My Anthem

Saturday, July 18, 2009

PKFZ: Don't Restrict Information...

The current Parliament's Public Accounts Committee's hearings are just a bore-- we are NOT interested at playing charades if all the key players like past MCA Presidents Ling liong Sik and Chan Kong Choy just appeared and gave short, officious answers to mundane questions just "for the record".

And current MCA president Ong Tee Keat's famous one-liner robotic answer: It's all in the reports...*** I will detail some extracts later from a Press report, Patience, OK! ~~ YL as reporter.

To us common citizens, my question in retort is:

What reports? -- Desi, as BUMmer.
Why can't the Transport Ministry publish the full report by PricewaterhouseCoopers online so the public can scrutinise it? Maybe Tee Keat and the Malaysian Cabinet need a lesson on the meaning of TRANSPARENCY...


So I challenge this buRgger and all other buRggers trying to give a facade to account for their portfolios' expenditures, in the spirit as so admirably promised -- I hope it's not again mere rhetoric from our leaders! -- by Tee Keat:
"At the end of the day,
we are aware that the public expects every
single sen overpaid to be recovered
and wrongdoers must be brought to book."
(As frontpaged by theSun, July 8,2009)

The PKFZ scandal represents a potential RM12.5billion loss -- this may appear as "loose" change to the nation's leaders because they live a high life while citizen Joe and Jane try to cope from a base of maybe RM800-RM1,500 a month -- for hawkers, labouers and factory operators -- to the luckier ones at RM5,000-RM15,000 for the Excutives.

Meanwhile, WE WANT ANSWERS to the significant questions posed by my fellow BUMmer ancient mariner, now consolidated from his specialised monitoring at cyusof.blogspot.com:

Tuesday, July 07, 2009
PKFZ: Who will take the rap?


Banker Mohd. Hashim Shamsuddin was the last Malay and non-politician chairman of Port Klang Authority (PKA). As executive director of Bank Bumiputra, he took the rap for the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) fiasco in Hong Kong and was imprisoned for more than 6 years in the then British colony. He is now believed to be living in the U.K.

In 1986, a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) headed by former auditor-general Ahmad Noordin established that what was going on in BMF was just "the tip of the iceberg", implying that bigger hands were at play. But the so called "bigger hands" were never implicated or named.

After Hashim, the chairmanship of PKA was then passed through several MCA politicians beginning with veteran Michael Chen who really did a stellar job seeing the port go through the privatisation process. However, his lesser known successors who didnt really have much to do except to play landlords and collect rent, somehow went off the well beaten track to play towkays.

With the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), we are now staring at a possible RM12 billion hole in the rakyat's pocket. Who will take the rap? Were "bigger hands" at play here too? How come no Royal Commission of Inquiry? Will the true stories behind the BMF and PKFZ scandals ever come to light?
Logged by The Ancient Mariner at 21:23 1 comments

Another About Turn


The Port Klang Authority (PKA) has reversed an earlier decision to withhold a RM660 million payment due to contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project. Read the Malaysiakini report, here. This about turn was due to instructions from the Treasury and in consideration of appeals by the bondholders trustees.

"PKA has received instructions from the Treasury that the board should be mindful of the implications that might affect the confidence of investors, local or foreign, in the Malaysian private debt securities market," said PKA chairman Lee Hwa Beng.

Lee (photo) said that the board has made RM360 million payment to KDSB yesterday and has until the end of the month to pay the balance.

The PKA board got into this mess by "taking instructions" from all and sundry when they should be using their brains and their conscience to do the right thing.

Now you will understand why I did not vote for this man for the Kelana Jaya parliamentary constituency during the last general election.
Logged by The Ancient Mariner at 05:36 7 comments
Thursday, July 02, 2009
About Turn

The Malaysian Insider reported yesterday, here, that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will summon the transport minister, his two predecessors and the attorney-general to testify over the RM12 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, in an investigation which could have serious political consequences for MCA and the Barisan Nasional administration.

PAC Chairman Azmi Khalid said that all of them, including Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) CEO and BN Backbenchers Club (BBC) chairman Tiong King Sing (photo), will be called in to testify in two weeks’ time. This was after announcing a couple of weeks ago that four key players in the debacle, which include the 3 MCA politicians, have been let off the hook and will not be called in for questioning.

Quite obviously, public outcry and constant lambasting from the Opposition parties must have played a major part in this about turn and also the decision to withhold payment of monies due to KDSB by the Port Klang Authority.

My fervent hope now is that none of them, unlike a former prime minister, will choose to do a Ronald Reagan: I don't remember.

Meanwhile, other MPs have yet to receive complete copies and appendices of the PriceWaterhouse Cooper report on PKFZ despite the exertion of pressure on the Dewan's secretariat and the Transport Minister to do so. They are expected to receive copies only after PAC has completed its investigation on the matter.
Logged by The Ancient Mariner at 16:56 4 comments

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sue lah but no moolah


Malaysiakini today reports, here, that the Port Klang Authority is ready to face litigations by withholding RM660 million due to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd for the Port Klang Free Zone project. PKA chairperson Lee Hwa Beng said the amount would not be paid to Kuala Dimensi until a full review has been done by a task force established on June 10.

The PKA was supposed to have paid RM660 million - alleged debts in the words of Lee - to Kuala Dimensi's Special Port Vehicle Bhd, Transhipment Megahub Bhd, Valid Ventures Bhd and Free Zone Capital Bhd in four parts this and next month. A total of RM330 million is due to be paid to KDSB by today (June 30) while a further RM300 million will be due in July.

An audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers has revealed that Kuala Dimensi had so far received total payments of more than RM1 billion from PKA since 2007 for the PKFZ project. But KDSB's Faizal Abdullah was reported to have said that they have received only RM300 million or thereabouts. So in the words of my friend Shar101 ... what gives?

The following are the payment schedules obtained from a DAP website::

2007 - RM510 million
2008 - RM660 million
2009 - RM660 million
2010 - RM772 million
2011 - RM487 million
2012 - RM733 million
2013/2016 - RM170 million per annum
2017 - RM179 million

Total - RM4,681 million.
Logged by The Ancient Mariner at 19:24

2 comments:

Donplaypuks® said...

If it's all in the PKFZ Report why bother with a PAC inquiry at all?

Ong Ta Kut and DarLing ought to be flayed in public till the skin peels off their backs for doing a Mahathir ('I can't recall').

Also, when Khaid headed the PAC inquiry on the purchase of Scorpene subs and Sukhoi planes, he concluded that 'all Govt rules and procedures were properly adhered to.'

We don't want to know that. We want to know if any commissions were paid, if open tenders were called for and why $500 million 'maintenance and facilitation' fees were paid to Razak Baginda/Perimekar S/B in full b4 when to-date the subs have not been delivered!!

We want to know what expertise RB and Perimekar S/B had in submarine operations & procurement. What track record. Why was a 40% stake sold to Boustead?

And Adib Adam's partners are suing him for diverting commissions to a 'same name' off-shore company. Did they mention that?

chong y l said...

Dear DPP: I'm writing with a down heart Monday July 20, 2009 after paying a small "TRIBUTE" to our beloved Capt Yusof/AM...

I think bot of us will surely miss his smiling company and assuring hands, May God Bless his soul, rest in peace, Amen