Media Conference by Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, 30^th June 2009: 

Can Ong Tee Keat explain why he has changed so much in eight short months in his stand on accountability and integrity after becoming MCA President as compared to his past two decades in politics?

My three questions (No.94 to No. 96) on the 32nd 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:

Question No. 1: Ong, who had to abscond all the way to Paris to avoid ministerial accountability to Parliament for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal on June 15, specially came to Parliament yesterday to repeat to reporters at the Parliament lobby that I am not qualified to challenge him to a public debate on PKFZ scandal.

What courage!

Ong, having become MCA President, now regards himself as ‘No. 1 under the skies”. His ego must have reached the skies as he has been named “World’s Most Outstanding Chinese Leader”!

Ong is undoubtedly the “World’s Most Outstanding Chinese Leader” in running away from ministerial accountability to Parliament and the electorate, running all the way to France and away from Parliament stubbornly refusing to take his stand in Parliament to fully account for the “mother of all scandals”, and now running away from a series of public debates to “nail the liar”.

Referring to me yesterday, Ong said:

“He asked for the inquiry and the inquiry was made. The result of the inquiry has also been shared to everyone and he was one of the first to get all the information. He also raised the same questions which were raised three years ago. He has asked and the questions have already been answered.”

Yes, I had called for a full inquiry into the PKFZ “scandal of all scandals” - in fact a Royal Commission of Inquiry. I never agreed to a PKFZ inquiry which is so narrow and restricted in scope like the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit inquiry to the extent that the PwC report admitted in its own words:

“We were not asked to and we have not advised on any strategy, valuation, legal implications, tax, operational effectiveness, staff competencies or process improvement. No investigation to detect any wrongdoing or audit to form an opinion on any financial information, including any forecasts and projects, has been undertaken.”

The first question I want to ask Ong is why he had changed so much in a short period of eight months after he became MCA President last October in his stand on accountability and integrity as compared to his past two decades in politics?

Question No. 2: The second question to Ong is whether he had directed the Port Klang Authority (PKA) to stop the next drawdown of RM360 million from the government’s soft loan of RM4.6 billion to pay the PKFZ turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd. (KDSB) for the PKFZ land and construction.

The Finance Edge had reported that PKA is also to make another drawdown of RM300 million next month to meet the next scheduled payment to KDSB.

KDSB had received a payment of RM510 million in 2007 and RM660 million last year.

Will Ong order a halt to all payments to KDSB until a full inquiry and parliamentary accountability on the PKFZ scandal is completed?

Question No. 3: Karim Raslan in his Star column “CERITALAH” giving his diagnosis as to what Umno and Barisan Nasional should do to regain support of Malaysians, said:

“Second, the administration has to come clean on issues like the Port Klang Free Zone. A zero tolerance to corruption and mismanagement is a sure vote winner, look at how Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has focussed on the issue.”

Because of Ong’s snowballing and sabotaging of all efforts to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, both Ong and the PKFZ scandal have become the symbols of the refusal of the Najib premiership to have zero tolerance to corruption and mismanagement.

Does Ong agree with Karim and what does he proposes to do about it?

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