The Selangor government will go ahead with appointing a state executive council (exco) member to the Port Klang Authority's (PKA) board of directors although the move is not welcomed by PKA chairperson Lee Hwa Beng.

khalid ibrahim on klang bas terminal 090109 04 Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the exco member chosen would fill the seat that had already been allocated for a state government representative.

"We are just replacing the representative, therefore no problem should arise.

"Previously, the state government's representative had come from the state economic planning unit, but now we want a state exco member to sit on the board as this is more relevant," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Asked whether the state government would still appoint a state exco member to the board even though the PKA disagreed, Abdul Khalid said PKA should accept the decision.

"Like in other states, the ports' management accept the representatives from the state governments in efforts to streamline the plans and running of the ports, while the board has stipulated procedures to follow," he said.

Decision should not be questioned

On Lee's reaction, he said the state government's decision to place its exco member on the PKA board should not be questioned, but PKA should instead re-evaluate the position of the three representatives from Umno, MCA and MIC.

"I feel these representatives are not necessary as they do not add value to the developments in PKA, so they should be removed," he said.

Lee was reported to have said on June 7 that there was no need to appoint a state exco member to the PKA board to monitor developments pertaining to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) as a representative from the State Economic Planning Unit could do the job.

The PKFZ, which is owned by PKA and located next to Westport in Pulau Indah, Port Klang, was developed to become a regional export and transshipment hub at a cost supposedly to be RM1.85 billion.

However, recently the federal government ordered a full-scale investigation into why the cost had ballooned to RM4.6 billion, amid allegations of irregularities and the low tenancy which has turned the PKFZ into a white elephant.