Kit Siang baits Soi Lek over PKFZ scandal

Lim asked MCA if they were standing by the two ex-party leaders. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — Lim Kit Siang challenged MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today to declare his party’s stand on the innocence of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy in the PKFZ corruption scandal.

The DAP advisor demanded that Dr Chua state if he trusted in the duo’s innocence or believed that they were being used as Umno’s “political scapegoats” to close the RM12.5 billion scandal.

Lim also dared both Chan and Dr Ling’s former Cabinet colleagues to speak out on their behalf in court and testify that they had not misled the government into purchasing land for the multi-billion ringgit port development project.

“Would any of Ling’s Cabinet colleagues in 2002, especially (Tan Sri) Ong Ka Ting and (Tan Sri) Fong Chan Onn, testify in court that they were not misled by him to approve Port Klang Authority’s purchase of PKFZ land, kicking off the RM12.5 billion PKFZ ‘scandal of scandals’?” Lim asked.

He pointed out that both Ong and Fong, Ling’s contemporaries as Cabinet ministers in 2002, are presently still parliamentarians in the House.

“Other ministers in the 2002 Cabinet of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad included the then deputy prime minister, Tun Abdullah, the present Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (Defence), present Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs), Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (Youth and Sports), Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (Entrepreneur), Datuk Seri Yatim and Tan Sri Bernard Dompok (Prime Minister’s Department),” Lim added.

Dr Ling was charged in July last year under Section 418 of the Penal Code for misleading Dr Mahathir’s Cabinet in 2002, into agreeing to purchase 999.5 acres of land on Pulau Indah for the PKFZ project.

The 67-year-old former MCA president was alleged to have committed the offence at the Prime Minister’s Office here between September 25 and November 6, 2002.

Dr Chua said the latest PKFZ charges would not hurt MCA.

If convicted, he faces imprisonment of up to seven years.

Chan, also formerly a transport minister, was charged on Monday with three counts of cheating over the PKFZ project at the Sessions Court here, and faces up to five year’s jail on each count.

Chan pleaded not guilty to deceiving then prime minister Abdullah about development and upgrading work at the PKFZ site between 2004 and 2006.

In the first charge, Chan was accused of misleading Abdullah in 2004 into approving Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) as the main developer to build up a 1,000-acre piece of land on Pulau Indah at an estimated cost of RM1 billion.

The second charge totalling RM510.38 million concerned more development work in PKFZ in 2005 and that the project was to be financed by government bonds through a public company.

The last charge also concerned infrastructure work in early 2006, amounting to RM335.8 million.

The Pahang-born politician was transport minister from July 1, 2003 but stepped down shortly before the landmark 2008 general election, citing health reasons and a wish to make way for the younger generation.

“Malaysians regardless of political affiliation would be interested to know whether the MCA president and the present MCA leadership believe in the innocence of Ling and Chan or that there is nobody else in Umno who should be hauled to court — whether for criminal breach of trust or other corrupt malpractices to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

“Or do the MCA president and the MCA leadership believe that Ling and Chan had been made political scapegoats by the Umno leadership when they are hauled to court for corruption charges in connection with the PKFZ scandal,” said Lim.

On Monday, Dr Chua had expressed confidence that Chan’s cheating charges would not affect MCA, pointing out that any offender should be ready to face punishment for their actions.

He added that the charges showed the government was serious about good governance.

“This shows that the government is fair,” said Chua. “It doesn’t only go after the small fish but also the big fish.”

But he added that their charges did not mean both Dr Ling and Chan were automatically guilty.

“In our country, if you are charged, it doesn’t mean you are guilty,” he said.

MCA, Umno’s senior partner in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, is struggling to regain the support of the Chinese community and the charges against the two former MCA leaders are unlikely to help burnish the party’s reputation.

The move to prosecute two high-profile former ministers, however, could help deflect criticism that the Najib administration lacks the will to go after the “real masterminds” behind the PKFZ project and boost its reform credentials.

The PKFZ project was mooted during Dr Ling’s tenure as transport minister and the cost of the project, initially estimated at less than RM2 billion, more than doubled to RM4.6 billion by 2007.

The cost of the project has been further projected to swell to as much as RM12.5 billion due to interest incurred from deferred payments if the trans-shipment hub fails to perform.

Though he left the post of MCA president in 2003, Dr Ling is still widely perceived to be influential in MCA. - Malaysian Insider