To outsiders, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) seems to be doing a good job but to one insider, it is good only at performing media stunts - that is if recent events are anything to go by.

"The PAC should be called the Press Action Committee now because all they have done is nothing but playing to the media gallery," the disgruntled source told malaysiakini today.

These words were the frustrated expression of the source who has been working closely with the PAC, the body responsible to investigate alleged irregularities in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

Yesterday the PAC had a first-hand look at the PKFZ site to assess the progress of the RM4.6 billion project but according to the source, the visit was a mere act staged to impress the media and the public.

"The purpose of the visit was to see the operations of the PKFZ but PAC is supposed to be investigating into suspicion of mismanagement and not sit and swallow uncritically what the PKFZ officials had to say because it would be all sweet and perfect," said the unhappy source.

During the visit yesterday, Malaysiakini learnt that out of a total 512 light industry warehouse units, 18 have been rented and 39 percent of the 640-acre vacant land is due for development soon.

Out of the four commercial units, one has been occupied by a Norwegian oil and gas multinational company Aker Kvaerner.

PAC committee chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad expressed satisfaction yesterday, saying that PKFZ was on the right development track.

However, the source felt Shahrir was misleading the media as after assessing the momentum of growth of the project, the PKFZ authorities will not be able to make repayment of the 'soft loan' given to them by the government.

"PKFZ began its operations on Nov 1 last year and after almost a year, it is growing at a very slow rate.

"If the project is a commercially feasible and prospected to generate massive income for the country, why wasn't it included as part of the Ninth Malaysian Plan? My answer is it's because they know it is not a commercially viable project," said the source.

Engage professionals, not politicians

The source also expressed dissatisfaction with the committee line-up as he felt that they were mere politicians with no authority to scrutinize the technicalities of the PKFZ fiasco.

"What can PAC get when a bunch of politicians are lined up to investigate on this matter? They should be engaging experts so that the right questions will be asked and the enquiry will be of quality instead of wasting time," he explained.

On the government's claim that the project will provide employment opportunities for Malaysians, the source said that is most unlikely.

"A conversation I had with the Norwegian staff in PKFZ disclosed a shocking fact. The Norwegians are distrustful of local workers because they have experienced negative productivity due to the laxity of skills among the local labour force," explained the source.

PKFZ currently employs only 800 staff out of the 24,000 expected to work for the free zone by the end of the year.

And of these 800, a substantial number of them are foreign workers and there is an acute shortage of skilled personnel. This is reflected by the Norwegian entrepreneurs' comments that local workers are 'not up to par', said the source.

PAC launched an investigation into the scandal-laden PKFZ project on Sept 25 and have since questioned various top government officials.

The powerful body will be heading to quiz the Attorney General next and to receive the final financial report from the Finance Ministry to tie up its probe.