MACC begins PKFZ probe
(The Star) PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has started investigations into the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) controversy.
It is learnt that a team from the Putrajaya MACC has been investigating and inquiring from those in the know about the project.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the MACC is expected to intensify its probe once it has obtained a copy of the report by accounting firm Pricewaterhouse-Coopers Advisory Services Sdn Bhd (PwC).
They said the MACC would study the report and see if there were new elements which the commission could follow up on.
The MACC is also expected to contact several people in the Port Klang Authority (PKA) as part of its investigations.
MACC director of investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull confirmed investigations were in progress but declined to elaborate.
It is learnt that the report, which has yet to be made public, detailed cost overruns amounting to billions of ringgit and a trail of improper and poor decisions during the development of the PKFZ.
The PKFZ project was for a cluster of offices and light industrial buildings in the port area, originally estimated to cost RM1.9bil.
However, sources said the report stated that the project cost would swell to RM7.5bil, partly due to interest costs over a 20-year period.
Sources said one of the recommendations was for the PKA to restructure a RM4.6bil soft loan from the Finance Ministry to avoid a potential default in 2012.
The cost would expand further to RM12.5bil if the loan from the Finance Ministry were rescheduled to match PKA’s projected cash flows, the sources said.
They added that PKA’s options included loan rescheduling, government grant and privatisation.
The sources also said there were PKFZ development proposals which were not tabled to the Cabinet for approval.
They also said development contracts totalling RM1.8bil were awarded to a company called Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd without competitive bids.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, meanwhile, said the PwC report was discussed by the Cabinet yesterday.
The issue was also the subject of deliberations last week. Cabinet ministers are also believed to have been given copies of the PwC report.
“The Cabinet members were given the opportunity to study the report in greater detail. I understand that PKA has managed to resolve several technical issues with PwC to release the report, including the issue of indemnity,” he said in his blog yesterday.
Ong said he remained committed to a policy of transparency and openness.
“This is what a ‘People First, Performance Now’ government should be. The people not only have the right to know but should also be assured that the Government is acting in their best interest,” he said.
