PAC probe ‘ignored’ Ling’s role in PKFZ due to ‘time constraints’
Pua claimed that the final PAC report on the PKFZ probe was rushed, allowing individuals like Dr Ling — who was charged yesterday for cheating the government over the purchase of land for the PKFZ project — to slip through the cracks.
The Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) probe into the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal was aware of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik’s role in the land purchase, but was omitted from the final report because of “time constraints.”
Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, who was part of committee, said that Dr Ling’s involvement was raised during PAC meetings but, for several reasons, there was no push for him to be investigated and the points raised against the former transport minister did not make it into the report proper.
“There was [a] discussion on Tun Ling Liong Sik. I wanted to make sure it was recorded — as per my earlier statement. All facts were raised during the PAC probe and meetings.
“Part of the reason why it was not in final report is also because there was too short a time to finalise [the] report. That’s why Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Tiong King Sing weren’t really touched on in summary report,” Pua told The Malaysian Insider today.
Pua claimed that the final PAC report on the PKFZ probe was rushed, allowing individuals like Dr Ling — who was charged yesterday for cheating the government over the purchase of land for the PKFZ project — to slip through the cracks.
“The PAC report was already very late, so it had to be wrapped up quickly. I saw that (Tan Sri ) Chan Kong Choy had already been implicated in the report, so I didn’t press on [with] the others.
“The matter was raised in the PAC meeting. It was recorded in the verbatim report. It’s just that the point did not make the cut for the final report,” reiterated Pua.
However, the DAP national publicity chairman also alleged that one of the other reasons for the now-glaring omission was that some members within the PAC were not willing to pursue any form of investigation against Dr Ling.
“Some PAC members were not keen to pursue or press the matter further. On my part, I just wanted the matter recorded, to show that it is at least raised,” Pua explained.
He, however, declined to provide the names of the said PAC members.
“But it is good that the Attorney-General picked up the facts which were pointed out in the full report,” said Pua.
Another DAP member who was also part of the PAC committee, Dr Tan Seng Giaw, confirmed that discussions on the land purchase indeed taken place.
“The land matter concerning PKFZ was discussed by the PAC. The verbatim report was presented to Parliament,” the Kepong MP told The Malaysian Insider.
Meanwhile, PAC chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid declined to comment and said he would not discuss anything except what was in the final report.
Excerpts of the verbatim report published by The Malaysian Insider on November 6 last year quoted the former Ministry of Transportation secretary-general Datuk Zaharah Shaari as saying that the Cabinet was fully aware of the land acquisition for the PKFZ project.
Zaharah had said that the ministry had to “go by Cabinet decision.”
