Report names four politicians
(The Star) KLANG: Four politicians are among those named in the report on the Port Klang Free Zone, including two for possibly having conflict of interest in their dealings with the project.
The four were Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung, Sementa assemblyman Datuk Abdul Rahman Palil, Backbenchers Club president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and Federal Territory Umno treasurer Datuk Seri Azim Zabidi.
Chor was the Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman from April 2007 to March 2008 while Abdul Rahman was a board member of the authority from 1997 to 2003.
The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) raised the question whether there was a possibility of a conflict of interests because Chor had also served as Wijaya Baru Global Berhad (WBGB) non-executive deputy chairman from April 2004 till July 2007.
WBGB is the parent company of Wijaya Baru Sdn Bhd (WBSB), the main contractor for PKFZ turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd.
“Minutes of the (PKA) board did not indicate that Chor either declared his previous involvement in WBGB to the (PKA) board nor withdrew himself from deliberations,” the PWC report said.
Chor is currently Alor Setar MP and was deputy home minister until April this year before he was moved to the Finance Ministry.
On Abdul Rahman, the report noted that he was also the president of Koperasi Pembangunan Pulau Lumut Bhd, the original landowners of PKFZ project site.
“At one Port Klang Authority board meeting, Abdul Rahman declared his position as the president of the co-operative and queried the proposal for compulsory acquisition of the land over direct purchase.
“Given that compulsory acquisition would have benefited PKA, the rationale for Abdul Rahman raising the query is unclear,” the report stated.
Abdul Rahman was a Selangor state executive council member under the Barisan Nasional government.
Both Chor and Abdul Rahman could not be contacted for comment.
As for Tiong, the PWC report named him as a 32% shareholder of WBGB, which in turn has a 45% stake in WBSB, the main contractor to the turnkey developer, Kuala Dimensi.
Tiong is also 70% shareholder of Wijaya Baru Holdings Sdn Bhd, which is the sole proprietor of Kuala Dimensi.
Azim, the former Umno treasurer-general, was only named once in the report. He was identified as a director of Kuala Dimensi. He was appointed on July 18, 2003.
