on a piece of land of 1000 acres which was originally alienated to KPPLB. Now the scandal has ballooned to RM12.5 billion. Has any heads rolled?

Days ago, KPPLB Chairman from 1997 to 2003, Dato’ Rahman Palil who is also the ADUN for Sementa spoke to the press that he will consider to sue PwC. Instead of doing so, Rahman Palil should clarify openly why KPPLB sold precious land given by the State Government to private developer? We shall not forget that the current location of PKFZ is just next top West Port which was at its initiating stages when the land was sold to KDSB, making it a prime location.

The PKFZ scandal is not only about the astronomical RM12.5 billion alone, it is also about how UMNO-linked organizations, cooperatives and outskirt associations sold government land to developers for quick profit, which is of no difference compared to “Get-Rich-Fast” scheme. This is the reason I table a motion to the state assembly in order to further pressure the federal government to form a Royal Commission of Enquiry to investigate the scandal.

* Lau Weng San, Selangor DAP Secretary & ADUN for Kampung Tunku