Valuer: Gov't listens to us '99.99% of the time'

The Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) land purchase serves as one of the few times that the government did not heed the recommendations of the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), the Kuala Lumpur High Court was told today.

Testifying as the prosecution’s second witness in the corruption trial of former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik, the former director of JPPH Sahari Mahadi (right) said the government has taken into consideration the department’s estimations “99.99 percent” of the time.

But even then, said the retired valuer, the government’s decision-makers are not bound to follow the recommendations of the valuers.

"They don't have to abide by the suggestions acknowledged by us... but at 99.99 percent of the time they do," said Sahari.

DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah asked Sahari whether the terms put forth by JPPH were similar to those proposed in the letter written by Ling to then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Sahari pointed out that the deferred payment period acknowledged by JPPH was 10 years not 15 years and the interest agreed by both PKA and landowner Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) was six percent not 7.5 percent, as stated by Ling in his letter dated June 29, 2002.

"After setting a valuation of RM25 psf, it (referring to the 7.5 percent interest rate per year) is excessive payment," said Sahari.

"What was agreed was a 6 percent interest," he said, adding that this interest rate had been included in JPPH’s RM25 psf valuation of the land in Pulau Indah in 2000.

He also said JPPH had proposed a five percent deposit to be paid in stages and not 10 percent, as provided in the letter.

"I gave my professional opinion but it was up to those who make the decision whether to follow the advice," said Sahari.

Tun Abdul Majid, after tendering the letter as an exhibit, said in passing that the prosecution also intends to summon Mahathir to testify.

Recommendations ‘implied’

Under cross-examination by Ling's lawyer Wong Kian Kheong, Sahari admitted that nowhere in the letter is the JPPH's recommendation explicitly stated.

"It was implied," said Sahari, to which Wong told the witness to answer the question.

Wong (left) also established that Sahari had no first-hand information of the matter and had relied on the briefings by his deputies Mani Usilappan and Faizan Abdul Rahman, who had attended most meetings when the PKFZ deal was being finalised.

Sahari also did not work out the payment calculation, to contest the amount of RM1,088 billion compared to RM1.8 billion for the PKFZ project.

He also said he did not expressly state in his letter to the Transport Ministry on Sept 29, 2000 that JPPH’s RM25 psf valuation included a 6 percent interest rate.

Wong said, however, that based on his own calculations and the terms stated by JPPH, the RM25 psf valuation could not have included interest.

After the lunch break, Sahari said he had not brought up his qualms with regard to Transport Ministry's terms and conditions.

He said that "no one had asked" for the JPPH recommendations and that the letters submitted today were all "classified" documents.

The prosecution has amended one principal and two optional charges against Ling in relation to the PKFZ project.

Ling, 68, pleaded not guilty before High Court judge Justice Ahmadi Asnawi yesterday.

He faces an amended principal charge of deceiving the government by concealing an additional interest rate of 7.5 percent per annum to the cabinet for the purchase of 999.5 acres of land in Pulau Indah for the trans shipment hub project.

He was said to have committed the offence at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya between Sept 25, 2002 and Nov 6, 2002.

The interest rate was based on a rate of RM25 per sq ft, which worked out to RM1,088,456,000 billion.

Ling is accused of having committed deception with the knowledge it could cause wrongful losses to the government and despite being bound by a fiduciary duty to protect the government.

The prosecution has amended one principal and two optional charges against Ling in relation to the PKFZ project.

Ling, 68, pleaded not guilty before High Court judge Justice Ahmadi Asnawi yesterday.

He faces an amended principal charge of deceiving the government by concealing an additional interest rate of 7.5 percent per annum to the cabinet for the purchase of 999.5 acres of land in Pulau Indah for the trans shipment hub project.

He was said to have committed the offence at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya between Sept 25, 2002 and Nov 6, 2002.

The interest rate was based on a rate of RM25 per sq ft, which worked out to RM1,088,456,000 billion.

Ling is accused of having committed deception with the knowledge it could cause wrongful losses to the government and despite being bound by a fiduciary duty to protect the government.

Ling also faces two optional charges:

• Cheating the government by not revealing to the cabinet the facts relating to the interest rate

• Cheating the cabinet into believing that the facts relating to the purchase of the land at the rate of RM25 psf and interest rate at 7.5 percent were approved and agreed to by the JPPH, an agency under the Finance Ministry, when he knew there was no such consent.

The hearing continues with Mani’s testimony.