Stopping short of calling DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang a 'broken record', Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat said the former's queries on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) matter were the same aired three years ago.

ong tee keat parliament pc 220609 04 Pandemonium had erupted in the Dewan Rakyat earlier when Lim shouted: "Who has killed it? (The project) is dead. You need to do something to revive it... is this (project) a gold mine? Explain why the cost had quadrupled."

Ong said the disputed cost was "twisted" by a certain individual, adding that the veteran opposition leader's "hysterical behaviour" will not resolve the problem.

As to Lim's query why there was a delay in announcing the PKFZ report, Ong said this could not be done sooner because of the need to declassify certain documents and to address the issue of liability with Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

He added that the report is now out in its entirety without any amendments or censorship by any party.

He said this is an effort to prove that the government is sincere and aware of the people's need to know what happened

Lim also accused the minster of misleading the House, as Ong had not touched on the fact that on Oct 23, 2002, the cabinet rejected the proposal to purchase the land needed for PKFZ development.

The Ipoh Timur MP also cornered Ong saying the land could have been purchased at a lower price, under the Land Acquisition Act and continued to press Ong for an explanation.

However, deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee interjected and reminded Lim that the Standing Order prohibits any interruption during the ministerial statement, but Lim continued to shout despite his microphone being turned off.

Annoyed, Ong then resorted to lash back at Lim (below) , calling him "a creature" who will not give up but later retracted his statement after Batu Gajah DAP MP Fong Po Kuan reprimand him that such language was intolerable in the House.

Unsatisfactory ministerial statement

As for Ong's ministerial statement, it was nothing short of a disappointment to the members of the opposition as the minister stuck to elaborating on matters related to the purchase of the land, development cost, and implementation of the project.

Ong had not touched on the lurking issues related to the inflated cost of the project as mentioned in the PwC report.

He explained that the project which was modelled after the Jebel Air Free Zone in Dubai, with an estimated cost RM2billion which ballooned to an astronomical RM12.45billion, was indeed a profitable one.

Ong said that Port Klang Authority (PKA) had bought over 1,000 acres of land, based on the recommendation by the Selangor state government that the land cannot be purchased under the Land Acquisition Act as it was not a public project.

lim kit siang ong tee keat parliament pc 220609 03 Moreover, Ong said the cabinet agreed to buy the land for RM1.08 billion on Oct 2, 2002, which included the basic infrastructure and land reclamation.

He added that the issue with the PKFZ development project was the escalated cost. Ong said that initially in 2002 the estimate was RM1.957 billion but by the end of 2008 it increased to RM3.522 billion.

"Taking into consideration the interest on the delayed payments to developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), as well as the variation orders and professional fees, the development cost will rise to RM4.947billion by 2017," he said.

"In 2007, the PKA was given a soft loan of RM4.389 billion from the Finance Ministry with a 20-year repayment period to KDSB.

"The current practice is, if the interest is paid at a rate of four percent, in 20 years the interest to be paid by the Finance Ministry, alone would rise to RM2.506 billion by 2036," said Ong.

"Therefore...say that the cash flow remains the same and the repayment period is extended to 2051, the interest alone will escalate to RM5 billion and the whole project would cost RM12.453 billion by 2051.

Ong explains the 'RM1.2billion' extra fund

Ong said that assuming PKA's cash flow remained unchanged and the payback period was extended to 2051, the interest which would have to be paid would exceed RM5 billion.

"And the whole project would indeed cost RM12.453 billion by 2051, if there was no intervention and efforts to promote PKFZ," he added.

Furthermore, the scenario is just hypothetical, said Ong, adding that in reality there has been various promotions by PKA on PKFZ.

During a press conference at the Parliament lobby later, Ong clarified that the RM1.2 billion payment as variation of costs for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project , was pre-approved in 2007, before he was made a transport minister.

"The RM1.2 billion in 2004 under development work, the scope of work was not finalised, the details were not finalised but the estimate was given, and as I said earlier, the PKA board convened earlier and they had approved the evaluation report with such a figure," said Ong.

"It does not involve any application for fresh funds because in 2007, the soft loan was already given and even if I was to apply for fresh funds there must be certain due-diligence observed, which I must tell you categorically that during my tenure thus far, I have not asked for a single cent of extra funds," he said..

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