Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: The audit report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project may be finally out in the open but the pressure on the transport minister continues.

While Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat may be forgiven for thinking that the pressure is off after the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report was released last Thursday, the MCA chief could not be more mistaken.

Since Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has delegated the task of responding to the PKFZ report to Ong, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has upped the ante with a daily batch of three questions.

Started since last Friday, Lim’s latest salvo was directed to Ong’s “thundering silence”.

“There is a silence from Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to my daily three questions on the audit report despite the prime minister’s directive to him to ‘provide answers on every question raised by any party’,” said Lim at the party’s service centre in Cheras yesterday.

“As there is a standing instruction to Ong to answer every question, I will continue with my daily three questions. This being the fourth consecutive installment.”

At the press conference yesterday, Lim said that Ong has been “downright irresponsible” for saying in Penang on Monday that the PKFZ project could cost less than RM4.6 billion by engaging legal experts and consultants to recover the “overcharging” that was reported by PwC.

Using more consultants to probe and recover the “overcharged” items could incur more costs, said Lim.

“How can Ong say that the project could cost less than RM4.6 billion when PwC said that the project had escalated to RM7.453 billion and could cost another RM5 billion?”

According to the PwC’s executive summary of the PKFZ report, the project outlay has escalated from RM1.957 billion to RM3.522 billion, excluding interest cost. 

“Including interest cost, the project outlay increases to RM7.453 billion,” said PwC. 

Adding the interest cost of RM2.506 billion for the 20-year RM4.632 billion soft loan from the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the total project outlay is RM7.453 billion, said PwC.

“Should Port Klang Authority fail to meet the MoF installments as scheduled and if these installments are deferred to match its project cashflow, it would incur additional interest cost of RM5 billion.”

This would take the project to RM12.453 billion, said PwC.

Lim also wanted to know if a RM147 million bill for “corporate advisory services” by Mega-Wan Corporate Services Sdn Bhd was told to PwC.

The Sun reported yesterday that Mega-Wan has sued PKA to recover RM147 million for consultation fees rendered. 

Mega-Wan is attempting to recover RM97.27 million for consultation on the appointment of Jebel Ali Free Zone to manage PKFZ, RM1.9 million for consultation fees on PKFZ and RM48.6 million for professional fees on the financial re-engineering of the RM4.6 billion MoF soft loan.

The Ipoh Timur MP also queried Ong on the cost of PwC’s fees and why the report would only be online on the PKA website for two weeks (ending on June 10).

“The audit report should remain online so long as the PKFZ issue is not resolved,” said Lim.

“Ong should ensure that all 20 appendices of the report be uploaded for everyone to see.” 
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