Khir, Faizal top 'to be charged' rumour list

Rumours are rife that at least one Selangor Umno leader will be charged in relation to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

And the two names topping the rumour list are former Selangor mentri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and Kapar Umno deputy division chief Faizal Abdullah.

However, there are also those who do not rule out the possibility that it could be Muhammad Muhd Taib or Abu Hassan Omar, who were Khir's predecessors.

Contacted by FMT, both Khir and Faizal claimed to be in the dark over this.

Khir, who was menteri besar from 2001 to 2008, said: “I was never involved in the PKFZ project.”

Sources also pointed out that Khir, a local Umno warlord, could cause problems for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's plan to reclaim Selangor in the next general election if he was to be hauled to court.

Recently, former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik was charged for allegedly misleading the Cabinet pertaining to the sale of land for the PKFZ project which saw its initial cost balooning to possibly more than RM12 billion.

Speculation was rife that another former transport minister, Chan Kong Choy could also be charged in connection with the scandal.

In the course of the Public Accounts Committee's probe on the PKFZ fiasco, its chairman Azmi Khalid had once said that a former Selangor menteri besar was under investigation over the PKFZ fiasco.

No action in courts

Meanwhile, Faizal is the deputy chief executive of Wijaya Baru Global Bhd, the developer and investment firm behind the PKFZ project.

PKFZ is operatinng on 400 hectares of land on Pulau Indah next to Westport, Port Klang.

The Cabinet, under former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had approved the project in 1999 and it had began operations on Nov 7, 2007.

Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, central to the PKFZ scandal, was appointed as the turnkey contractor to the project and is currently tied to an ongoing litigation suit with the Port Klang Authority for alleged fraudulent excessive claims.

The government had come under heavy criticism after it agreed to repay bondholders despite the ongoing suit.

Yesterday, journalists who had staked out at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya in anticipation of a VIP to be charged, had left disappointed.

courtesy of FMT