Comments for PRESS STATEMENT BY DATO’ SRI ONG TEE KEAT, MINISTER OF TRANSPORT on 10TH AUGUST 2009 at http://www.ongteekeat.net/gogo_en , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.ongteekeat.net/gogo_en Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:57:21 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.ongteekeat.net/gogo_en/content/view/294/53/#comment-1629 Tee Keat, This is an article reproduced for your readers in addition to your modified press statement: Quote# PKFZ financial scandal: False claims of RM1bln found Monday, 10 August 2009 Categories: Corruption • Current News • National News • Politics By Wong Choon Mei [Updated] The special task force comprising top private lawyers and the involvement of Transparency International Malaysia has found irregular claims of as much as RM1 billion in the Umno-BN Port Klang Free Zone financial debacle. Set up in June to look into the legal and financial aspects of the government’s biggest port investment ever, the task force said it has traced charges and claims that were either over-charged, unsubstantiated or even possibly fraudulent to main developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd. “Our lawyers will be dealing with KDSB CEO Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and his deputy Datuk Faisal Abdullah,” Lee Hwa Beng chairman of project overseer Port Klang Authority said in a statement on Monday. “The sum total of the amount in dispute is between RM500 million to RM1 billion.” PKA also said it plans to lodge a police report against Kuala Dimensi on Tuesday. It has also instructed its lawyers to look into taking legal action. In a separate statement posted on his blog, Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat said he was worried about “possible serious irregularities, negligence, wrongdoing and other irregularities.” “I thank the Members of the Task Force for submitting their report to the board exactly two months from the date on which they were set up. I view with concern various issues that have been identified by the Task Force. My instruction to PKA is to do what is necessary and right on the findings and recommendations of the Task Force.” The plot thickens Tee Keat is also MCA president. His party is traditionally given the Transport Ministry in the Umno-BN government as part of the coalition’s power-sharing pact. PKA is a unit of the Transport Ministry. The PKFZ project began in 2002, long before Tee Keat came to power in MCA, and his predecessors have come under fire for alleged corruption in collusion with their Umno counterparts. But while Tee Keat has tried to portray himself a champion of transparency and social justice, he is also said to be on friendly terms with Kuala Dimensi’s Tiong, the president of the BN backbenchers club and Bintulu MP. Such is the Umno-BN style where big-time business is traditionally intertwined with top politicians. The PKFZ white elephant is the largest financial scandal in Malaysian history. Approved at an initial RM1.9 billion, massive budget overruns have ballooned costs to RM7.5 billion and could hit RM12.5 billion if Prime Minister Najib Razak does not restructure the project’s debt soon. In the past months, Tee Keat has been accused of dramatizing his part in exposing the details of a PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report that first highlighted the massive corruption involved. He even told the press that he was threatened by underworld bosses and also asked by his Umno-BN colleagues to shut up. A classic vicious cycle of corruption and poverty But despite the highly-complex audit trail and the mind-boggling financial massages, PKFZ is nothing more than sordid corruption at an unbelievably massive scale by a select group of top Umno-BN leaders. Political watchers said Tee Keat may not have been so ready to squeal on the PKFZ if he had not felt his position was being threatened by his deputy Chua Soi Lek. His No 2 is widely believed to be backed by Najib himself. At the same time, there would probably be less urgency for Soi Lek – who is still battling a sex scandal – to oust Tee Keat if the latter had not tried to fashion himself as a hero over the scandal. “I think Malaysians have seen this show before. They know the storyline by heart. It is a lot noise, chest thumping but at the end of the movie, even if they had stolen RM100 billion, no body will get caught,” said a veteran political watcher. “Because those at the very top have already taken a slice of the cake. This is a classic vicious cycle of poverty, with people the losers. “The rakyat is assured of becoming poorer. You can already see it in the gap between the rich and the poor getting wider and wider. “And this is also why it is crucial for Umno-BN to cling to power. Otherwise, the top leaders including those who have retired would all end up in jail.” Unquote# - derrick J Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:11:37 +0100 http://www.ongteekeat.net/gogo_en/content/view/294/53/#comment-1628 Dato Seri, fantastic, wonderful and superb, with all the best description, you are best minister ever on duty, precise, right on time! You clear the curious, you are the same man we know long ago, nothing bugs you, nothing stop you, no manner what's the pos, HOW great the challenge! The vast audience feel satisfy deep inside them, the man they learn he will stand still,the feel is truth! Cheer! (but inside the party, the pressure will be greater, the picture even clear,those benefit drive fear for discipline action, they have to force a hard turn on their habit, their culture, or .........beware) - Tan Tze Wah Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:40:22 +0100