Gov't was right in setting up PKFZ, says Ling

Despite numerous scandalous revelations, former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik is of the opinion that the government was right in its decision to set up the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).

Ling, a former MCA president, justified his stance by saying that PKFZ was now doing very well.

“I visited PKFZ recently. I was briefed by chairman of PKA (Port Klang Authority) Teh Kim Poo and Chia Kon Leong, CEO of PKFZ. The land was sold at RM21 (per square feet) but now, it’s RM70 to RM80 (psf)… so PFKZ is doing well.

With this, Ling said, the decision to set up the PKFZ was correct, and the misunderstandings were stirred by certain quarters who did not know the operations well enough.

Asked about his acquittal in the recently concluded PKFZ cheating case against him, Ling, for the first time, willingly responded to this issue, saying:"God is great. God knows who is wrongly accused."

The 70-year-old was acquitted on Oct 25 of cheating the government in the multi-billion ringgit PKFZ project, with the High Court in Kuala Lumpur finding that the defence had successfully thrown doubts over the prosecution's case.

Justice Ahmadi Asnawi said Ling could not be held accountable for any mistakes, misleading information or inaccuracies in the preparation of the ministry's documents that were tabled at the cabinet  meeting headed by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Ling lauded the judgment as a vindication, saying that he should not have been charged in the first place, since there was no basis for the accusation.

"Mahathir had said that I didn't cheat him and the cabinet, and no one had complained about it... I agree with the judge," Ling said after attending a commercial function today.

Despite having endured the court proceedings, Ling did not appear to be offended by reporters’ questions on the PKFZ, and he overwhelmingly responded: “Ah! This is a very good question, what do you want to know?”

Ling was ordered by the court to enter his defence on March 9, 2012, after Justice Ahmadi found the prosecution had successfully proven a prima facie case against him.

Subsequently, Mahathir appeared in the court to be one of the witnesses for the defence and he testified that Ling was an honest man and did not cheat either him or the cabinet.

Besides Ling, former MCA deputy president Chan Kong Choy, who took over from Ling as transport minister, also faces a similar charge of cheating the government over the PKFZ project. However, his trial is yet to commence.

Asked about Chan’s fate, Ling said he had no idea as to what has happened thus he refused to comment.

‘No external interference in MCA’

On allegations that MCA was under external influences, Ling, who has been the party president for 17 years, said no matter how tough a period the MCA going through, it was still wrong to connive the interference of outsiders.

Outgoing MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek too has reportedly brushed aside an allegation that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was involving himself in the forthcoming MCA elections.

Asked to comment on MCA's current situation, Ling said the party faced the worst downfall in the history and the only way to survive was to go up high.

"Just like a handkerchief that falls to the floor, it can't go any deeper than that, the only way is to go up high," he said.

MCA performed dismally in the last two  general elections, in 2008 and on May 5 this year

Ling said the new leaders in the party must stay strong so as to give hope to the members.

Meanwhile, MCA vice-president Donald Lim (left, in picture above), who is a deputy president hopeful in the coming party elections, refused to respond if he had entered into a partnership with fellow vice-president Gan Ping Sieu, who is going for the top post in the party.