PETALING JAYA, Sept 19 — Lim Kit Siang has slammed the Attorney-General for not prosecuting two former ministers in the scandal-hit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project as the government scrambled to contain damage from a leaked Cabinet paper which inferred they knew of the cost overruns.
The DAP leader also criticised the government move to take action over the leaked Cabinet paper which appeared in fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin's Malaysia-Today website while ignoring transparency concerns over the project that could potentially cost RM12.5 billion to taxpayers.
"Why didn’t Attorney-General Gani Patail prosecute previous Transport Ministers Ling Liong Sik and Chan Kong Choy for unlawfully issuing four Letters of Support, landing the taxpayers with the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?" the veteran opposition leader asked in a statement today.
The Ipoh Timur MP noted that at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing last Aug 12, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had made clear his position that the four "Letters of Support" issued by previous Transport Ministers Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy from 2003 to 2006 for the RM4 billion bonds by the PKFZ turnkey contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB) were in fact Letters of Guarantee and had been unlawfully issued.
"This is the question which the Attorney-General and the government leadership should be answering instead of running after Raja Petra and Malaysia-Today under the Official Secrets Act for their role as whistleblowers," he said.
Lim pointed out that top government leaders have instead denounced the leaked 18-page document and had called for action under the Official Secrets Act against Raja Petra, who is popularly known as RPK.
"However, none of them has shown any concern about the right to know of Malaysians about the hows and whys the taxpayers are being burdened with the ‘mother of all scandals’ — the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal running through three prime ministers, three finance ministers and four Port Klang Authority chairmen," he said.
The DAP leader said the prime minister had only commented that the government will inform the people about the case but it was not an excuse to reveal Cabinet papers.
"The question Najib has failed to answer is why the Cabinet papers on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal should continue to be kept as secret documents instead of being declassified, unless the Barisan Nasional has skeletons in the cupboard which must be kept hidden from public knowledge and scrutiny," Lim said.
He also said as a former member of the Cabinet, PAC chairman Datuk Azmi Khalid would have access to the Cabinet documents on the PKFZ scandal and should also summon Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan to help the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ case and testify as to the information given to the ministers and the decisions taken by the Cabinet.
"Shouldn’t the PAC take a stand that all the Cabinet documents and papers relating to the PKFZ scandal should be declassified not only for full study by the PAC but also by all MPs and the Malaysian public — unless there are skeletons which must be kept hidden?" he asked.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has formed a task force to probe the issue while the principal companies in the scandal, the Port Klang Authority (PKA) has sued KDSB for RM720 million this past week.
KDSB chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and Ong have also lodged reports and filed suits against each other after Tiong claimed he donated RM10 million to the MCA president.
Najib has now formed a super task force under Sidek to investigate the PKFZ scandal.
The PKFZ, which was initially projected to cost less than RM2 billion, may now end up costing as much as RM12 billion by some estimates and had to be rescued with a RM4.6 billion government loan in 2007.
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