Two weeks after former transport minister Ling Liong Sik's acquittal over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, the main architect behind its exposé remains silent on the issue.

When contacted today after the appeal period has finally lapsed without further action, former MCA chief and ex-transport minister Ong Tee Keat continued to keep mum saying he would comment "at his own leisure".

NONE"I will do my part when I feel like it. At my leisure, I will do it. For the time being, no (comment). In fact, only when I sit back and relax," he told Malaysiakini.

Ong (right) has remained conspicuously absent from the limelight over Ling's verdict, despite Malaysiakini's attempts to elicit a response over the past weeks.

He has also not issued any public statements on the case despite being the key figure in breaking the scandal into the open.

As a newly minted transport minister in 2008, Ong had ordered a probe into the RM12.5 billion scandal, which was plagued with allegations of power abuse and cost overruns soon after its completion in 2007.

He later said in a 2010 interview with Malaysiakini that the investigation was his own undoing, because it had alienated party leaders who eventually ousted him as MCA president. The ouster also cost him his ministerial portfolio.

NONEMCA has close ties with Port Klang Authority (PKA), which in turn owns PKFZ. All PKA chairpersons since 1989 have been MCA leaders.

Ling (left in photo), who was transport minister from 1986 to 2003, was charged of cheating the government in 2002 by not disclosing additional interests on the land earmarked for the PKFZ project to the cabinet.

This had allegedly led to an extra RM720 million paid for the land purchase.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court acquitted him of the charges on Oct 25, while the attorney-general's chambers (AGC) yesterday confirmed they will not appeal against the ruling.

Hwa Beng happy to move on

Meanwhile, former PKA chairperson Lee Hwa Beng, who had worked closely with Ong to investigate the scandal, says he accepts the court's decision and the Attorney-General (AG) Chambers' decision not to appeal, and is happy for Ling because the long-running case has finally ended.

NONE"For me, Ong had given me a job so I did what I could, and the rest is up to the AG and the judge.

"The AG had decided to charge him, the court finds him not guilty, and then the AG decides not to appeal. I am okay with that," he said when contacted today.

Stressing that he is now a retired politician, Lee (left) said he is happy as long as no one is complaining about his part of the work.

"The rest has nothing to do with me because it is out of my control," he said, adding that he does not want to be worried by things beyond his control.

He suggested that Malaysiakini solicit comments from opposition politicians instead, who would be more eager to criticise the acquittal and the AG's decision not to appeal.

However, he also suggested that the AG should drop all three outstanding cases related to PKFZ, where he is also a witness, instead of wasting the time and money of all those involved.

When asked if he was being sarcastic, he replied, "I am serious… then everybody can move on with life."