A prosecution witness told the Kuala Lumpur sessions court today that he was denied the opportunity to study Perwaja Steel's cashflow chart as his repeated attempts to obtain a copy failed.

Former Perwaja director Nik Mohd Affandi Nik Yusoff ( photo )- who was appointed by the Finance Ministry to sit on the Perwaja board - said that he had asked his accounts officer to obtain a copy of the company's overall cashflow chart when Perwaja wanted to venture into new projects.

"I don't remember when exactly but I do remember asking for the chart through one officer. But the accountant reported back to me that he could not get hold of the chart," said Nik Affandi when questioned by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

He said he did not report his futile attempts to the finance minister as he had given a verbal report on the matter to his immediate superior.

He also said that he informed Perwaja's board of directors on the difficulty of obtaining the company's cashflow chart but '... did not remember when he raised the matter before other board members'.

Contending that Nik Affandi's statement was wrong, Muhammad Shafee said: "I put it to you that you did see the flowchart because in your testimony yesterday you admitted that only after the accused Eric Chia managed the company, it started making profit. You could not have known that fact unless you had seen the chart".

To this the witness said: "That (the records of profits) was only at the beginning. I asked for the chart towards the end ... when Perwaja wanted to go into new projects. Anyway, the statements on profits was from the audit reports and not from the chart".

Cannot speak for others

He also disagreed with the counsel's suggestion that he did not inform the board about his alleged failure to obtain the chart because if he had indeed informed them, the other representatives appointed by the ministry of finance, Zainal Abidin Sulong and Zubir Embong, would have created a fuss.

"I don't know why (the other two did not make a fuss). I can't speak for them. I have no control over them," said Nik Affandi.

Nik Affandi was testifying against Chia who is charged with making an unauthorised payment of RM76.4 million to NKK Corporation (Japan) on Feb 22, 1994 via the accounts of Frilsham Enterprises Incorporated.

Chia also faces an alternative charge of illegally entering into an agreement with NKK to dispose the RM76.4 million without the approval from Perwaja's board of directors.

He is charged under section 409 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum 20-year jail sentence.

Not adhered to

In his testimony, Nik Affandi also admitted there were many procedures which affected other government-owned companies but which Perwaja was not subjected to as '... Perwaja is a special company'.

"The Ministry of Finance had high regards for Chia. We trusted him completely (in running Perwaja). Although those procedures are important, we chose not to interfere too much."

This was also the reason why the ministry seldom studied business contracts entered into by Perwaja with other companies.

However, Nik Affandi disagreed that the board of directors had approved Perwaja's agreement with NKK to provide technical assistance services totalling RM76.4 million at the same time it approved another turnkey project with the same Japanese company involving the construction of a beam and section mill in Gurun, Kedah.

"If the board had approved the technical assistance agreement (TAA) together with the turnkey agreement with NKK, the minutes would have stated so. I believe that the TAA agreement was never approved by the board."

The hearing before Sessions Court judge Akhtar Tahir continues from March 21 to 25.