Port Klang Authority ready to face anything, says chairman
(The Star) – Port Klang Authority (PKA) is prepared to face all eventualities including legal action from any party, board chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng said.
He said PKA would do whatever it could to defend itself in the interest of the people.
"Port Klang Authority is not my company; it is a federal agency. I will carry out my duty with the best of my ability because I am representing the Federal Government and the money comes from taxpayers," he said on Sunday, when asked to comment about a possible lawsuit by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, the developer for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).
The company’s deputy chief executive officer Datuk Faizal Abdullah was quoted as saying on Saturday that the report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was baseless and had affected the reputation of the company, which was planning to file a suit this week.
Lee said he could not comment further till he received details on the suit.
Asked whether he felt the PwC report was reliable, Lee said: "PKA is ready to accept challenges from any party."
On the Selangor government’s request to have its exco in the PKA, Lee said the port authority did not require more than one representative from the state.
He said the Transport Ministry had renewed the contract of Selangor state Economic Planning Unit (Upen) director Datuk Noordin Sulaiman, who is also the state deputy secretary (development), as one of the PKA directors.
Noordin’s term expired early this year. He has been PKA director for the last two years.
Lee said the Selangor always had its state deputy secretary in PKA and "the practice continues till now."
"For me, there is no need for an exco to be in PKA. I’m an accountant by profession, I was a chairman of a public-listed logistic company before I resigned. I know the business well."
Lee said the Selangor government also had a representative in PKFZ – Norazmie Biron, who is Upen committee member.
Meanwhile, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the state should have a seat in PKA because that person could provide direct input compared to someone from Upen.
This, he said, was not something new because the previous government used to have its exco in PKA.
"Now with the PKFZ issue, it is better to put an exco there so that they can make decisions faster and have better communication between PKA and the state government."
