A Barisan Nasional parliamentarian has accused the opposition of blowing the Port Klang Free Trade Zone (PKFZ) issue out of proportion for their own political ends.

MP for Kinabatangan Bung Mokhtar Radin, who said that PKFZ will be successful in the long run, urged opposition members to stop their criticism towards the project.

The opposition has labelled the project - the cost of which has ballooned to RM4.6 billion - as a white elephant.

"When the government initiated the Penang bridge project, the opposition was the first to oppose the project. But the bridge is now a huge success and the same opposition is pressing for another bridge," he said.

"The opposition is only good at making a small issue big," he said.

At this juncture, Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) demanded Bung Mokhtar to explain more about the PKFZ - a project undertaken by the Port Klang Authority (PKA).

Chong Eng : What do you understand about PKFZ? Can you explain? You don't know what you are talking about.

Bung Mokhtar : I will not explain. This is my floor, and I will not give room for explanations. You can challenge me anytime, and you can choose the place.

Chong Eng : Explain it here. You have no clue what you are talking about.

Bung Mokhtar ignored Chong Eng and further stressed that PKFZ can generate more investments in the future.

Long term project

On that note, Ismail Sabri Yaakob (BN-Bera) said that PKFZ has thus far brought in 30 investors who have invested more than RM700 million.

"PKFZ is a long-term project. If it could generate such a big amount of investment in just a few years' time, it could definitely generate more in times to come," he said.

Bung Mokhtar, who agreed with Ismail, said: "The public loves the project, only DAP seems to oppose it. I wonder what is their trick this time."

"You can be the opposition party, but make sure that you are a relevant opposition party like PAS Youth. They don't challenge a good project or policy," said Bung Mokhtar.

"We agree there are a few weaknesses in the project, but we have to look into ways to turn the weaknesses into strengths and not criticise it," he said.

Shallow oppositions

He also urged the opposition not to create confusion in the country by instigating the public to question the government about PKFZ.

"We gained independence only 50 years ago but our country has the maturity of a 1,000-year old country. This is all possible because of the political stability provided by BN.

"But DAP will never agree and accept the reality. They are very shallow and they need to come out of their cocoons."

In a series of reports two months ago, malaysiakini revealed a tale of corruption, abuse of power and mismanagement involving the mega-project.

The free trade zone aims to turn Malaysia into a cost-effective logistics and manufacturing hub that would rival Singapore and China.

As the ailing PKA is unable to meet its debt repayments, the government had last month agreed to approve a multi-billion ringgit "soft loan' to the agency.

Details of the RM4.6 billion bailout - considered the biggest bailout in the country's history - has yet to be revealed.

Last week, Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy dismissed suggestions of any misappropriation of fund in the implementation of the project.

Rapper rapped

Bung Mokhtar also attacked DAP for "inviting 24-year-old rapper Wee Meng Chee " to join the party.

"Inviting someone who has done something very disgusting is like playing dirty politics, and only people with dirty mind play dirty politics," he said.

He urged the government to take a stringent action against Wee as he could "break the unity built by the government" and so that the public could be more patriotic.

Wee hit the limelights recently over his own version of the national anthem in which he criticised several sensitive matters.

He has since then apologised but the government is still investigating if he had breached any laws.