Former agriculture minister Mohd Effendi Norwawi told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today that he had never received complaints of lying by former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik regarding the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

Mohd Effendi, who used to attend the cabinet meetings on the project, said he had also never made any police report against Ling for lying.

cpps mid term review forum 240408 effendi norwawi Mohd Effendi ( left ) said this when cross-examined by Ling’s counsel, Wong Kian Kheong.

Apart from that, Mohd Effendi told the court that two notes sent by the Transport Ministry to the cabinet clearly stated that the interest rate was not included in the original price of the land in Pulau Indah.

He said that normally, the ministers would be given a draft of the minutes of the meeting before a cabinet meeting was held.

Under re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Manoj Kurup, Mohd Effendi said he did not know that the Port Klang Authority (PKA) and Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) had signed the sale and purchase agreement for the land on Nov 12, 2002.

Mohd Effendi, who is the 16th prosecution witness, said he had never seen nor was shown the land valuation letter from the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) which was prepared by the then director-general, Sahari Mahadi.

The letter, dated Sept 29, 2000, did not mention about the 7.5 percent interest, and when questioned by Manoj whether he was aware of it (7.5 percent interest), Mohd Effendi responded with a “no” answer.

He said he did not attend the cabinet meeting on Nov 6, 2002 and did not know about the cabinet’s decision to purchase the 400 hectare piece of land in Pulau Indah at RM25 per sq ft and with payment of up to 15 years.

Ling is charged with cheating the Malaysian Government by not disclosing to the cabinet an additional interest rate of 7.5 percent per annum on the purchase price of the land for the PKFZ project, which had been fixed at RM1,088,456,000 by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) based on RM25 per sq ft inclusive of the coupon/interest rate.  

Ling, 68,  also faces two alternative charges, of cheating and intentionally omitting from the Cabinet that the 7.5 percent per annum was an additional interest rate on the land price.

He allegedly committed the offences at the fourth floor of the Prime Minister’s Office, Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya, between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002.  

The hearing before Justice Ahmadi Asnawi continues on Nov 10.

- Bernama