PKFZ Report: A Royal Commission of Enquiry needed
By Sim Kwang Yang
Yesterday, Malaysiakini has this shocking headline Audit: PKFZ cost ballooned to RM7.5 billion. “PKFZ audit report has shown that the project outlay has ballooned from RM1.957 billion to a staggering RM7.453 billion since the project inception in 2001.”
In The Malaysian Insider, a news story entitled PKA loan default raise PKFZ cost to RM12.5 billion has this to say, “The Port Klang Authority (PKA) must restructure its soft loan of RM4.6 billion for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) to avoid any default by 2012 when it is expected to report losses as interest charges will balloon the entire cost to RM12.5 billion by 2051, its auditors said in a report released today.”
The audit report was prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers, a very credible firm in such matters. It was released to the public yesterday.
Among other things, Malaysiakini also highlighted the MCA and UMNO connections at work in this project.
Speaking at a press conference to release the report, PKA chairperson Lee Hwa Beng said that he will lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency tomorrow. He said that he had been instructed to do so by the Transport Minister Ong Tee Kiat.
The audit report also pointed out that many major decisions involving the massive cost overrun have been made without informing the cabinet.
First of all, we must applaud the Transport Minister for releasing the audit report. The report must be full of all kinds of accounting mumbo jumbo that will read like Greek to me. So, we have to wait for analysis from experts in the coming days to enlighten accounting illiterate people.
Meanwhile, Lim Kit Siang has already fired five questions in his blog yesterday as follows:
