Newly appointed Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat was coy about his pledge to probe the RM4.6 billion ‘soft-loan’ to the Port Klang Free Zone and refused to divulge any details.

ong tee keat visit mas engineering 100408 press conference “When I said I’m coming to it, I’m coming to it. I’ll do it at my own pace,” Ong told reporters after visiting the MAS engineering department in Subang Jaya, Selangor this morning.

On Monday, Ong promised that he would investigate the matter, which veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang touted as a “scandal” and suggested yesterday that five subjects ought to be probed:

• Whether cabinet had approved the Port Klang Authority and the Transport Ministry to buy 1,000 acres of Pulau Indah land for PKFZ at an grossly inflated price

• Whether the cost of PKFZ had ballooned from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion

• Whether the previous transport ministers had dubiously issued four letters of support, acting as government guarantee, to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd to raise RM4 billion bonds

• Whether former transport ministers had created a RM4.6 billion liability for the government in the “bailout” of PKFZ

• Whether previous transport ministers would be probed over the incident

While refusing to respond to Lim’s questions, Ong stressed that his probe into PKFZ was not done under “duress” or pressure from any parties.

“I’m dictating what I’m going to do, not others,” said Ong, who also refused to divulge the scope or time-frame for his probe.

‘Lim didn’t do anything’

Ong said that his intention was to clear the air regarding PKFZ and chided Lim for not pro-actively reporting the alleged scandal to the authorities.

“At least I made an effort to address the concerns (from the public). Whereas Lim had been talking about it for two years and he has yet to make a visit to PKFZ or lodge a complaint to the authorities. If it’s a scandal, prove it and bring the culprit to book,” he said.

Ong said that he wanted to see PKFZ make progress but he was mindful of a visit to the area by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and Selangor exco in charge of industry Teresa Kok.

“Both of them did say that they are keen to takeover. Of course I said fine. You submit the proposal. But until today... such proposal has yet to be forthcoming,” he added.

Reports lodged by DAP

Owned by the Port Klang Authority, PKFZ was the center of controversy after reports surfaced of alleged mismanagement, conflict of interest involving political figures and numerous other irregularities.

ronnie liu fourth police report pkfz 250807 Since 2004, DAP’s Ronnie Liu had lodged four police reports and one Anti-Corruption Agency report over alleged graft involved in the project.

Modeled after the highly successful Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, PKFZ was conceptualised as the region’s hub of choice for the export and transhipment of manufactured goods.

Presently, the area hosts only a handful of companies leaving PKFZ looking largely like a mega-ghost town .

In July last year, the cabinet approved a ‘soft-loan’ amounting to RM4.6 billion in the form of bonds to PKFZ in a bid to revitalise the ailing project.

SPECIAL REPORT ON PKFZ