DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua today reminded MCA President Chua Soi Lek that he is in no position to throw stones at the opposition considering the latest developments in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

azlan ‘(Chua) should instead do the honourable thing and take to task his MCA presidential elections running mate and now Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha (for his) [ left] refusal to pursue the case against former MCA transport minister Chan Kong Choy for possible criminal breach of trust.

‘The Public Accounts Committee had found a strong prima facie case of CBT and abuse of power by Chan (relating to PKFZ) and yet no charges have been filed years after the investigations,’ he said.

Pua said this in his statement today following Chua’s comment that the opposition coalition was ‘practicing double standards’ by not punishing a DAP councilor for corruption and was ‘sweeping the matter under the carpet’.

MCA-owned daily the Star had yesterday front-paged allegations that an unnamed DAP councilor had misused a state exco’s letterhead to obtain contracts.

Pua, however, knocked the daily’s report as ‘riddled with inconsistencies as well as blatant factual errors’ and said DAP should not be expected to act on unsubstantiated claims.

‘Why priority for KDSB?’

The Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentarian said Chua’s statement was ‘laughable’ as Pakatan Rakyat could not possibly try to hide things as they, too, were under ‘harassment’ by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

dap 2010 budget rocket cafe 071009 tony pua 01 ‘There is no carpet for us to sweep things under…how do you expect (us to do so) when MACC raids on a regular basis the offices of our state assemblypersons as well as the local councils?’ he asked.

Holding the mirror up to MCA, Pua ( right ) said that the party president should ask Kong why he was prioritising the private interest of PKFZ contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) over that of the people and the government.

Kong, who is MCA secretary-general, was reported to have said that he wants the Port Klang Authority (PKA) to make the payment of RM222.58 million to the bondholders of the debt accrued by KDSB.

This despite the fact that PKA has refused to pay and has sued the contractor over excessive and fraudulent claims of approximately RM1.4 billion in court, Pua said.

Pua said any attempt by the minister’s to meddle in the PKA board of director’s decision ‘smacks of extremely poor corporate governance’.

Debt due Saturday

The PKA board will hold a meeting tomorrow morning to reach a final decision on the payment. Section 3(4) of the Port Authorities Act 1963 gives the transport minister power to override the board's decision.

azlan Although Kong yesterday said PKA will make the payment as scheduled, it was not known whether he had given a written directive to the board invoking the act.

English daily The Sun today reported that KDSB had issued three letters to three special purpose vehicles (SPV) guaranteeing that it will cover any shortfall in repayment towards the bonds should PKA fail to do so.

Payments for two of the SPVs, namely Free Zone Capital Bhd (FZCB) and Special Port Vehicle Bhd (SPVB) are due this Saturday.

PKA had last month paid a total of RM350 million to another two SPVs - Transshipment Megahub Bhd (TMB) and Valid Ventures Bhd (VVB).