Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: Embattled Transport Minister and MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has vowed to fight off the multiple challenges thrown at him, be it in court or in the political arena.

According to a statement delivered through his lawyer Ronnie Tan Tuan King today, Ong said he had been "obstructed by various challenges in and outside of MCA".

Tan was speaking to reporters after appearing for case management of Ong’s RM500 million defamation suit against Bintulu MP and Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) CEO Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, who claimed that he had given Ong RM10 million to finance MCA activities.

Kuala Lumpur High Court deputy registrar Hilmiah Yusof today fixed Dec 14 for a mention of the suit, which was filed here on Aug 28.

On Dec 14, the court is expected to fix a hearing date for the suit and another date to hear an injunction sought by Ong to prevent Tiong from further making statements deemed defamatory.

"Our client (Ong) has come to court to seek justice for the allegations against him. He wants to vindicate himself of all elements of suspicion in his pursuit of transparency and accountability in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government," Tan said, reading from a statement.

Pressure had been mounting against Ong on multiple fronts, with the transport minister reportedly under fire for releasing a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on the controversial Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) development project.

Ong was also facing an internal revolt amidst a tumultuous leadership crisis that has plagued MCA for the past few months.

In his statement of claim, Ong said Tiong’s statement was made in bad faith to prevent a fair investigation into the PKFZ and its turnkey contractor KDSB.

Both PKFZ and KDSB had been under probe after a position report by PwC stated that the total project outlay for PKFZ’s owner, the Port Klang Authority (PKA), could reach RM7.45 billion.

The figure included interest costs on a RM4.6 billion soft loan given by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today tabled the findings of its inquiry into PKFZ in parliament and  recommended that former transport minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy and former PKA general manager Datin Paduka O C Phang be investigated for criminal breach of trust.

today, Ong’s other counsel Harjit Sandhu appeared at the case management on behalf of Tiong’s counsel Prem Ramachandran, who was not present in court.

The legal action was filed after Tiong, who is chairman of the BN Backbenchers Club (BNBBC), refused to retract his statement and issue a public apology via major newspapers, as demanded by Ong.

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