The delayed Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) independent auditing report is fast turning into a painful political headache for Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat as several key BN leaders have been named in the report.

ong tee keat event 100409 02 After taking over the post of transport minister last year, Ong who is also MCA president have promised to come clean on the scandal that had been widely perceived to have cost his predecessor’s political career.

Former transport minister and deputy MCA president Chan Kong Choy was dropped in the last election due to “health reasons”.

However, before the independent audit report prepared by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) could be released, the local media had already published certain findings of the report.

ong tee keat pkfz klang visit 060508 05 Business weekly, The Edge , reported on April 27 that the total PKFZ bill was estimated at RM2.3 billion but after five years the cost is believed to have ballooned to RM8 billion.

While the Sun described the report as a damning disclosure of mismanagement, clandestine deals, conflicts of interest and a total disregard for transparency and accountability for a project which was supposed to cost RM1.845 billion but ended up at RM4.6 billion.

PWC wants indemnity for report

Opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang who had been hammering away at the issue through his press statements, claimed that according to the latest media reports the final cost of the PKFZ scandal could be a whopping RM12 billion or 6.5 times the original cost of RM1.8 billion.

The audit report prepared by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) is supposed to be released by last Wednesday but was hindered by technical issues and is expected to be released next week at the earliest.

According to the Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman, Lee Hwa Beng, previously PWC had prepared the report only for the internal use of PKA.

pkfz port klang free zone the white elephant project connections update 291008 However, after a PKA emergency full board meeting, Lee explained that PWC had agreed in principle to the release of the report to the public but needed indemnity from the port authority.

This is because the publication of the report is deemed highly sensitive and may result in lawsuits by the third parties who are not happy with the report.

PKA is currently seeking legal advice into the request whether the proposed indemnity covers the possible negligence of the party that made the report.

Media asked to play down issues

Already, some BN leaders who will be named in the report are said to be seeking legal opinions and considering lawsuits.

It is learn that some quarters have even push for the usage of OSA against the media who leak some of the contents of the report.

There were also consistent effort by certain parties to brief the media especially the editors who are in charge of economic sections to “play down the impact” of the forthcoming report.

It is learnt that government backbenchers have already been given a briefing on the audit report to prepare for any possible political backslash.

On the other hand, the political dilemma faced by Tee Keat is that BN leaders especially Umno leaders who have been named in the report are not going to feel too happy about the publication of the report.

Tee Keat had to juggle between fulfilling his promise to come clean on the issues and make the report public while not ruffling too much Umno feathers and that of his predecessor.

Already the delay in releasing the PWC report have drew heavy criticism and shaken Tee Keat’s credibility.