UPDATED
By Neville Spykerman
PORT KLANG, June 30 — The Port Klang Authority (PKA) will withhold further payments due to Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) turnkey contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) pending the completion of a full review by a task force set up on June 10.
The payments, in four parts, amount to RM660 million.
PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng said the decision to withhold payment was made by PKA’s board, which is bracing itself for potential lawsuits which may be soon filed in retaliation by KDSB. Lee said they plan to fight any lawsuits.
“We will wait for the outcome of litigation which will determine PKA’s true liability,” he said, adding that the board was acting in the best interest of the PKA.
The action by PKA’s board comes in the wake of calls yesterday by the DAP’s Lim Guan Eng for the Transport Ministry to stop payments to KDSB or any other parties, until the culprits responsible for the scandal are arrested and charged in court.
The development cost for PKFZ may spiral up to a staggering RM12.5 billion, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report, from an initial cost of less than RM2 billion but to date no one has been held accountable.
The RM660 billion owed to KDSB is payable in four parts to special purpose vehicles created by KDSB. Among them are Transhipment Megahub Berhad, Valid Venture Berhad and Free Zone Capital.
A total of RM330 million is due to be paid to KDSB by today while a further RM300 million will be due in July. Lee said that PKA, under the instructions of the Transport Ministry, had commissioned a task force to investigate the PKFZ project and had only recently started the process of gathering information.
“The full recommendations of the taskforce are expected to be submitted to the PKA and the ministry in August,” said Lee.
Lee, who was flanked by two lawyers at the PKA office today, was very cautious about the words he used during the press conference and made clear he wanted sidestep any potential lawsuits.
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
